ABSTRACT
Music has long been a medium to influence public opinion in countries where literacy rates are low, as they were in Egypt when Om Kolthoum and Abdel Halim were commissioned to sing in support of Nasser and Sadat, and even in 2011 when a new wave of songs during the uprising brought growing appreciation of underground music and independent artists not previously accepted in the commercial music sector. This chapter explores how platforms like YouTube and Anghamy purveyed diverse messages and genres, including Mahraganat, in a way not available to former dissenting singers such as Sayyid Darwish, or Shaikh Imam with Ahmed Fouad Negm.
