🎙️ Opening
🎵 Do you know how powerful music is?
💆 It’s there when you need a break.
💔 It keeps you company through heartbreak.
🌏 It can even become a source of power for a country.
👀 No, you didn’t hear that wrong.
🎶 Music doesn’t just bring people together. It can also generate economic value.
💰 That’s exactly what many countries in Southeast Asia are trying to tap into, one of them through live entertainment experiences.
🎧 So how can music have the power to do all of that?
🎵 Let’s dive into it.
🧭 Hello and welcome to The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast. I’m Dilla Sunarya. This is where we slow down the headlines and make sense of the stories shaping Southeast Asia.
🎵 Music Is Powerful Because...
🎤 Quick question: how many concerts have you attended this year?
🖐️ Can you still count them on one hand?
🤷 Or have there been so many that you’ve already lost track?
🎬 Well, I wouldn’t blame you.
🎵 For many people, music is a bit like food.
🎧 It’s something we consume every day to express our emotions and make sense of different moments in life.
🤷 Think about it.
💔 Going through a breakup? You’re probably listening to Ne-Yo’s So Sick on repeat.
😤 Frustrated with politics? System of a Down’s B.Y.O.B. suddenly feels very relatable.
🎵 Whatever the mood, there’s usually a song for it.
✨ And once a song captures us, we’re often willing to go much further than simply pressing play.
✈️ We buy tickets. Book hotels. Sometimes even cross borders just to experience it live.
🤝 Why do we do that? Because music is personal.
🖐️But somehow, it also connects people in a universal way.
🎤 And that’s where music becomes more than entertainment.
🌏 Southeast Asia Is Becoming a Music Powerhouse
📊 Let me show you just how powerful music has become in Southeast Asia.
🎧 According to Spotify, Indonesia generated 23.2 billion streams on Spotify’s Top 200 chart in 2025.
🌏 That’s almost double the Philippines’ 14.2 billion streams.
📈 And even more than Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore combined.
🎶 But what’s interesting isn’t just how much people are listening.
🎵 It’s what they’re listening to.
🇮🇩 In Indonesia, mainstream Indonesian pop remains dominant. Independent singer-songwriters continue to thrive, while hipdut, a blend of hip-hop and dangdut, is gaining popularity.
🇵🇭 In the Philippines, OPM, or Original Pilipino Music, continues to grow, while Filipino girl groups inspired by the K-pop model are attracting increasing attention.
🇹🇭 In Thailand, Thai pop and Thai hip-hop are enjoying a strong rise in popularity.
🎵 What’s happening here is fascinating.
🏠 Local music remains king in its home market.
🌏 But at the same time, Southeast Asians are increasingly listening to one another.
📈 According to Spotify’s Managing Director for Southeast Asia, Gustav Back, artists such as Thailand’s Jeff Satur and the Philippines’ Dionela and BINI are gaining audiences across neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia.
🇮🇩 Indonesian artists are doing the same, from Bernadya’s emotional pop songs to the viral hipdut hit Garam & Madu, which has charted strongly in Malaysia.
🌏 In other words, Southeast Asia’s music scene is becoming increasingly interconnected.
🎵 And that’s exactly why the live music business looks so promising.
🎤 Even Southeast Asia has also become an important launchpad for international artists.
🌟 Artists like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Benson Boone, and Billie Eilish have all found some of their fastest-growing and most passionate audiences right here in the region.
💰 Music Is Big Business
🎟️ And if we talk about money, the numbers are pretty impressive.
📈 The Southeast Asian live entertainment market is estimated to be worth nearly US$6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach around US$10 billion by 2034. Music is expected to remain the largest segment.
🇸🇬 Singapore understood this when it secured Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in 2024.
💰 The government reportedly supported the deal through grants.
📊 The result? Singapore was estimated to generate up to US$500 million in tourism-related revenue from the concerts.
🇹🇭 Thailand is now pursuing a similar strategy.
🎶 This month, Thailand’s Cabinet approved an agreement to host the Belgian electronic dance music festival Tomorrowland for five years starting in 2026.
💵 The Thai government plans to invest more than 2 billion baht, around US$61.5 million, to host the festival.
💡 The expected revenue hasn’t been publicly announced.
📈 But it’s safe to say Thailand believes the return will be worth the investment.
🎫Music Events Worth Watching
🤔 So, after hearing all that, are you planning to attend one?
✨ Some of them offer much more than music, combining art, nature, culture, and even wellness into the experience.
🌱 In Thailand, besides Tomorrowland, there’s Wonderfruit Festival, which takes place in December.
🎨 Alongside music performances, visitors can explore art installations, workshops, wellness programs, and sustainability initiatives.
🇮🇩 Meanwhile, Indonesia remains a major stop for international artists touring the region, including BTS, Avenged Sevenfold, and My Chemical Romance.
🎪 The country is also home to some of Southeast Asia’s biggest local festivals.
🎤 Among the biggest are Pestapora and Synchronize Festival, both scheduled for September and October in Jakarta.
🇲🇾 Meanwhile, Malaysia offers something completely different.
🌳 The Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak combines live music, cultural workshops, and traditional performances in a rainforest setting, with Mount Santubong as its backdrop.
📅 Unfortunately, this year's festival already took place in June. But if it sounds like your kind of festival, there's always next year.
🎙️ Closing
🎵 So that's how powerful music can be.
🎵 It may feel personal.
🌏 But its impact goes far be one individual playlists.
🚀 And for some countries, it’s becoming part of a bigger strategy for growth.
🎫 So if you could choose just one concert or festival in Southeast Asia, which one would it be?
🎙️ I’m Dilla Sunarya, and this has been The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast, where we slow down the noise and follow the region’s compass.
📬 If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter at thesoutheastasiadesk.com and join us again next weekend for stories to linger over, one weekend at a time.
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