Report of Spotify eyeing Middle East-based streaming company Anghami is a sign of big investor interest in the regions.
For months, industry executives from Warner Music Group to Kobalt have been steadily beating a drum for investing in the Middle East and African markets.
The Middle East and North Africa was the fastest-growing region globally last year, with revenues up 35% to $89.5 million and a market that nearly doubled between 2019 and 2021, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . More than 95% of MENA revenues came from streaming, and paid subscribership is expected to double by 2030.
With investors including the Saudi Arabia-backed firm MBC Group and Middle East Venture Partners and partner Sony Music Entertainment Middle East, with whom Anghami launched a joint venture record label last year, Maroun and co-founder took Anghami public in February. In addition to MENA, music and streaming companies in Sub-Saharan Africa, where music revenues grew by 9.6% last year, are steadily gaining big industry investors.
In its most recent Music In the Air report, Goldman Sachs analysts said Africa presents “a significant opportunity over time” and specifically highlighted Boomplay, one of the leading music streaming services, with 60 million monthly active users and a rapidly expanding song catalog. U.S.-based Reservoir Media is one of the most vocal companies about the opportunity it sees in the Middle East and Africa. With its partner, the United Arab Emirates-based independent music company PopArabia, Reservoir recently bought the Egyptian label 100COPIES, the Lebanese label and music publisher Voice of Beirut, and signed publishing deals with Egyptian rapper and singer Mohamed Ramadan, Lebanese indie singer songwriter Zeid Hamdan and Moroccan hip-hop star 7liwa.
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