Project to Help Structure the Palestinian Music Industry

In Palestine, as is the case across the Near and Middle East, the music industry is booming. The creativity of Palestinian artists contributes to the intense cultural activity seen since the 1990s and especially over the last ten years.

Since the 2000s, Palestinian artists, music productions, online platforms and collectives have been making their mark by influencing local culture and arts and building an international reputation. According to SACEM, Palestine has the highest per capita number of creators and artists among Arab countries. The music industry is seen as a cultural engine and has considerable economic potential: one artist promoted can create up to ten jobs, as there are many professions that revolve around artistic creation (sound engineer, production manager, artistic director, music programmer, as well as jobs in production and marketing, etc.).

Some Palestinian artists are famous across the region and internationally. But the Palestinian music industry faces various challenges that prevent it from realising its full economic, cultural and social potential:

• The lack of an enabling legal environment for the rights of artists undermines their ability to produce, distribute and promote their music, especially with marketing agencies and platforms. This makes it impossible for most artists to earn a living from their creations
• The limited availability of training for sound technicians, the small number of actors in the music industry and the lack of coordination among them, the low level of public support to the sector, and the lack of access to regional and international opportunities hold back the development of its ecosystem. Yet it is highly creative and the deployment of digital technology could facilitate its development

Many of these challenges are endogenous and not related to the conflict. Structuring and exporting the Palestinian music scene, and more generally its art scene, contributes to promoting a positive image of Palestine abroad and thereby helps break away from the vision of a fragmented society.

In this context, Expertise France is implementing a project which aims to help structure and develop Palestine’s music ecosystem and thereby support musical creation, especially by Palestinian young people.

To this end, Expertise France’s activities are based on three lines of action:

1. Support for all music creation in Palestine, by enabling artists to earn decent incomes from their creations and protecting them.

2. Development of entrepreneurship and professionalisation of the sector.

3. Innovation and development of digital technology.

This project also aims to promote artistic career choices, make them accessible, and give credibility to them, while showcasing Palestinian heritage and identity. It especially targets young people, but also supports the social and economic inclusion of women, who are actively involved in music production.

The scope and innovative nature of the project, which puts the spotlight on the positive and creative face of Palestinian youth, is helping Palestine shake off an image systematically related to the conflict.