Rise of the Asian Music Industry

In the era of the internet and streaming, the music industry has become more globally interconnected than ever. K-pop is one of the greatest testaments to that fact, with groups including BTS and BLACKPINK achieving international success circa 2018 and then segueing the genre from a region-specific industry to a worldwide phenomenon. 

But K-pop was just the beginning, as seen in this Luminate Intelligence report, Rise of the Asian Music Industry. The data-filled exploration lays out how four of the region’s key markets are poised to reach international listeners and themselves become prominent figures in the global music industry. 

Japan is now the second-largest recorded music market in the world despite the industry remaining domestically focused. But as other cultural exports, such as anime, find fervent audiences worldwide, Japan’s music industry is increasingly setting its sights on introducing J-pop to new markets. Similarly, China hopes to bridge the gap between its insular music market and the rest of the world — but with technology playing as much a part as its regional artists. 

In India, where the music business has historically been tied to the film industry, a combination of the pandemic halting film production and the rapid boom in music streaming has fueled the rise of an artist-driven music culture. With both local artists reaching more global fans online and international acts staging massive shows in cities including Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the country has quickly established itself as a promising emerging music market. 

Finally, South Korea has been a global music player for nearly a decade thanks to K-pop. But that success has left fans and the industry to decide what “K-pop” even means now that the genre has firmly reached its global era. These four countries are unique in terms of how globalization impacts their respective industries, but all are well positioned to take the lead in shaping the global music industry’s future.