SOUTHEAST ASIA — BINI performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 10, 2026. The group is the first all-Filipino girl group to perform at the festival.

Digital music revenue in the Philippines doubled from $93 million to $180 million between 2021 and 2025. During the same period, revenue in Thailand rose from $132 million to $204 million, while Indonesia saw an increase from $164 million to $264 million.

Local artists' share in Spotify's weekly top 10 also grew in several Southeast Asian countries between 2021 and the first half of 2026. In Indonesia, the share increased from 39 percent to 97 percent. The Philippines experienced a rise from 31 percent to 81 percent, and Thailand's share grew from 71 percent to 76 percent. Local artists also gained prominence on radio, with their share in the radio weekly top 10 in Indonesia increasing from 29 percent to 55 percent, and in Thailand from 38 percent to 65 percent.

Jaycer Bajo, a call center worker living north of Metro Manila, said he has shifted his music consumption. "Over the past five years, I think I've switched from 70 percent Western music to, right now, around 70 percent Philippines and then 30 percent elsewhere," Bajo said. He also noted a surge in local music production after 2020. "There were bands and groups in the Philippines that were making quality music before 2020, but it just boomed after that here."

Filipino groups such as ALAMAT, BGYO, and BINI released their debut singles in 2021. These groups incorporate Filipino themes and languages into their music, drawing from influences like K-pop, J-pop, Western pop, R&B, and hip-hop. "They borrowed structure from K-Pop, but the talent elements are homegrown," Bajo said.

Mary Ainslie, a researcher of culture and media in Southeast Asia at the University of Nottingham's Ningbo Campus, attributed K-pop as a model for regional artists. "K-pop has demonstrated that Asian-based pop culture is globally viable and attractive; this has provided both inspiration and a model of innovation for local industries," Ainslie said. She added that these cultural "waves" evolve in conjunction with economic growth. "All of these different 'waves' adapt and innovate for both regional and global consumers and appear in tandem with the economic growth of each nation."

Cod Satrusayang, a Thai film producer, noted a similar trend in Thailand. "For the longest time, T-Pop and Thai music were just an emulation of Korean and American style, and only recently, the last five years or even less, we see Thai artists forging their own identity," Satrusayang said. He also stated that international financial success has stimulated the Thai creative sector. "Industry, the studios and independent artists see that it's possible to make really good money going international, and it's fuelling a whole renaissance in the Thai creative space."

Thailand was designated an upper-middle-income country by the World Bank in 2011. Indonesia has been designated an upper-middle-income nation since 2023.