At All That Matters in Singapore, Sony Music Asia and Middle East president Shridhar Subramaniam spotlighted Asia’s fast-rising influence in the global music business, emphasizing cultural diversity, localization and the power of fan-driven economies.
Speaking with veteran music executive Ralph Simon, Subramaniam, who also serves as chair of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), pointed to the org’s launch of weekly charts across six Asian countries as “an amazing effort” that offers new benchmarks for measuring success.
“Across Asia, there’s a tremendous amount of obvious language diversity, cultural diversity,” Subramaniam said. “It’s almost like the stratified Grand Canyon. As it goes deeper, you’re suddenly revealing new cultures, new colors and new material.”
Subramaniam highlighted the evolution of regional genres into global formats, citing Indonesia’s folk-rooted dangdut music. Once played in villages, the style has been reimagined by urban youth as “hipdut,” blending traditional rhythms with modern beats. “If you look at the Indonesian charts now, pretty much for most of this year, it’s been one of these sounds that has been sitting on the charts, number one to number 10,” he noted.
Sony has invested early, launching a dedicated label and acquisitions strategy around dangdut. Subramaniam compared its trajectory to reggaeton, which crossed into Afrobeats and Punjabi music. “We’re seeing a similar thing with this,” he said.
The Philippines is also carving out a niche with Pinoy pop. Acts like SB19, modeled partly on the K-pop system but deeply localized, are drawing “billions of streams” and now expanding into Japan through live tours and collaborations. “They actually recently landed in Japan, worked with a sister company to try and build out a live tour, and collaborate with local artists,” Subramaniam explained.
Thailand’s growing importance was underscored by rising cross-border interest. “China is now starting to have an interest in Thai pop and Thai artists,” Subramaniam said, noting collaborations involving Korean and Japanese players as well as Chinese producers.
While global breakthroughs often start with pioneers, Subramaniam stressed that “it all starts with having success at home.” He added: “People forget that the rise of K-pop was fundamentally by home fans who propelled it outside of Korea. That’s a concerted effort, but they did that.”
With Spotify uploading 135,000 new songs daily, Subramaniam warned that developing artists is harder than ever. Strategies range from fan economies and live touring to syncs with television, film, gaming and influencers. “You now have a toolkit as wide as to what you can do,” he said. “The challenge is to find the map and the right road for each of these artists.”
Despite fragmentation, he remains bullish on Asia’s prospects: “Asia is having its moment, not just from a revenue but also a cultural point of view. About five to seven years ago, we used to account for less than 5% to 7% of the global market. Now we’re up to close to 14% and 15% and could potentially get up to 20%.”