Spotify Changes Taste Profiles as Anghami Reveals Summer 2026 Streaming Trends

Streaming platforms continue to change how listeners discover music and how artists reach audiences.

Spotify is giving users more control over how kids’ and family music affects their personalized recommendations, while Anghami’s latest summer data shows strong streaming activity for both established Arabic stars and emerging artists.

The two developments highlight different sides of the streaming business: personalization and listener control on one platform, and regional music consumption on another.

Spotify Lets Users Exclude Kids’ and Family Music From Their Taste Profile

What Is Spotify Changing?

Spotify is rolling out a new global mobile setting that allows Free and Premium users to exclude kids’ and family music from their Taste Profile.

The feature is designed for listeners who regularly play music for children but do not necessarily want those songs to influence their own recommendations.

For example, a parent might play nursery rhymes, children's movie soundtracks or family TV themes while spending time with their children. With the new setting turned off, those listening sessions can remain part of the listening experience without shaping the user's personalized music recommendations.

Will Kids’ Music Still Be Available on Spotify?

Yes.

Turning off the setting does not remove kids’ or family music from Spotify.

Users can still search for the music, listen to it and add it to playlists. The difference is that those streams will no longer influence the user's personalized recommendations and taste-based experiences.

Will It Affect Discover Weekly and Daily Mix?

Yes.

Spotify says the setting prevents kids’ and family music from influencing recommendation experiences including Discover Weekly and Daily Mix.

The change also affects Wrapped, meaning eligible listening to kids’ and family music will no longer influence certain taste-based Wrapped results, including top songs and artists.

Does the Spotify Change Apply to Previous Listening?

Yes.

One of the notable parts of the update is that it is retroactive.

Once the setting is turned off, previous listening to kids’ and family music is also excluded from the user's Taste Profile and related recommendations. Spotify says it can take up to 48 hours for the change to appear in personalized recommendations.

Why Is Spotify Making This Change?

Spotify says the update is designed to give parents and guardians greater control over their listening experience.

The company has already introduced tools allowing users to exclude individual tracks and playlists from their Taste Profile. The new kids-and-family setting expands that control to a broader category of music.

The change also comes alongside Spotify's expansion of managed accounts for younger listeners, which give children their own personalized listening environment and Wrapped experience.

Anghami Reveals Strong Summer for Arabic Music

Which Artists Reached No. 1 on Anghami During Summer 2026?

Anghami's latest data shows that seven artists reached No. 1 on the platform during summer 2026.

The artists highlighted by Anghami are:

• Amr Diab

• Tamer Hosny

• Mohamed Hamaki

• Tamer Ashour

• Cairokee

• Angham

• Tul8te

The results show a mix of established regional stars and a newer generation of Arabic artists reaching the top of Anghami's charts.

How Many Streams Did Mohamed Hamaki Receive?

Mohamed Hamaki's latest album generated 71 million streams on Anghami during the summer period.

The album also occupied 18 of Anghami's Top 20 positions within days of its release, according to the platform.

This represented the strongest streaming performance among the releases highlighted in Anghami's summer report.

How Did Other Major Artists Perform?

Anghami reported the following streaming figures for several major releases:

ArtistStreamsMohamed Hamaki71 millionAmr Diab53 millionTamer Hosny44 millionTamer Ashour30 millionCairokee28 millionTul8te23 million

Anghami also reported that Tamer Hosny's album achieved the platform's strongest 48-hour album debut of 2026.

Is Tul8te's Performance Significant?

Tul8te's results show the continued presence of emerging artists alongside established Arabic stars.

His recent albums and singles generated 23 million streams on Anghami, while his track Garee2a Awy remained at No. 1 for several weeks.

His performance provides an example of how streaming platforms can give newer artists the opportunity to compete for attention alongside some of the region's most established names.

Do These Figures Represent the Entire Arabic Music Market?

No.

These figures represent Anghami activity and should not be interpreted as measurements of the entire Middle Eastern or Arabic streaming market.

Different platforms have different audiences, catalogues, markets and consumption patterns. Therefore, Anghami's data provides a view of activity on its own platform rather than a complete measurement of regional music consumption.

What Do These Two Streaming Developments Mean?

The Spotify and Anghami developments highlight two different ways streaming platforms are shaping the music industry.

Spotify is giving listeners more control over how their listening data influences recommendations, particularly when family listening is mixed with personal listening.

Anghami's summer data, meanwhile, provides insight into which artists and releases are attracting significant listening activity within its MENA audience.

For artists, labels and music companies, both developments reinforce the importance of understanding how streaming platforms use listening data, recommendations and charts.

For listeners, personalization tools increasingly allow them to influence what platforms learn from their listening habits.

For the wider music industry, regional platforms such as Anghami continue to provide valuable insight into how Arabic music is performing in the digital market.

What Should the Music Industry Watch Next?

Several trends will remain important as streaming platforms continue to evolve:

• Greater user control over personalized recommendations.

• More sophisticated taste and recommendation systems.

• The growing importance of regional streaming platforms.

• Increasing competition between established and emerging artists.

• Greater use of streaming data to measure audience behaviour.

• The continued growth of Arabic music across digital platforms.

As streaming becomes an increasingly important part of the global music ecosystem, both listener data and regional consumption trends are becoming valuable indicators of how music is discovered, consumed and promoted.

Art City follows developments across music, streaming, technology, distribution, royalties and the global music industry.