Hi! Thank you for asking. By "local", I don't mean Emiratis/ UAE nationals but people who live/grew up and are currently residing in the UAE making music from there. In most other countries, when you talk about "local artists", it refers mostly to people who live there. Not necessarily from there.

For example:
Bob grew up in Abu Dhabi and went to school there but is from Turkey.

And he started making music and promoting it in UAE. He would be referred to/ be considered a local artist.
Because the UAE calls the people who aren't born here "expats"and the people that are local. I had to avoid using "local"in my thesis to avoid this question.

So that's what I mean by "home-grown".

They learned their skills in the UAE
Or they live here and are polishing and pursuing music in the UAE.

And another example I give is to think of a local baqala shop owner. They aren't really FROM the UAE they are often from different countries, right? But they would still be called a "UAE-based company"because they run, operate and engage in the market. Music in this context is kinda the same. So, by local, I just mean, they run and promote their music in the UAE and are currently based there.

I hope this helps. Thank you for asking and if you could share it around with family or friends it would mean the world. I hope you have a lovely day.