The AXEAN Festival (2020~)
- hub asean
- Nov 14, 2025
- 4 min read
Southeast Asia (SEA) is often celebrated for its tropical landscapes, rich culinary heritage, and vibrant cultures—but rarely for its music scenes. Too often, the region is overlooked or generalized as part of “greater Asia,” despite being made up of nearly a dozen distinct countries, each with its own languages, religions, and cultural identities. Not only is Southeast Asia different from the broader Asian context—it’s remarkably diverse even within itself.
Economically, the region is united under ASEAN—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—an alliance with a combined population and GDP that ranks among the top five globally. Much like the EU, ASEAN fosters regional cooperation and integration, including in the cultural and creative sectors.
Yet, due to colonial legacies and ongoing socioeconomic disparities, Southeast Asia’s music industries have long remained fragmented and underdeveloped. The region has often felt disconnected from the modern global music business. But from where I stand—as someone working in and passionate about this space—Southeast Asia’s music cultures are anything but lacking. They are rich, vibrant, and bursting with untapped potential. With the right platforms and cross-border collaboration, Southeast Asia could become one of the most exciting voices in the global music conversation.
The AXEAN Festival is a prominent Southeast Asian music export platform, combining a music conference and showcase festival.
Launched in 2020 during the pandemic by music professionals across Southeast Asia, AXEAN Festival has successfully hosted both virtual (2020-2021) and in-person (2022-2024) events. Over five editions, it has featured 200 artists from 20 countries, attracted 240 delegates from 32 countries, and reached over 46,000 virtual viewers, along with close to 15,000 live attendees.
With its growing international reputation, AXEAN has firmly established itself as Southeast Asia’s leading music export platform. Its first venture into a new market beyond its original home base in Singapore and Bali garnered widespread acclaim among attendees, music industry professionals, and participating artists.
July 31, 2025 – Bali, Indonesia – AXEAN Festival 2025 has officially announced its final lineup for this year’s edition.
The stage is set for the first intra-regional showcase festival in Asia, as it welcomes 43 music acts across three stages at Jimbaran Hub in Bali, Indonesia, from September 13 to 14, 2025.
Completing the final round of performers are some of the most prominent and emerging names in the Indonesian music scene, including acclaimed singer-songwriter Alex Teh, metal/hardcore quintet AVHATH, beloved folk duo Banda Neira, rising indie act Gozal, alternative rock outfit Grizzly Cluive, genre-bending band Morbid Monke, indie rock powerhouse Sandstorm of Youth, melancholic indie group sourmilk, multi-talented musician Xandega, and a special collaboration set between Bandung-based punk rock band Dongker and acclaimed singer-songwriter Jason Ranti.
The announcement also brings an exciting mix of Asian talents, such as trailblazing Malaysian R&B artist Alextbh, Laotian musician BIGPOM, Thai indie rock act LEMONY, Thai rock band Cvptain Morgans, Japanese singer-songwriter Kiwako Ashimine, J-indie artist Mettya Bizin (めっちゃ美人), Vietnamese indie/dream pop project Milkiwav, Vietnamese indie act Nghịch, and Filipino genre-fluid band Weejah.
These artists join an already diverse roster that includes Billyrrom., Blindfold, Capt’n Trips and the Kid, Confined White, DJ Love, DOOR PLANT, Fauxe, Feel Koplo x Toxicdev!, Jangar, Johnny Mafia, Kelompok Penerbang Roket, La Cima Cartel, L’Alphalpha, Lustbass, MANJA, Ministry Of, One Click Straight, Shanghai Qiutian, Shye, SIMILE LAND, S.O.L.E., SU SAN, Terrer, Valentina Ploy, and XANDEGA.
Partners
The Orchard, a prominent music distribution company operating in over 49 cities worldwide, has expressed its support for AXEAN Festival through a strategic partnership. Both music entities share a vision of empowering artists to broaden their horizons and access new music markets beyond their turfs. Together, both AXEAN and The Orchard are keen on dismantling barriers and enabling Southeast Asian creative communities to showcase their music on a global stage.
As Prahlad Prabhas, The Orchard’s Senior Director, Southeast Asia, explains it, “This [collaboration] aligns perfectly with The Orchard’s philosophy of helping artists grow outside their home markets. We’re thrilled to be part of that journey this year by sponsoring a stage. For us, it’s more than just about the music—it’s about celebrating the creativity and energy of this region and sharing it with the world.”
TuneCore is the leading independent development partner for self-releasing artists to build audiences and careers – with technology and services across distribution, publishing administration, and a range of promotional services. TuneCore Music Distribution services help artists, labels, and managers get their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, YouTube Music, and more than 150 download and streaming stores and platforms worldwide, while retaining 100% of their sales revenue and rights for a low annual flat fee. TuneCore Music Publishing Administration assists songwriters by collecting royalties stemming from the use of their compositions – including mechanical royalties from download and streaming services, performance royalties from radio, TV and live performances, and synchronization royalties from film, TV and advertising – in over 200 countries globally. TuneCore is based in Brooklyn, NY, and is owned by Paris-based Believe, one of the world’s leading digital music companies.
