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Best Music Streaming Services In The Middle East

Whether you need some good music to listen to while at home, work, or the gym, these are the best music streaming services in the Middle East.

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best music streaming services in the middle east

The music industry relies on royalties, and it protects its source of revenue by enforcing restrictive licensing terms that often limit the availability of songs to certain regions. Fortunately, there are multiple music streaming services that aim to bring artists from around the world directly to the ears of Middle Eastern listeners. We’ve taken the time to research them for you, and we can now present you with the following list of the best music streaming services in the Middle East.

Top 5 Most Popular Music Streaming Services In The Middle East

The music streaming industry in the Middle East and Africa region is set to grow from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $3.2 billion by 2027, and the five music streaming services described below collectively share the biggest slice of the lucrative pie.

#1- Anghami

anghami homepage

🎧 Number of active users: 19.5 million

Last year, Anghami cemented its role as the largest music streaming service in the Middle East when it revealed that the number of its active users had reached 19.5 million. Out of those, 1.3 million are paying subscribers. No wonder Anghami is often called the “Spotify of the Middle East.”

The music streaming service was launched in 2011 in Lebanon as the first legal music streaming platform in the Middle East, and it now provides the largest catalog of licensed music. Besides Arabic labels like Platinum Records and Melody, Anghami is also home to some of the largest international labels, such as Warner Music Group, Sony, and Universal.

Anghami is a freemium service, which means that users can listen to millions of songs for free and upgrade to the Anghami Plus plan ($4.99 per month or $44.99 per year) only when they decide to elevate their music-listening experience by unlocking the ability to listen offline, view lyrics, and much more.

#2- Spotify

spotify homepage

🎧 Number of active users: 456 million

Spotify is the king of the music streaming world, and the Middle East is part of its dominion. At the time of writing this article, Spotify’s vast content catalog includes over 80 million tracks, most of which are available to Middle Eastern listeners.

Discovering new regional content on Spotify is easy thanks to professionally curated playlists like Today’s Top Arabic Hits, Arabic EDM, and Oriental Chill Vibes. Besides them, there are countless of user-created playlists that can fit just about any mood.

Just like Anghami, Spotify is a freemium music streaming service with premium plans for individuals ($9.99 a month), couples ($12.99 a month), families ($15.99 a month), and students ($4.99 a month).

#3- Apple Music

apple music homepage

🎧 Number of active users: 88 million

Launched in 2015, Apple Music is a great choice for those Middle Eastern listeners who are already invested in the Apple ecosystem. You can purchase it on a monthly or annual basis as a standalone service or as part of the Apple One collection of services (starts at $12.95 a month).

In October 2022, Apple celebrated 100 million songs in the Apple Music library, which is an admirable number considering that the service is four years younger than Spotify.

Apple Music has been praised for helping its users discover great songs by highlighting new, interesting releases, sharing playlists curated by the Apple Music team, and providing tailored recommendations based on each user’s preferences. The subscription service also includes three live 24-hour radio stations (Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country), so it’s always easy to find something play-worthy.

#4- Deezer

deezer homepage

🎧 Number of active users: 16 million

France is home to good wine, picturesque vacation spots, world-famous cuisine, and also Deezer, a music streaming service that operates in over 180 countries around the world, including those located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Backed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Deezer is known for its great sound quality, support for user-uploaded MP3s, accurate recommendations, and very active community of users who are actively shaping the service, making it better and better.

The free Deezer plan is powered by ads and provides access to over 73 million songs. Those who would like to enjoy unlimited, offline, ad-free music can upgrade to Deezer Premium ($11.90 a month) or Deezer Family ($19.48 a month).

#5- YouTube Music

youtube music homepage

🎧 Number of active users: 80 million

In September 2022, YouTube announced that it had launched its music streaming service in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and five other markets. YouTube Music is available as a standalone subscription ($9.99 a month), and the service is also included in the YouTube Premium plan ($11.99 a month).

According to some estimations, YouTube Music has around 100 million tracks in its catalog, including albums, singles, videos, remixes, and live performances. Paying users can take advantage of ad-free playback, audio-only background playback, and the ability to download songs for offline playback.

YouTube Music has been criticized for having a disorganized user interface and lacking some popular music that’s readily available on competing services, but both of these issues will likely be resolved in the future.

Other Popular Music Streaming Services In The Middle East

Aside from the above-described heavyweights of the music streaming industry, there are several other platforms listeners in the Middle East should consider. These platforms stand out by offering unique features, approaches, or content.

