FAQ
What is Esdara?
An open-source directory of the latest releases by independent Arabic artists. We link to music on YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud and Suno; we don’t host any songs. The site is in beta, so expect rough edges.
How do I add my music?
Every artist, album and song is a Markdown file in our GitHub repository. Open a pull request as the contributing guide explains; once merged, your releases appear with the next site update.
Do I have to use GitHub?
For now, yes. GitHub keeps things simple to run for a small, volunteer-made site. We’ll work on making it easy to add and edit your music without going to GitHub in the future. Until then, if GitHub is new to you, open an issue with your links and we’ll add your music for you.
How often is new music added?
Not on a fixed schedule. New music is added at irregular times by an automated data pipeline built with Pipo. We’re still figuring things out; scheduled updates are coming soon.
Where does the artist information come from?
Most artist pages are compiled automatically, with AI tools, from public sources, so they may contain mistakes. Each artist page says so.
I found wrong information about an artist. What do I do?
Click “Edit this page on GitHub” at the bottom of the artist’s page, or open an issue and we’ll fix it.
An artist is missing. Can you add them?
Yes. We have no bias about which music is listed. Send a pull request, or open an issue and we’ll add them on your behalf.
Can I contribute? Are AI-made pull requests OK?
Everyone is welcome to send pull requests, and AI-made ones are welcome too. The repository includes instructions for AI coding agents (AGENTS.md) and an agent skill for adding music.
Who owns the songs?
Their artists. We only index links. To have your music removed, open an issue.
Is Esdara a business?
No. Esdara is non-profit and will always remain non-profit. If we ever run ads or take sponsors, it will only be to improve the service, and we’ll be open about it.
Can I copy the site?
Yes. Esdara is apolitical, pro free speech and pro copyleft: the whole source code is free to clone to build a similar site, under the GNU AGPL v3 (if you run a modified copy publicly, share its source the same way). Note that we don’t own any of the music or artist photos; they belong to the artists or their respective owners. Cloning the content folders gives you no rights to them, since we have none to give. The NOTICE file has the details.
Does the site track me?
Only if you agree. We use Google Analytics to count visits, and it loads only after you accept the cookie banner; you can change your choice any time from “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page. There are no accounts, and a platform’s player only loads when you press play.
Who made Esdara?
Rami GB, on weekend nights, with various AI tools: mostly Claude Opus 5.5, plus DeepSeek for data fetching.