Algorithms and digital platforms have reshaped the route Arabic songs take to reach audiences. Artists can now record work with limited resources and publish it by phone on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, then build a following before production companies take notice or they enter the concert market. This has fuelled debate over whether their experiences represent a lasting musical shift or a wave that may quickly recede.
From production companies to digital platforms
Traditionally, the production of a song passed through production companies and studios, then radio and television, alongside censorship and classification bodies that had considerable power to determine which works reached listeners.
The new equation can begin with the artist, their phone and a digital platform, moving directly to the audience, with production and concert companies joining the process after it has become widely popular. In this model, algorithms have become a new gatekeeper for music. Platforms push content that generates high engagement to larger numbers of users, allowing an unknown artist to become widely recognised within a short period.
This means that the power of selection is no longer confined to production and broadcasting institutions, but it has not moved entirely to the artist or listener either. The way platforms operate has become an influential factor in determining how far a song reaches. Bypassing traditional channels does not appear to be a phenomenon that began with the internet alone.
Ahmed Adaweya and breaking the traditional route of song
In the 1970s, Ahmed Adaweya emerged outside the dominant musical mould associated at the time with names such as Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez. Cassette tapes helped his work spread beyond the usual channels, taking songs from record shops to cars, homes and weddings, and bypassing some of radio and censorship’s barriers.
Adaweya’s experience reveals a pattern that recurs with new generations: a different voice may initially face opposition from the older generation before being embraced by a younger audience and eventually becoming part of the musical memory. While cassettes played this role at an earlier stage, phones and digital platforms now perform a similar function in changing the relationship between artist and listener.
Al Shami builds an audience before production companies
Al Shami’s career offers an example of this shift. He began publishing videos and songs made with basic resources on TikTok and YouTube, managing to build a following before production companies became involved in his work. His name spread more widely after he released the song “Ya Leil Ya Ein” in 2023, with views exceeding 70 million within two months.
In 2024, Al Shami topped Billboard Arabia with the song “Wein”, then entered the Guinness World Records in 2025 and 2026, according to the episode examining the changes under way in the music industry. His experience reflects the ability of platforms to take an artist from limited production to broad popularity before passing through the institutions that previously represented the compulsory starting point.
Saint Levant and TUL8TE redefine the complete artistic image
The episode also examined the experience of Saint Levant, who was born in Jerusalem and lived in more than one country. This background is reflected in work that brings together Arabic, English and French, presenting a multifaceted musical identity that blends Palestinian and Arab elements with global influences. As this approach gained popularity, some of his work faced criticism over the way it portrayed women.
TUL8TE emerged in 2023 wearing a white mask that concealed his face, making mystery a central part of his artistic image and allowing the song to precede the audience’s knowledge of its creator. In one of his projects, he recreated the atmosphere of Amr Diab’s film “Ice Cream in Gleim”, evoking the image of the rebellious young man that emerged during the 1990s.
TUL8TE did not merely revive that image; he combined it with several musical styles, including bossa nova, flamenco, trap, R&B and pop. This model brings together the revival of an older artistic memory and the use of new tools for reaching audiences, at a time when visual image and the mystery surrounding an artist have become parallel elements of the musical work itself.
Innovation in Arabic song predates the emergence of modern platforms, as the experience of Ziad Rahbani, particularly his collaboration with Fairuz, demonstrates. Ziad did not seek to erase the image associated with Fairuz during her work with the Rahbani brothers. Instead, he reconfigured it and expanded the space in which her voice could express itself, using language, music and characters closer to everyday life.
Ziad Rahbani also worked with new voices, including Salma Masfi, and introduced forms that differed from the prevailing musical mould. This experience supports the idea that Arabic song was never static, and that many works that later became part of the musical memory began as subjects of debate and criticism.
Yet the number of views does not guarantee that a song will remain in the memory; time remains the foremost test of its endurance. Works that receive millions of views today may disappear after decades, while others retain their presence, as the artist, critic, production company, algorithm and listener all play overlapping roles in shaping Arabic song in each era.
