After the leadership debate in television drama during Ramadan among stars, followed by a similar debate in box office between several artists, including Ahmed El-Awady and Mohamed Emam, the debate has now moved to musical albums that the Arab public received in the summer season.

This week, three albums were released consecutively, starting with artist Tamer Ashour's album 'Merayet El Hob', which included 12 new songs, followed by Tamer Hosny's album 'Mesh Hatekrar', containing 14 songs, and the next day Amr Diab's album 'Habeetak' was released, featuring 12 new songs.

Despite the simultaneous release of promotional posters for the albums, a crisis emerged after Tamer Ashour announced the withdrawal of his album shortly after its release from the Anghami platform due to disputes with its management, with talk of removing all his content from it soon, before he announced the next day that the issue was resolved and his new album was back.

Tamer Ashour releases a new album in the summer season (via his Facebook account)

Tamer Hosny announced on his social media accounts that his album topped Anghami charts in 13 countries in the Middle East, achieving 5 million listens in the first two days of its exclusive release, confirming that it 'achieved the highest reach rate in Egypt on the app in more than two years,' according to data published by the platform's management, which the artist shared with the public.

The three stars started posting clips of the released songs via videos shared by the public on their social media accounts, a step reflecting their interest in highlighting audience interaction with the new albums, while Amr Diab, through his official accounts, did not engage in discussion about the songs, merely releasing them consecutively.

The names of some of Diab's songs, along with his name, topped search lists on platform X in Egypt, with discussions and divisions over the songs he presented and their lyrics, which was noticeable on social media among his fans.

In this context, art critic Mohamed Abdel Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat that releasing three musical albums in the same week is a paradox that should be noted, because releasing more than one album at the same time pushes each singer to try to prove their leadership of the scene in different ways, whether through platforms, view counts on YouTube, or even by topping trends on social media.

He added: 'Although the public becomes the biggest beneficiary of the availability of diverse musical works at the same time, listening to what suits them and satisfies their taste, it sometimes causes sensitivity among artists, making time gaps in releases, similar to what happens in cinema films, the best solution.'

Promotional poster for Amr Diab's album (via his Facebook account)

An opinion supported by music critic Mustafa Hamdy, who told Asharq Al-Awsat that the idea of leadership through platforms has become important for a considerable number of singers, due to their desire to attract more media attention or highlight their success before the public, noting that the real bet is not on temporary leadership in listening rates, but on how long the songs remain with the audience and continue to be circulated after a period of release, something many do not care about at present.

Hamdy added that Amr Diab's album, for example, has become an icon of the summer season, with a large fan base in the Arab world, and his songs receive attention upon release, noting that 'the release of Tamer Hosny's album just hours before Amr Diab's album certainly had a clear impact on Hosny's album (Mesh Hatekrar), and if it had been released earlier or later, the situation would have been different.'

Hamdy also touched on the double standard of some artists in dealing with electronic platforms according to the listening rates of their songs upon release, explaining that 'some praise the platforms and consider them a criterion for judging success when their songs top, while they may later accuse the same platform of being subject to electronic committees if they do not top the listening rates, which makes the final judgment on any new work dependent on the real audience after some time has passed since its release,' as he put it.