Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, and the Gulf states. The modal system of Maqam and its Persian counterpart Dastgah underpin classical Arab and Persian music, while Turkish Arabesk and Egyptian Tarab define the region's mid-century pop.
Electronic & DancePsytrancePsychedelic trance: long, machine-driven 140-150 BPM tracks with fast 16th-note basslines, modulating leads, and outdoor-festival structure.
Hip Hop / R&BTurkish RapTurkish-language rap from the 1990s German-diaspora underground (Cartel, Islamic Force) through Ceza and Sagopa Kajmer's 2000s technique-peak to Ezhel's 2017 arabesque-trap breakthrough.
PopTurkish 90s PopSezen Aksu-authored, Tarkan-fronted golden-age Turkish pop of the 1980s-90s, capped by 'Şımarık' (1997) — a global Turkish moment — and Sertab Erener's Eurovision win (2003).
Rock & MetalAnadolu RockThe 1960s-70s Turkish psychedelic rock movement — Cem Karaca, Barış Manço, Erkin Koray, Selda Bağcan, Moğollar — that fused Anatolian folk melody with fuzz guitar and Hammond organ.
PopPersian PopPre-revolution Tehran's pop golden age — Western pop fused with Persian melody, banned after 1979.
Rock & MetalTurkish IndieLate-1990s onward Istanbul indie rock centred on Beyoğlu live houses — Duman, Adamlar, Kalben, Ceylan Ertem — deliberately independent of the Turkish pop industry.
Folk & WorldKaradeniz Music (Black Sea Regional)Turkish Black Sea coast folk — Trabzon, Rize, Artvin — built on the kemençe fiddle and tulum bagpipe, with fast horon dances in irregular 7/16 and 5/8 metres.
SacredTurkish Sufi MusicThe whole Turkish Sufi tradition — Mevlevi whirling, Alevi cem gatherings, ilahi hymns from Sunni tekke lodges — bearing the same modal makam system as Turkish classical.
PopArabesqueTurkish arabesk — the 1960s-onward working-class melancholic pop of Orhan Gencebay, İbrahim Tatlıses, and Müslüm Gürses, banned from state TV 1979-90 but the sound of a whole labour-migration generation.
