It has been called the "Spotify of the Middle East"... What is the next step for Anghami?

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Anghami describes itself as the largest music streaming app in the Middle East and North Africa region. It was quickly dubbed the “Spotify of the Middle East.”

The platform, which was launched by Elie Habib and Eddie Maroun in Beirut in 2012, is expanding its presence in the real world, after amassing about 20 million active users. The platform, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, has partnered with Sony Music to launch Vibe, a record label that aims to support independent Arabic music and enable artists to “tell their stories regionally and globally,” according to the two companies.

In July, Anghami acquired Spotlight Events, a live events company, and plans to hold regular concerts by local artists. In November, Anghami opened a music hall and recording studio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Artists can’t just make money by streaming music,” says Habib. “They need to make money in the real world as well.” Local knowledge The platform faces serious competition from companies like Spotify and Apple, but the founders are confident that they can maintain their success by relying on their knowledge of the region's audience. “We are Arab but we are influenced by the Western world, and this is reflected in our product,” says Maroun, adding “That’s why our product is really more relevant.”

The duo explains that nurturing and developing Arab talent is crucial to their mission. Of the 73 million songs on the platform, Habib points out that only 1% of them are in Arabic, yet these same songs generate 60% of the total visits on Anghami.

He adds: "We realize that we need to develop this 1%." In February 2022, the company signed an exclusive partnership with Egyptian star Amr Diab, who became the most popular artist on Anghami, after achieving more than one billion streams on the platform.

At the same time, Anghami was listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York, the first Arab technology company to do so, according to the company’s founders. “It was a wonderful moment,” Maron says. “We felt like we were really bringing an entire nation with us.”

In the first half of 2022, the company saw a 29% growth in profits, and a 41% growth in the number of monthly subscribers, compared to the same period of the previous year. Since then, in a tougher economic climate, the company has cut a fifth of its workforce, but the founders are confident they can continue to grow the platform.

“We never thought about IPOs, and we never thought about the millions of users who use our platform every day.” “An IPO is not the endgame — the endgame is making something you are proud of,” he adds.