Cairokee, Billie Eilish and More: These Are The Region’s Most Streamed Songs and Albums of 2019

By Guest Contributor On Dec 8, 2019

It has been an exciting year since the much-anticipated launch of Spotify – the world’s most popular music streaming service – in the Middle East and North Africa, which made browsing, discovering and sharing music easier than ever before for local music fans.

Spotify received a hugely positive response from Middle East and North Africa music fans on its launch. People were attracted by Spotify’s depth of catalog, with over 3 billion playlists and unique personalization features, such as Discover Weekly and Daily Mix. Upon its arrival to the regional market, Spotify became a very important strategic partner for the region’s artists and the music industry.

Today, for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa since its launch, Spotify is officially unveiling “Wrapped”, an annual end of year campaign which announces the leading artists, albums, songs and playlists on the platform. This showcases how 248 million people around the world have listened to and discovered music for the year 2019, taking a look at music, culture and streaming through the eyes of the fans and artists that made it all possible.

Last month, Spotify celebrated Amr Diab’s legacy and global impact with a billboard in Times Square and this year the pop icon is officially Spotify’s “Wrapped” 2019 most streamed artist in Egypt. Rounding out the five most-streamed artists this year were Billie Eilish; Post Malone; Cairokee and Imagine Dragons. This is not the first time for Cairokee to land a high position on Spotify’s top lists. The rock band took Egypt by storm with their remake of Umm Kulthum’s “Kan Lak Ma’aya” becoming one of the most listened to songs of the summer.

The year’s most-streamed song is “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, followed by Eilish’s hit track “Bad Guy”. “Without Me” by Halsey is the year’s third most-streamed track, while Cariokee’s “Kan Lak Ma’aya” was the fourth most-streamed song this year. Mohamed Ramadan’s viral hit “Mafia” made it to the fifth position of the most streamed tracks of the year.

On a global level, Billie Eilish had an earthshaking breakout year. The hitmaker’s album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” is 2019’s most-streamed album of the year on Spotify, marking the first time a female-led album has topped “Wrapped”. Ariana Grande, who released her immensely popular album “Thank u, Next” in February, rounds out the top three of Spotify’s most-streamed artist’s list. Egypt’s “Wrapped” female top artists list includes international stars Sia, Halsey, Camila Cabello, the sensational Sherine, and the legendary Fairuz.

A snapshot of the “Wrapped” 2019 Top Global and Egypt results can be found below.

Spotify can also reveal that, based on the number of streams in major cities since 2019, Cairo was the most musical city in Egypt. Spotify also found that Monday 11th November 2019 was the most musical day of this year when Spotify witnessed the most streams by Egyptian music fans.

Claudius Boller, Spotify’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa said: “Our first year in the Middle East and North Africa has been incredibly exciting and we have been thrilled by the response from music fans and the industry. Our launch in the Middle East and North Africa gave us the opportunity to offer local music fans access to a world of new music and genres, as well as giving local artists the opportunity to connect with a global audience of music fans on Spotify.”

Furthermore, later this week, Spotify will unveil personalized Spotify “Wrapped” lists which provide Spotify users with bespoke insights on the artists, songs and music genres they listened to most, as well as fun facts like how many minutes of music they heard and how many songs they “liked.” For the first time, listeners will be able to access this experience directly in the Spotify app on mobile and tablet, or via their website. Additionally, Spotify is creating share cards highlighting fans’ personal tastes making it available for them to post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat.

Spotify Wrapped 2019 Egypt Top Lists

Egypt’s Most Streamed Tracks

Egypt’s Most Streamed Artists

Egypt’s Most Streamed Female Artists

Egypt’s Most Streamed Male Artists

Spotify Wrapped 2019 Global Top Lists

Most Streamed Artists

WE SAID THIS: The region is definitely taking the music scene to the next level!!