Beyond postponed concerts, the Iran war also disrupted parts of the music business less visible to the public.
Record labels from the Middle East and North Africa saw campaigns shelved, video shoots cancelled and sponsorship activity stall, according to Rawan Al Dabbas, regional director at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents record company members worldwide.
The disruption, she says, underscored how interconnected the industry is.
“The main challenge is uncertainty and instability. It's something we have faced and overcome before, with what happened to the industry during Covid-19, when you basically saw the shutdown of concerts in most parts of the world,” she tells The National.
“It also served as a reminder of how tight the music ecosystem is here and how each strand of the industry complements the other, so if any part is disrupted, the whole thing is affected.”
The pressure comes as the region’s recorded music business continues to expand quickly. In its latest Global Music Report, IFPI said revenue in Mena rose by 15.2 per cent in 2025, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing music markets. Streaming accounted for 97.5 per cent of recorded music revenue.
“It is frustrating because we want to keep this momentum,” Al Dabbas says. “That year-on-year growth we are seeing is really about the work that happens behind the songs. It is the record label that often arranges the recording sessions, handles the marketing, connects artists with fans, works on setting up concerts and invests in new technology, whether creatively or for live shows.”
With the ceasefire holding, live events are gradually returning, setting up what could be a bumper season of concerts and events from September to the first quarter of 2027.
Al Dabbas says her organisation is currently assessing the scale of the disruption while keeping lines of communication open with both industry stakeholders and authorities, including the UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Economy.
“The discussions, particularly in the UAE, have been constructive because they want to understand the effects of the last few weeks – from the financial stability of our members and their activities to how best to buffer or support the losses they unfortunately had to absorb.”
Al Dabbas points to practical measures that could have an immediate impact, particularly for artists and companies operating on tighter margins.
“They can waive performance permits in some venues, which would support local artists who do not have the budget to perform without those discounts. It can be quite costly to get a permit to perform.”
That level of engagement, Al Dabbas says, reflects growing recognition among policymakers of the music business’s value, especially since IFPI launched its Mena chapter in 2022.
Beyond launching the Official Mena Charts across 13 markets, from Morocco to the UAE, the organisation has also been working with music licensing agencies, including the Emirates Music Rights Association, to improve how performance royalties are collected and distributed to rights holders.
“There is a real underestimation of the value of this work, because licensing is the foundation of any thriving music sector. The region is getting there, but there is still work to do in aligning that side of the business with international standards and local priorities” she says.
“Once we do that, we will have even better data to track what is really happening here and to back up what we already know: that music in the Middle East and North Africa is growing.”
In more practical terms, that credibility could help create jobs and encourage the establishment of more independent labels.
“It ensures more artists, labels and rights-holders enter the industry, creating more employment opportunities across the sector, as they know frameworks are in place to protect and monetise their creative work,” Al Dabbas says.
In that sense, while the recent conflict interrupted parts of the business, the conditions helping to drive its growth remain in place.
“The only thing that has truly changed is consumption. Some parts of the industry may be affected, such as concert promoters and live shows, but music has always found a way through different avenues,” she says.
“You have a young audience and they dictate where the music is going. You still have high digital adoption and increasing recognition for local talent. These are constants and they are not going to go away.”
