Riyadh Music Week 2025: The Saudi capital steps onto the global music stage
In partnership with Riyadh Music Week
By Nathan Coles
Music has always been part of Saudi Arabia’s cultural heartbeat, from the syncopated rhythms of Al-Ardah and Samri to the poetry-led storytelling traditions that shaped generations of musicians. What’s shifting today isn’t the existence of that heritage, but the scale and visibility of its next chapter.
Riyadh Music Week opens with that balance in mind: a meeting point between the sounds that have defined the Kingdom for centuries and the creative momentum of one of the world’s youngest populations. For 10 days, the Saudi capital becomes a gathering place for artists, producers, technologists, and thinkers who are shaping what this evolving music landscape, local and global, looks like.
Powered by the Saudi Music Commission, the week highlights a country where tradition and future sit side by side. Saudi Arabia’s rising generation, digital-native, globally connected, and culturally rooted, is pushing its music scene outward while carrying its history forward.
Heritage in Dialogue With Innovation
The programme is built around four themes that reflect the Music Commission’s long-term vision: talent, scene, impact and innovation. But those pillars also represent the broader story of Saudi artistry: classical instruments merging with electronic production, folk rhythms sampled into contemporary beats, and a scene defined as much by memory as by reinvention.
Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Music Commission, captures this duality: “Riyadh Music Week 2025 is our invitation to the world to experience the vibrant pulse of Saudi Arabia’s music landscape.
“This platform is where global and local voices meet, from artists and producers to educators and policymakers. It embodies the spirit of cultural exchange and shared creativity that defines today’s global music scene.”
The City as a Stage
The Music Makers Summit is a real highlight, a gathering of international and regional partners exploring how education, technology, and cultural policy can support musicians in a fast-evolving industry. Discussions around digital tools and emerging business models sit comfortably alongside panels that spotlight Saudi’s artistic lineage, whilst workshops open up opportunities for young people to learn new instruments.
Fringe transforms old and new areas of the city into open creative spaces where labels, studios, and collectives curate their own line-ups. These neighbourhood performances capture the spirit of Saudi’s youth culture; grassroots, collaborative, and rooted in community. They also highlight how the country’s musical identity is expanding without erasing the traditions that shaped it. For the first time, Riyadh Music Week will take over the outside spaces of Riyadh with music filling the air from the metro stations to heritage sites and beyond.
The closing weekend brings SOUNDSTORM, one of the region’s largest live events, featuring global names like Post Malone, Cardi B, Swedish House Mafia, DJ Snake, Pitbull, Halsey, Young Thug, Balqees, and more. The juxtaposition is intentional: a modern super-production set against a backdrop of a city with deep musical memory. It reflects the duality that defines today’s Saudi scene, old rhythms and new frequencies existing in the same cultural space.
A Continuum, Not a Beginning
Riyadh Music Week simply amplifies a story that has been unfolding for generations. Since 2020, the Music Commission has built pathways that honour both the past and the future: education routes, studio support, licensing frameworks, and a growing network of venues that allow musicians to develop sustainably and authentically.
The week brings that ecosystem into focus. It’s not about creating a scene from scratch; it’s about giving a platform to a creative generation that is already here, connected to its roots, hungry for new sounds, and ready to shape how the region fits into the global music conversation.
Audiences can expect a mix of free entry, registration-only sessions, and ticketed shows across the city. Fringe events will run across multiple venues. Industry participants can follow updates on programming and venue information through Riyadh Music Week’s official channels and on the website www.riyadhmusicweek.com.