ASEAN Music Showcase Festival will be held online

The ASEAN Music Showcase Festival (AMS) in its second edition will be holding its 3-day event online in September.

The festival’s showcase will go online from September 11 to 12 on YouTube while featuring performances by artists across the region. A private networking event will follow the showcase on September 13 and will also be holding virtual speed meetings to provide opportunities to new artists to connect with global music industry professionals.

The festival presents co-organizing countries Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, with Cambodia and Vietnam in addition to the lineup.

According to the AMS co-founder Piyapong “Py” Muenprasertdee, the Covid-19 pandemic gives a unique opportunity for artists and festival organizers.

The director of educational, governmental, and overseas partnership of Bangkok-based music company Fungjai, Py, said that due to the pandemic, a lot of showcase festivals worldwide are transitioning online which saves the artists from the effort and the expense of travel and accommodation in order to be able to join. Both the international music professionals and talent buyers were also jumping on this virtual online landscape as well which gives opportunities to the more export-worthy artists.

Py explained that the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced them to organize the showcase festival online due to restrictions. However, he has expressed his hopes to have the festival organized physically and have the host rotated every year when 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.

Malaysia’s Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA), the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), and US-based music distribution, publishing, and licensing company TuneCore co-presented this year’s edition.

Music Copyright (Thailand) along with festival partners Golden Melody Awards & Festival and LUCfest in Taiwan, as well as Global Toronto in Canada and Live at Heart in Sweden also supported the festival. For more information about the second edition of ASEAN Music Showcase Festival, visit their official website.