At the All That Matters conference held in Singapore, Shridhar Subramaniam, President of Sony Music Asia and Middle East and Chair of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), delivered an insightful discourse on Asia’s expanding role in the global music industry. Emphasizing the region’s vibrant cultural diversity and localized music scenes, he outlined how these elements are rapidly shaping the future of music on a worldwide scale.
Subramaniam pointed to the IFPI’s initiative of launching weekly charts across six Asian countries as a groundbreaking benchmark for measuring success in an extraordinarily diverse region. He likened Asia’s cultural and linguistic variety to a “stratified Grand Canyon,” where deeper exploration reveals new colors, sounds, and artistic expressions.
One striking example he shared was Indonesia’s traditional dangdut music, a folk-rooted genre that has been revitalized by urban youth into a modern hybrid called “hipdut.” This fusion of old rhythms and contemporary beats has dominated Indonesian charts throughout the year, prompting Sony Music to invest early with a dedicated label and acquisition strategy. The genre’s trajectory mirrors that of reggaeton, which successfully crossed into Afrobeats and Punjabi music, exemplifying how regional styles can achieve global resonance.
The Philippines, with its Pinoy pop scene, is another burgeoning hotspot. Acts like SB19, inspired partly by the K-pop model but firmly localized, have amassed billions of streams and expanded into new markets like Japan through live tours and collaborations. Subramaniam also noted Thailand’s rising prominence and cross-border collaborations involving Korean, Japanese, and Chinese producers, underscoring the dynamic exchange within Asian music.
Despite the fragmented and competitive nature of the industry, Subramaniam stressed the importance of initial domestic success as a springboard to global breakthroughs. Drawing parallels to K-pop’s rise, he acknowledged that fervent home fan bases have been crucial in propelling artists onto the world stage.
With Spotify alone uploading over 135,000 new songs daily, the challenge of artist development has intensified. However, evolving strategies such as fan economies, live touring, and media syncs offer a diverse toolkit to help artists find their unique paths to success.
Looking ahead, Subramaniam remains optimistic about Asia’s cultural and economic influence in music. From contributing less than 7% to nearly 15% of the global market in recent years, Asia is poised to reach 20%, with hyper-local scenes increasingly shaping global culture through sheer volume and algorithmic power. The dominance of Indian and Latin American acts on platforms like YouTube illustrates this trend, suggesting similar patterns will emerge across other streaming services.
Asia’s music moment is here, fueled by cultural richness, innovation, and an unyielding drive from artists and fans alike — a phenomenon that Sony Music and Shridhar Subramaniam are proudly championing on the world stage.
