In some parts of the MENA region, it was not long ago that when young people wanted to party, they gathered covertly at friends’ houses to listen to the latest dance tracks under cover of night.
Those times are almost unimaginable now, as Arab musicians of all genres are enjoying an unprecedented surge in popularity and countries across the region are hosting some of the world’s largest dance festivals. At the end of 2021, in once-conservative Saudi Arabia, more than 700,000 partygoers from across the region descended on the capital, Riyadh, for the second four-day Soundstorm event, MENA’s largest—and loudest—music festival.
“In Saudi Arabia there are more DJs than ever before, pursuing their passion for music as a career.”
Nasser Alshemimry, “DesertF!sh,” Saudi Arabian DJ
“The appetite for music festivals in the Middle East is huge,” says Talal Albahiti, chief operations officer of MDLBeast, the company that produces Soundstorm. “Before Soundstorm, Saudis had to travel for this kind of entertainment, and now they have it right here on their doorstep.”
Regional and international performers are tapping into this pent-up demand and finding new audiences for their music. At last year’s Soundstorm, DJ megastars including Armin van Buuren and David Guetta shared the world’s tallest festival stage with a host of Arab names who are developing fast-growing fanbases across the Middle East.
“A high number of local and regional artists perform at Soundstorm,” Albahiti says. “Arabs love homegrown music. Just before Soundstorm, we organized a music industry event, the XP Music Conference, to start the conversation about supporting new labels, producers, and artists and developing a thriving local music scene.”
Young Arab musicians and DJs are enjoying enormous popularity on streaming services across the Middle East. Chaz Jenkins, chief commercial officer of music data analytics firm Chartmetric, says that streaming revenue across the region grew by nearly 40% last year, the largest increase in any part of the world. Of the top artists, 80% are local performers, and a growing proportion are contemporary artists.
In Saudi Arabia, young musicians and performers such as leading DJ and visual artist Desertfish are carving out reputations for themselves not only in their home country, but across the region. As well as performing at Soundstorm last year and in 2019 at the first Soundstorm, Desertfish was given the opportunity to perform in 2021 at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.
“With the recent cultural reforms and the emphasis on supporting the local entertainment industry, it is now more possible than ever to be a DJ in Saudi Arabia,” he says. “I am thrilled to be a part of this amazing music scene and contribute what I can to the music community in the Middle East.”
As published in Fortune magazine
