Home› Middle East & Caucasus›Middle East & Anatolia›Saudi Arabia
Music of Saudi Arabia
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.
Roots and traditions
Overview
Saudi traditional music is quite limited. However, the migratory lifestyle of the bedouin militated against carrying excess baggage, including musical instruments. Simple rhythms, with the beat counted by clapping or striking together everyday implements formed the basis of the music. Instruments like the double-reeded ney or the stringed rababa were sometimes used, after being obtained in cosmopolitan cities such as Jeddah. However, music is considered "sinful" or "haram" by Wahhabi Muslims, including Salah Al Budair who is the Imam of the Grand mosque in Medina. This is based in part on certain Ahadith which speak negatively of non-percussion musical instruments and the idea that music and art are distractions from God. Some Muslims also believe it is sinful for songs to make any mention of women and for women to be involved in the composition of music. Particularly in the early days of the current Saudi state, religious authorities were quick to repress music other than the rhythmic percussion that still dominates contemporary Saudi music.
Popular music
Rock/metal music
Rock and metal artists from Saudi Arabia include The AccoLade and Al-Namrood.
Read the full article: Music of Saudi Arabia Text under CC BY-SA 4.0
Playing now
What Saudi Arabia is listening to in 2026
Articles
No articles for Saudi Arabia yet. Save a Markdown file to content/articles/ with
country: Saudi Arabia in its front matter.
Live radio
Radio from Saudi Arabia
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.