Asia News Network
Southeast Asia is turning concerts into economic engines, with countries fighting to host global stars, music festivals and major sports events.
Music concerts going gangbusters in Southeast Asia, countries vying to gain exclusivity in bringing in biggest star
As the population of middle-income earners with spare money to throw around grows in Southeast Asia, the market for “experience-based consumption” — spending on special trips, cuisine and activities, rather than tangible goods — is growing. Among these experiences, the live entertainment market generates significant economic uplift through inbound tourism as visitors flock to concerts.
This has sparked fierce competition among nations in the region eager to bolster their concert tourism industry.
Famous K-pop groups as well as American and European musicians perform just as frequently in the region’s major nations of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines as they do in Tokyo. Fans traveling to these nations to follow a favorite artist has become commonplace.
Live entertainment tourism brings economic benefits to hotels, restaurants, commercial complexes and transportation operators in the destination country. Photos and videos shared on social media during such trips also raise the host city’s profile.
Countries that have realized the immediate economic boost this tourism brings are stepping up efforts to attract major stars to perform there.
Singapore was the first to enter in this race. In 2024, authorities in Singapore gave Taylor Swift financial incentives equivalent to several hundred million yen per concert. The U.S. pop star made Singapore the sole Southeast Asian stop on her world tour.
Swift performed six concerts in Singapore — eclipsing the number of shows she did in Tokyo — and more than 300,000 tickets were snapped up. A majority of the concertgoers came from outside Singapore.
According to private-sector estimates, special demand generated by inbound visitors attending the concerts reached up to 500 million Singapore dollars (about ¥61.5 billion). This was estimated to be about 20 times the total amount of the financial incentives given to Swift’s side.
This contract was revealed by then Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Srettha acknowledged Singapore was “very smart” in the way it locked in Swift’s concerts, and he promptly launched a drive to attract big names to his nation, such as exempting equipment and other items from customs duties and supporting the issuance of visas for tour staff.
In Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, some lawmakers berated local authorities for not doing enough to attract world-famous artists to perform there.
Malaysia, which also has set its sights on becoming a magnet for music concerts, and other nations have followed suit by establishing systems featuring perks such as significantly simplified event application procedures and financial incentives for organizers of large-scale events.
Young populations an advantage
A bevy of low-cost carriers have extensive flight networks across Southeast Asia.
“The middle-class has a growing appetite for travel to experience live events,” explained Nithee Seeprae, a deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. “Exclusively hosting concerts and music festivals creates huge economic impacts.”
The median age of Southeast Asia’s almost 700 million people is about 30, which is far younger than Japan’s median age of about 50 years. The gap between Japan and the Philippines’ median age of 26 is wide enough to mark a full generation. Markets with many young consumers and vast spending power are also appealing to music artists.
During its 2024 tour, globally famous rock band Coldplay performed as many concerts in Manila as it did in Tokyo. This was met with some surprise by many insiders in Japan’s music industry.
In 2024, Thai mall operating giant The Mall Group opened UOB Live, a 6,000-capacity arena in a large commercial complex in central Bangkok. Voralak Tulaphorn, the group’s chief marketing officer, said, “K-pop groups have concerts here almost every month, and fans from China sometimes make up most of the audience.”
Distinctive music genres from each country in Southeast Asia, such as “Thai pop,” are gaining fans throughout the region through exposure on YouTube and other sources.
“Performances by K-pop stars and artists from elsewhere in Southeast Asia are rapidly increasing,” said a senior official from Populous, a global sports and entertainment facility design firm. “There is strong demand to build new stadiums and arenas.”
Western sports expand in Asia
Beyond music, major Western sports such as basketball and soccer are also seeing a stronger push into the Asian market, with organizers holding more official matches and exchange events in the continent.
By 2033, the live entertainment market, including sporting events, in Southeast Asia is forecast to reach $7.51 billion (about ¥1.16 trillion), a significant increase from the $4.38 billion in 2024, according to Deep Market Insights.
In the Asia-Pacific region, which includes Japan, China and India, the market is expected to expand to ¥11 trillion. The forecast has prompted the development of large-scale facilities capable of hosting sporting and other events in various locations.
Kai Tak Sports Park, which opened in Hong Kong last year, features a 50,000-seat stadium and a 10,000-seat arena. The venue’s primary strength is its geographical advantage, which allows it to draw crowds from southern parts of mainland China. The park also includes various facilities for residents to enjoy playing sports themselves.
In Singapore, an arena and stadium are under construction in Marina Bay, which is home to an integrated resort with a casino, further strengthening the city-state’s ability to attract events.
In Bangkok, UOB Live is managed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), a major U.S. sports and live entertainment company, among other entities. The large-scale Bangkok Arena, meanwhile, is being developed by The Mall Group.
Craig Grossarth, general manager of UOB Live who is from AEG, stated that the facility aims to offer a VIP experience to visitors, adding that these types of venues are essential for boosting urban competitiveness.
Each facility plans to raise the bar for hospitality through their luxury boxes, lounges and other amenities — full-scale introduction of these features has only recently begun in Japanese arenas. At the same time, the facilities in other Asian countries plan to ensure that event organizers have flexibility in their seating arrangement and that the venue’s acoustics meet world-class standards.
The momentum of Asia’s live entertainment market is only continuing to build.
Japan faces challenges in maintaining presence in region
Japanese artists have been performing live in Southeast Asia, and the music industry has launched initiatives to support their activities by organizing music festivals in various countries.
Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (SME) and Universal Music LLC established joint venture company NINE BY NINE Inc. in April. The new company will hold music festivals featuring Japanese musicians in cities across East and Southeast Asia from 2027.
It is rare for a record company to directly organize such events.
“We want to lay the groundwork for Japanese music to be enjoyed in Asia over the long term,” NINE BY NINE Senior Corporate Executive Ichiro Tamaki said. Tamaki is also a corporate executive at Universal Music. “We aim to provide an opportunity for artists who are on the verge of holding solo concerts in various countries to take a leap forward.”
NINE BY NINE Vice President Hidehiko Otani, also a director at SME, said, “Japanese culture, such as anime, has gained global attention, and we want to firmly establish music as well.”
When it comes to domestic strategies for inbound tourism, however, Japan has not yet established a system that generates synergistic effects beyond live performances, despite the numerous concerts by domestic and international artists held in Japan.
As the population declines and the aging population increases over the next 10 to 20 years, the presence of the Japanese music market in Asia is likely to diminish. In preparation for that time, Japan needs to take steps now to get young Asian consumers to develop a fondness for Japan.
Various barriers have been pointed out, such as the requirement for a Japanese mobile phone number for identity verification when purchasing concert tickets from overseas. Japan must improve its ticket sales system and establish a highly convenient system that allows for online reservations to be made simultaneously for such things as transportation, accommodation, tourism from Tokyo to regional areas, food and cultural experiences.
Japan also needs to establish a system capable of frequently hosting major sporting events popular in Asia. This includes games organized by the U.S. National Basketball Association, the National Football League and Major League Baseball, as well as European soccer leagues and World Cup matches.
Other countries have begun attracting foreign tourists by having a flexible mindset. For Japan to maintain its appeal, wisdom and ingenuity in branding the entire country as an attractive destination are indispensable.
Credits: TCA, LLC.