BANGKOK, THAILAND — The second edition of ASEAN Music Showcase Festival (AMS) kicks off with week-long activities spotlighting the thriving music scenes in the region aimed at fostering stronger and sustainable global connections amidst a pandemic-stricken industry and well after.
This year, AMS continues its program expansion with the latest addition of week-long panel discussions which began on Monday, September 6, featuring respected music industry leaders in Asia and beyond.
Deeper exchanges
AMS co-organizers recognize the importance of collaboration. Having built their professional and creative relationships through participating in international showcases and conferences through the years, one of the integral parts of these events is the panel discussions.
The esteemed panelists represent various music showcase festivals, agencies, labels, managements, and other music organizations and companies, including LUCfest, Sun Eater, DMZ Peace Train/Flipped Coin Music, The Venopian Solitude, Seen Scene Space, MASPAM Records, SCAPE, Warner Music Asia, and Tunecore.
Guest speakers and moderators will delve into topics including touring around Southeast Asia (September 6); identifying and differentiating consumer versus showcase festivals (September 7); dissecting case studies of successful ASEAN artists (September 8); the roles of independent and major music labels in today’s musical landscape (September 9); and a candid talk from AMS organizers themselves (September 10). The panel discussions will stream live on AMS’ Facebook daily at 8 PM, Singapore time.
Celebrating multi-genre, multicultural music artistry
As a showcase festival untethered to conventional methods of traditional or consumer music festivals, it’s vital for AMS to match the right artists with the right kind of talent buyers. “Seeing it through my own experience, music conference and showcase festival delegates who are most active are the ones who energetically jump from venue to venue hoping to see as many bands as possible. So, for AMS we also try to select artists who have that same secret sauce but do not have to belong in the same genres,” shares co-organizer Piyapong ‘Py’ Muenprasertdee.
Over the weekend (September 11-12), AMS will broadcast genre-defying sets from 28 ASEAN artists from ASEAN, including indie-pop band Sobs and singer-songwriter Kitty Purrnaz, which were added as part of the Singapore artist lineup.
Cultivating opportunities
The final part of AMS 2021’s program takes place on Monday, September 13. The privately held virtual networking event aims to open doors for ASEAN artists to grow and expand their network. Delegates from the panel discussions and representatives from ASEAN-based Okhna Park, Berita Angkasa, Gelombang Maju Jaya, FFWD Records, Amity Asia, altspace.id, Tala Records Asia, The Wknd, TONGTONG Asia, Raising The Bar, Island Records Philippines, Indie Manila, GNN Entertainment Productions, Melt Records, Where Are The Fruits, Pulse City, HipHopDX Asia, Baybeats/The Esplanade, Speakerbox, Cat Radio & Cat Expo, Big Mountain Music Festival, Maho Rasop Festival, Coracle Festival, Locally Trapped Wildlife, Hanoi Community Radio, and 1900 Le Théâtr, Dusted Recordings, and Gig Life Pro will join in the virtual networking event.
International delegation (specifically East Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North America) comprise of MusicDish 独立小炒, New Noise, Sound of the Xity, Inter Idoru, Music From Okinawa, BIG ROMANTIC RECORDS, Highjinkx/Beeline Records, Golden Melody Awards, Tron Music, Clockenflap, Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO), This Much Talent, Club Media, Achord Agency, Earth Beat, Live At Heart, Smallfish Artist Management Agency, SXSW, Small World Music / Global Toronto, Beat House, and Jaded Media LLC.
AMS is brought to you by Fungjai, NYLON Thailand, and Bangkok Music City from Thailand; The Rest Is Noise PH from the Philippines; Steady State Records from Singapore; SRM from Indonesia; City Roars Festival from Malaysia; Baramey Production from Cambodia; and Monsoon Music Festival and Swan Zoo from Vietnam.
This year’s edition is co-presented by Malaysia’s Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA); the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB); the National Arts Council, Singapore; a US-based digital music distributor TuneCore; Singaporean NPO that supports youth, talent and leadership development, *SCAPE; and Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO).
The festival is also supported by Music Copyright (Thailand) Ltd. (MCT) and festival partners Global Toronto; Live at Heart; Golden Melody Awards & Festival; LUCfest; ZAshare; Sound of the Xity; Trans Asia Music Meeting (TAMM); and Institut français de Hanoi-L’Espace.
