The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has expanded its music charts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by unveiling four new charts for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and North Africa. These charts are aimed at providing official rankings of the top streaming tracks in these countries. The charts incorporate music streaming data from major digital service providers in the region, and they are compiled by BMAT. This marks the first time that official rankings have been made available in each respective country.
The IFPI will release these market charts on a weekly basis, and they will be accessible on the Official MENA Chart website. The introduction of these charts follows the debut of the inaugural regional chart for MENA in November 2022, which covered 13 markets. The expansion of the charts reflects the sustained growth observed in the region, with recorded music revenues experiencing a 23.8% surge in 2022.
CEO of IFPI, Frances Moore, stated that these new charts are a platform to celebrate and showcase the diverse music heritage of each of these countries. The current official charts for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and North Africa show that Nawal’s “Mekhasmak,” Majid Almohandis’ “Janant Galbi,” “Chaleya” by Shilpa Rao, Kumaar, Arijit Singh, Anirudh Ravichander, and “Noss Ellil” by are the No. 1 hits for those markets, respectively. This development follows IFPI’s signing of a joint Memorandum of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy in June 2022 to support the growth of the UAE’s recorded music business. MENA had the third-highest growth rate in 2022 and represented the highest share for streaming globally.
