MDLBEAST Soundstorm: The festival trying to change Middle Eastern musical culture
Saudi Arabia isn’t known for being a hotbed of musical culture nor a location with a history of allowing artists to express themselves freely. However, MDLBeast is on a mission to make a significant change through its festival, Soundstorm.
Once upon a time, it would have seemed unfathomable for a festival to take place in the Kingdom, a country that holds strong conservative values that are at odds with the history of music festivals borne out of the spirit of Woodstock. Thankfully, Riyadh is edging closer to the Western world. In recent years, the city has hosted an array of sporting events, including boxing matches featuring Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, and Soundstorm is another progressive step they are taking.
It would be unsavoury to suggest Saudi Arabia is a perfect place, despite the country becoming less insular and opening itself up to the rest of the world. While it’s now possible for people to visit historically rich areas such as Riyadh, the death penalty has still been handed out to 72 people in 2022 so far for “discretionary offences” despite Mohammed bin Salman making public promises to clamp down on the matter.
Women’s rights have also historically been a grave problem for the nation. Still, since 2017, swathes of legislation have been put in place, finally hemming closer towards equality. Astonishingly, before then, women were still unable to drive, and since that wrong was eventually put right, single, divorced, or widowed women have also been granted permission to live independently in a house without consent from their male guardian.
Considering these are relatively new laws in Saudi Arabia, the fact that a music festival is also taking place speaks volumes about how, at long last, the country is finally accepting modernity. The inaugural edition of Soundstorm was in 2019. This year, Riyadh will also be hosting the second edition of the XP Conference in November (28th-30th), which acts as the warm-up for the Middle East’s biggest festival.
Nada Alhelabi, Strategy Director at MDLBEAST, is the woman behind the conference and believes it is integral in helping the company achieve their long-term ambitions. In a statement, she said: “XP is one of the main pillars of MDLBEAST as it aims at empowering the local scene, develop talents in music, art, & culture and technology. Through XP we are able to promote the region and accelerate positive change in diversity and gender equality through advocacy groups, research and knowledge-led insights. We can take things to the next level through the second edition of the XP Music Conference.”
Meanwhile, Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST, commented: “We are all about empowering talent, giving them opportunities, building the scene, and putting on legendary events – to be confirming a third year of bringing this to life with the third year of SOUNDSTORM is very special. Every year we look to make the festival bigger and better so we’re already planning, talking to artists, looking at new and exciting activations and we can’t wait to welcome Saudi and the world to the big stage later this year.”
Although the line-up for the festival features international dance heavyweights such as Calvin Harris and David Guetta, there’s also an emphasis on promoting local talent, including women. MDLBeast aims to one day create its own roster of superstar DJs and use Soundstorm as a platform to show off their talent to the world.
The festival has received fair criticism because of its funding from the Saudi Arabian government, which is responsible for many human rights atrocities, including the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. As a result, the XP Conference and Soundstorm are a morale maze for many artists and music fans. MDLBeast acknowledges change is necessary and believes the events will help accelerate equality. These could be the requisite tools to shift Middle Eastern culture into progressive territory. Therefore, let’s hope MDLBeast stay true to their word and it’s not another litany of false promises.
Visit here for more information on the events.
