Music Streaming in MENA - Why it matters to be local?

With CD sales and downloads declining sharply, music streaming services have taken centre stage across the global songs market.

The MENA region is no exception as well as has over the past few years witnessed incredible development in on the internet listenership.

Songs streaming platforms have also become part of users' daily lives and routines either as their 'getaways' or 'companions'.

This interruption resulted in a bond which develops feelings of attachment and consequently establishes trust.

This event additionally creates an exceptional home window of chance for brands and advertisers.

With the above context in mind, Choueiri Group, and Anghami, appointed Ipsos to conduct a market understanding campaign centred on the music streaming industry.

It explores the potency of brand love in advertising, along with its impact on listeners' consumption in key regional markets (Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE).

The thorough study is labelled "Music Steaming in MENA Why it Matters to be Local".

The research study has created many insightful results which shed light on how the regional music streaming market will play out its advancement, in addition to the perceptions of tunes streamers throughout the region as well as their perspectives towards the different solutions being provided to them.

In the past decade, several regional and worldwide players have set foot in the audio streaming sector across the MENA area, which created a highly competitive room for platforms, all fighting for audiences' ears and total undivided attention.

In a cut-throat space, there are international brands that have been in this industry for some time now such as Spotify and Deezer, both originating from Europe, and are undeniably making waves in the region.

Then, on the other hand, you have neighbourhood players, such as Lebanon-based Anghami that positioned itself as the MENA streaming platform that provides an offering that is close to the Arab streamers culture and identity.

With complete brand awareness about most songs streaming platforms increasing quickly across Saudi Arabia, particularly amongst millennials aged between 25 to 34, this year has additionally been a breakout year for podcasting worldwide, resulting in more listeners picking up on this relatively new network of home entertainment.

This has actually been especially confirmed in the region as around 30% of UAE's and 20% of Saudi Arabia's population consider themselves as podcast listeners.

The research study reveals that 5 out of 10 of songs banners pay attention to songs online on a day-to-day basis, with around 30% making use of these services at least 5 hrs a day.

These results refute the concept of songs streaming not being an activity that individuals completely incorporate in their daily life.

It was additionally shown that, aside from Facebook, music streamers dedicate a big piece of time during the day to listening to songs online on weekend breaks and also weekdays, more so than they make with radio as well as various other social media sites platforms such as Instagram.

Songs streamers additionally take pleasure in listening to songs online the most when they are unwinding in the comfort of their very own residences, followed by when they are commuting or driving about.

Furthermore, it was obvious that songs are streaming systems are the best and most used approach in helping music lovers check out as well as find new releases and also up and also coming artists.

Amongst numerous interesting insights which were garnered from this research, the most important area identified was regarding the potency of having a platform with a localized personality appearing on the audio streaming scene.

Listeners in the Middle East were missing the flavour of home and the sense of relatability which was tenuous among the international music streaming platforms available for users.

Arab listeners were also growing a need to feel recognized and have their identities understood and identified with.

With all of these findings coming into play, having localized attributes and an essence of "home" built in your music streaming brand are highly appreciated and favoured by consumers, as this helps platforms lever for growth and creates more relevance to listeners in the market.

Consequently, it helps to place them on a higher pedestal for their unique offerings, especially in the audio streaming sector.

The study serves as a mere reflection of the rapidly.

The evolving world of audio streaming and only time will tell how this will inherently shape up the music and advertising industry in the future.