ASEAN Music Showcase Festival 2021 adds two more countries, heads 3-day virtual event this September

ASEAN Music Showcase Festival (AMS) is slated to return on its second edition with an initiative to help regional artists stay connected with their fanbase and introduce themselves to new audiences despite the setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southeast Asia’s first collaborative intraregional music showcase festival will have its online premiere on September 11-12, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) via YouTube. Virtual speed meetings aimed to provide one-on-one networking opportunities between emerging regional musicians and global music industry professionals will be held as a private event on the following day, September 13, 2021 (Monday).

With the live music and entertainment industries being hit hard across the globe, AMS promises to offer an alternative but viable platform that connects global music networks to Southeast Asia, primarily the seven co-organizing countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand; with Cambodia and Vietnam further expanding this year’s programming with additional participating delegates and more up-and-coming and established local artists to the regional lineup.

AMS co-founder and Director of Educational, Governmental, and Overseas Partnership of Bangkok-based music company Fungjai, Piyapong ‘Py’ Muenprasertdee, shares that instead of waiting for the pandemic to end, the participating organizers of each country aim to help regional artists be proactive and put their music in front of potential talent buyers from all over the world. “Because of the pandemic, many showcase festivals around the world are going online, which means artists don’t need to spend money on travel and accommodation to join—and consequently, international music professionals and talent buyers need to hop on this virtual online landscape as well—opening the door of opportunity to more export-worthy artists.”

“We were conceived during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, so we weren’t able to organize the showcase festival physically and were naturally forced to organize it virtually,” Py explains. “However, we do hope to organize it physically and rotate the host country each year after the pandemic is over.”

AMS is co-organized 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), and US-based TuneCore, a leading digital music distribution, publishing, and licensing company with over 150 premium partners across the globe.

AMS is also supported by Music Copyright (Thailand) Ltd. (MCT) and festival partners Golden Melody Awards & Festival and LUCfest in Taiwan, as well as Global Toronto in Canada and Live at Heart in Sweden.

For more information about the second edition of ASEAN Music Showcase Festival, visit the official website.