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Music of Qatar
Maqam-based art music, Turkish makam and aşık bards, Persian dastgah and radif, Arabic tarab, Sufi zikr, Kurdish dengbêj and Yemeni oud song.
Sung and searched in Arabic. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.
A brief history
History
The country's first musical troupe was created in Doha in 1966 by Abdulaziz Nasser Al Obaidan under the name Al Adwaa. One of the band's founding members was Ibrahim Ali, who is considered a pioneer in Qatari music and who specialized in playing the oud. In 1968, Qatar Radio introduced a music segment in its programming, mainly due to the efforts of Al Obaidan. In 1991, it was noted in Al-ughniya al-sha biyya f Qatar that there were at least 26 folk music bands, including several female ones. Many of the band members had full-time employment outside of music. Band expenses were paid for by royalties for appearing on Qatar Television and radio stations, as well as performing at events such as weddings. Among the most well-known artists of this era are Saeed bin Salem Al-Badie Al-Mannai, Rashid Almas, and Salem Faraj.
Qatar adopted its current national anthem, As-Salam al-Amiri, on 6 December 1996, shortly after Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani became emir.
Popular music
Contemporary music
Local music artists are subject to many barriers in Qatar, such as lack of awareness, high prices of recording studios and a deficiency of agents.
Many contemporary Qatari singers perform what is popularly known as khaliji ('gulf') music. Notable male artists in this genre include Fahad Al Kubaisi, the first artist out of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf to be nominated for a Grammy Award, Essa Al Kubaisi, Ali Abdul Sattar, and Bader Al Rayes. As a tribute to renowned folk singer Salem Faraj, Mansour Al-Muhannadi remade his song Blessed Be Our Eid, composed by Qatari poet Khalifa Jumaan. Qatar TV produced the music video for this song and aired it throughout Eid al-Fitr.
Read the full article: Music of Qatar Text under CC BY-SA 4.0
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What Qatar is listening to in 2026
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Live radio
Radio from Qatar
Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.
Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.