Tidal

Tidal launched in the United Arab Emirates in February 2022, offering its collection of over 90 million songs and playlists. What sets this music streaming service apart from competitors is its focus on high-fidelity sound.

If you consider yourself to be an audiophile (or at least someone who can tell the difference between a low-bitrate and high-bitrate file), then you’ll appreciate the ability to stream in their original quality or lossless FLAC. Tidal also supports innovative immersive sound formats like Dolby Atmos or 360 Reality Audio.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a music streaming service that allows users from around the world to effortlessly upload their audio tracks and reach large audiences of listeners eager to discover talented artists before they make it big.

The service is based in Germany, and it’s estimated that its servers store more than 200 million tracks, so you’re guaranteed to never run out of music to listen to. In addition to listening, SoundCloud encourages its users to like, comment, and generally become active members of its vibrant community of music lovers.

Gaana

Over 3.4 million Indian expats are estimated to be living in the UAE alone, so it’s great that India’s largest commercial music streaming service, Gaana, is available worldwide. The service has more than 200 million monthly users, and it provides access to around 30 million songs.

Gaana is the most affordable music streaming service described in this article, priced at just $1.20 per month within India and $3.99 per month outside India. Unfortunately, there’s no free tier because Gaana is a subscription-only service.

Conclusion

The music streaming industry in the Middle East is thriving and projected to reach new heights in the coming years. Listeners in the region have many different platforms to choose from regardless of if they want to enjoy the greatest global hits or Middle Eastern classics. In this article, we’ve described the top 5 best music streaming services currently available while throwing in several extra recommendations for you to consider. If you’ve found what you’ve been looking for, you can kick back, put on some tunes, and let the music take you on a journey of discovery and relaxation.

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Guides

Getting Started With Google Gemini: A Beginner’s Guide

Learn how to use Google’s powerful AI chatbot, Gemini. Explore its unique features, get tips for effective prompts, and see how it compares to ChatGPT.

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getting started with google gemini a beginner's guide

Google Gemini, a large language model (LLM) that outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4 in many benchmarks, has been available in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region since February 2024. This guide is aimed at those who have yet to try it as well as those who are currently wondering whether they should cancel their ChatGPT subscription in its favor. We provide a comprehensive overview of its capabilities and a brief comparison with its biggest rival.

What Is Google Gemini?

Born from the evolution of Google’s AI initiatives, Gemini, formerly known as Bard, is a state-of-the-art chatbot developed by Google. This LLM initiative was Google’s answer to the fast-rising popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Gemini brings to the table a suite of capabilities we’ve come to expect from large language models:

  • Multi-Modal Understanding: Gemini is natively multi-modal, meaning it can understand, operate across, and combine different types of information including text, code, audio, image, and video.
  • Sophisticated Reasoning: Gemini’s reasoning capabilities enable it to think more carefully before answering difficult questions, leading to significant improvements over just using its first impression. This is particularly useful in fields requiring complex problem-solving abilities.
  • Advanced Coding: Gemini can understand, explain, and generate high-quality code in over 20 programming languages. It excels in coding benchmarks, making it a powerful tool for developers.
  • Multi-Language Support: Gemini’s translation abilities and its support for numerous languages help break down communication barriers. This is especially valuable in a globalized world, making both work and personal interactions potentially smoother.
  • State-Of-The-Art Performance: Gemini Ultra (used in Gemini Advanced) has outperformed human experts on the MMLU benchmark, a massive multitask language understanding test, scoring 90.0%. It exceeds current state-of-the-art results on 30 of the 32 widely-used academic benchmarks.

While Gemini was introduced with the ability to generate images through Google Brain’s Imagen 2 text-to-image model, these image generation capabilities are currently disabled because the feature created a controversy after flooding the internet with historically inaccurate, racially-biased images.

Google Gemini Availability

Currently, Gemini supports more than 40 languages, including Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish, among others, and extends its reach to over 230 countries and territories, with Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Tunisia all being on the list.

Besides the standard version of Gemini, which uses Google’s Pro 1.0 model, there’s also Gemini Advanced, which is based on the Ultra 1.0 model. This more sophisticated version of the LLM is available in more than 150 countries and territories in English. Again, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Tunisia are all supported. Unfortunately, Gemini Advanced is optimized only for English, so its responses in other languages can be a hit or miss.

How To Use Google Gemini?

