Spotify Launches in the Middle East and North Africa

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – As expected, today Spotify announced that it has launches its service in 13 new markets in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing the service to 78 markets in total. The new markets are United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories and Egypt.

is launching in the territories with a fully Arabic user experience, offering music fans local and international music and locally-curated playlists, including Today’s Top Arabic Hits, Oriental Chill Vibes, and Arabic EDM. Users in the territories have both free and subscription models available.

“I am super excited to share with you that, from today, Spotify is now available across the Middle East and North Africa,” said Cecilia Qvist, Spotify’s Global Head of Markets. “Spotify is launching in MENA with a full Arabic service, dozens of locally-curated playlists for every mood and moment, and access to a full catalog of millions of songs, for both our free and premium users. Music fans will also enjoy Spotify’s personalized music recommendations from day one, which will help them to enjoy, discover and share new music from both local and international artists simply and easily.”

Today also sees the launch of Spotify’s Arab Hub , as part of its Global Cultures initiative, following the recent launches of the Latin hub and Afro hub.