RIYADH: Billboard Arabia, a platform dedicated to covering music, culture and entertainment, has announced the launch of Sounds of the Land, an initiative that pays tribute to the landscapes of the Arab world, celebrating the region’s rich natural beauty through music.
To bring this first-of-its-kind project to life, Billboard Arabia analyzed maps and used topographic techniques to extract data from five different regions in the Middle East and North Africa.
This data was then transformed into unique sounds and carved onto vinyl recordings, allowing the diverse landscapes to be heard as an artistic expression for the first time.
These sample sounds offer the music community an opportunity to unlock their creativity and passion, Billboard Arabia said in a press release.
Billboard Arabia invited artists and music producers to join this journey by creating their version of one-minute tracks inspired by Sounds of the Land. The goal is to have the sounds of these iconic landscapes featured and credited in future chart-topping hits.
The samples have been made available for download on the website soundsoftheland.com, and on Billboard Arabia’s official Soundcloud account, soundcloud.com/billboardarabia. They can be remixed and re-worked to create a sample bank to be made available for music enthusiasts globally to use in the future.
The website features 20 samples that showcase the beauty and diversity of the Arab world, from vast green landscapes and valleys to sand dunes, mountains and much more, all while utilizing unique sounds from the topographies of iconic locations across the MENA region.
These samples include sounds of AlUla, Tafilah, Tinghir, the Kadisha Valley, and Luxor to name a few.
As part of this initiative, Billboard Arabia announced partnering with gamma., a modern media and technology enterprise founded by CEO Larry Jackson and President Ike Youssef, to create a unique body of work spotlighting Arab music culture.
This partnership, with the engagement of the music community at large, is expected to see the production of a 10-track Sounds of the Land album. Each song will have its moment as all ten will be released separately throughout the year, according to Billboard Arabia.
Billboard Arabia has become a go-to destination for Arab artists and Arabic music enthusiasts. This is due to its ongoing efforts to develop the music market in the MENA region and support for emerging and established artists, enabling them to reach a wider audience within the region and beyond.