Getting started with Google Gemini, whether on desktop or mobile, is a straightforward process:

On Desktop:

1- Visit The Gemini Website: You can find it at gemini.google.com.

2- Sign In: Click on the Sign in If you have an existing Google account and are older than 18 years, then you can simply use it to sign in. If you don’t have one already, this is the time to create it.

google gemini sign in

3- Accept The Terms Of Service: Read and accept Google Gemini’s Terms of Service by clicking more, followed by I agree on the subsequent page.

google gemini terms of service

4- Start Using Gemini: After clicking Continue, you will be directed to the Gemini page.

google gemini prompt

5- Message Gemini: Type your question or search term into the search box and press enter. Await Gemini’s response, which will be generated based on the input provided.

google gemini response

On Mobile:
  • Android: As an Android user, you can download the Google Gemini app from the Play Store, or you can use the mobile version of the gemini.google.com website.
  • iOS: Unfortunately, there’s currently no dedicated Google Gemini app for iOS, but there’s a Gemini tab will appear at the top of the Google app.

Top Tips For Google Gemini Beginners

One of the biggest advantages of conversational AI systems like Gemini is their intuitiveness. You can literally just start asking questions and issuing commands, and Gemini will do its best to understand and respond appropriately. However, to truly harness the power of Google Gemini, especially if you’re just starting out, it’s important to keep a few key tips in mind:

  • Double-Check Information: Click the Google icon below any response from Gemini. This feature allows you to quickly verify the accuracy of the information provided using Google Search.
  • Provide Feedback: Use the thumbs up or down icons to give feedback on Gemini’s responses. This simple action helps Gemini learn from your preferences, continually improving the accuracy and relevance of its future replies.
  • Listen To Responses: For those who prefer auditory learning or simply wish to hear the information, click the speaker icon at the top of a response. This feature converts text to speech, allowing you to listen to Gemini’s replies.
  • Leverage Multi-Modality: If you’re stuck explaining something in words, try supplementing your query with an image or reference a piece of code. Gemini’s understanding of different input types can lead to more nuanced assistance.
  • Break Down Complex Tasks If you have a complicated problem, try breaking it into smaller, sequential steps. Gemini can assist with each stage, making the whole process more manageable.
  • Experiment With Prompts: Don’t be afraid to rephrase questions or provide additional context to guide Gemini in different directions. You may be surprised by the insights you uncover through a slight change in wording.

ChatGPT vs Google Gemini: Which Is Better For MENA Users?

With both Google Gemini and ChatGPT being available in the MENA region, users have unprecedented access to some of the most advanced AI chatbot technologies. Deciding which platform best suits your needs depends on various factors, including pricing, features, and how well each integrates into your daily digital routine. Here’s a breakdown to help you make an informed decision:

Service: Model: Pricing: Features:
Gemini Free Gemini Pro 1.0 Free Access to Gemini Pro within supported countries with a Google account.
Gemini Advanced Gemini Ultra 1.0 $19.99/Month Access to Ultra 1.0 LLM and all Google One subscription benefits, including 2 TB of cloud storage.
ChatGPT Free GPT-3.5 Free Access to GPT-3.5 with basic OpenAI account registration.
ChatGPT Plus GPT-4 $20/Month GPT-4 access with browsing and analysis features, and DALL-E capabilities for image generation.

Gemini presents a compelling option for users deeply embedded in Google’s ecosystem or those looking for a value-packed subscription. With the Google One AI Premium plan, you can enjoy access to Gemini Advanced and 2 TB of cloud storage space for use across Google’s suite of products, which includes Gmail, Google Docs, and more. Best of all, you can currently get two months of the Google One AI Premium plan for free, so there’s no reason to not give it a try.

On the other hand, ChatGPT shines with its extensive feature set, especially with DALL-E for image generation and the ability to create and train custom GPTs. Despite what artificial LLM performance benchmarks say, ChatGPT’s answers are typically more accurate and relevant than Gemini’s, but they do take longer to generate, and there’s a fairly strict usage limit (40 messages every 3 hours). Unfortunately, OpenAI doesn’t offer a free trial version of its ChatGPT Plus plan, but you can play with the free version of ChatGPT without any limitations.

Conclusion

Google Gemini is a fascinating addition to the world of conversational AI, and it’s already available to users across the MENA region. With its advanced capabilities — from multi-modal understanding to sophisticated reasoning and multi-language support — it presents a good alternative to ChatGPT for those in the Google ecosystem as well as those who have a need for another AI companion in their.

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