Deeper knowledge and insights into music rankings to bolster Anghami’s position as industry barometer of region’s music scene
Abu Dhabi, UAE – July 14, 2022: Anghami has announced an innovative update to its charts as it continues to enhance the platform and provide the best experience for its 70+ million users.
Anghami Inc. (“Anghami”) (NASDAQ: ANGH), the fastest growing music and entertainment streaming platform in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region, has upgraded its music charts algorithm to better reflect which tracks are most popular.
With more than 70+ million songs, Anghami’s charts are the main reference point for music consumption in the MENA region. The company has now upgraded its algorithm to ensure users and artists are kept up to date with the ever-changing streaming scene. Elie Habib, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Anghami, explains: “As we maintain our regional leadership in streaming technology, it’s important that we maintain transparency and keep our users up to date with exactly how our charts work and crucially, with what’s going on in the industry. We also realize how important these charts are as they affect artists’ careers and people’s listening choices every day, and so we want to ensure they’re not open to fraud or malicious attempts to manipulate listening figures.”.
The existing chart-generating algorithm had strict fraud checks built-in that sometimes mistook a user enjoying a song on repeat for a fraudulent activity. The new iteration is still able to detect fraud accurately while accounting for people playing a song on repeat all day long. It also takes into account those older tracks that suddenly resurface on social media and become popular again – not just the newest and latest song.
In this week’s chart, for example, Amr Diab, Marshmello x Nancy Ajram Duet and Assala are all competing to be top of Anghami’s global chart, however, older tracks such as Sia’s 2016 hit ‘Unstoppable’, Tom Odell’s 2013 ‘Another Love’, have also made it into the charts. Additionally, Wegz’ ‘El Bakht’ and Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ are both showing no signs of slowing down since their release.
“After hearing from artists across the region, from local and international music labels, and from loyal fans, with the help of our world-class engineering and data science teams, we’ve re-implemented our charts using the latest technology. Issued daily every morning, they’re now based on total plays of the previous day, not on unique users, and capped at 100 plays per user. There is also no difference between an old song from back in the day or a brand-new track that’s just come out; all are treated equally regardless of release date.” Habib continues.
Anghami continuously upgrades its algorithms to keep up with the rapid changes in music consumption trends. Many users of the platform – launched in 2012 and born from a desire to listen to music anytime, anywhere, and to share with friends – follow social media music trends, which often create a chart-topping viral sensation from a song released decades ago. There is no limit on the number of songs per artist or per album that can show in any given chart. The charts have become a reliable barometer of the state of the music industry in the MENA region – and Anghami’s industry-influencing weekly charts will continue to be released every Monday using the new algorithm.
Anghami continues to enhance its platform, as part of its commitment to providing an unparalleled user experience, driven by technology, to maintain and bolster its position as the leading music and entertainment streaming platform in the region.
Download the app now to check out the charts. Learn more at www.anghami.com.
About Anghami Inc.
The first, most-established and fastest-growing music technology platform in the Middle East and North Africa region, Anghami is the go-to destination for Arabic and international music, podcasts and entertainment. With an extensive ecosystem of music, podcasts, events and more, Anghami provides the tools for anyone to create, curate and share their voice with the world.
Launched in 2012, Anghami was the first music-streaming platform in MENA to digitize the region’s music. Today, it has the largest catalog comprising 72 million songs and licensed content from leading Arabic labels, independent artists and distributors, available for 75 million registered users.
Anghami has established 40+ telco partnerships to facilitate subscriptions and customer acquisitions, in parallel to building long-term relationships with, and featuring music from, major music labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and the Merlin Network. Anghami is constantly licensing and producing new and original content.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Anghami has offices in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo, and Riyadh and operates in 16 countries across MENA. It has recently expanded into the US and Canada, with Europe in the pipeline. It is the only service available in English, Arabic and French, and remains close to its customer base, not only thanks to its pan-regional presence but also via the 56 million user data points it generates every day.
To learn more about Anghami, please visit: https://anghami.com
Forward-looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Anghami’s actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “start,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside Anghami’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the impact of COVID-19 on Anghami’s business; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Anghami; changes in applicable laws or regulations; and the possibility that Anghami may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and other risks and uncertainties identified in Anghami’s registration statement on Form F-4 (File No. 333-260234) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which was declared effective on December 16, 2021, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by Anghami and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Anghami cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Anghami cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, Anghami does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.