Southeast Asian pop acts gain ground on streaming charts
Spotify and radio data show local artists taking larger shares of top songs in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
4 min read
Local pop artists are taking a larger share of Southeast Asia’s streaming charts, with acts from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand drawing listeners who once favored Korean, Japanese and Western music. Data compiled by French music analytics platform Soundcharts shows a sharp rise in homegrown performers in weekly Spotify top 10 rankings from 2021 through the first half of 2026.
In Indonesia, Soundcharts found that local artists’ share of Spotify’s weekly top 10 climbed from 39 percent to 97 percent over that period. In the Philippines, the share rose from 31 percent to 81 percent, while Thailand moved from 71 percent to 76 percent.
Radio charts show a slower but similar shift, according to Soundcharts. Local artists’ share of weekly top 10 radio tracks increased from 29 percent to 55 percent in Indonesia, from zero to 5 percent in the Philippines, and from 38 percent to 65 percent in Thailand.
Filipino listener Jaycer Bajo told Al Jazeera that his own listening has changed from mostly Western music to mostly Philippine artists. He cited P-pop groups including ALAMAT, BGYO and BINI, all of which released debut singles in 2021.
BINI reached a milestone in April when it became the first all-Filipino girl group to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, according to Al Jazeera. Bajo said those acts draw on K-pop, J-pop, Western pop, R&B and hip-hop while using Filipino themes and languages.
K-pop’s model still looms large
Cod Satrusayang, a Thai film producer who works with musicians on soundtracks, told Al Jazeera that Thai artists have become more distinct in recent years after a long period when T-pop and Thai music often followed Korean and American styles. He named YOUNGOHM, MILLI and Joey Phuwasit among his preferred Thai acts.
Satrusayang said K-pop helped prove that Asian pop could find large audiences beyond the region. South Korea’s industry has built a global business since Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became a breakout hit in 2012, while groups such as Blackpink and BTS have reached prominent US and international stages, according to Al Jazeera.
The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, a South Korean government body, reported that the K-pop industry earned $893 million overseas in 2023 through album sales, streaming revenue and performances. Satrusayang told Al Jazeera that K-pop’s success has encouraged Thai studios and independent artists to think internationally.
Digital music revenue is also rising in several Southeast Asian markets, according to Statista analyst Julia Stoll, whose data was shared with Al Jazeera. In the Philippines, revenue from digital music, including streaming, downloads, streaming advertising and podcast advertising, doubled from $93 million in 2021 to $180 million in 2025.
Stoll’s data showed Thailand rising from $132 million to $204 million over the same years, while Indonesia increased from $164 million to $264 million.
Social platforms and regional ties
BGYO members told Al Jazeera that social media is central to their work alongside training with South Korean and Filipino coaches. Member Nate Porcalla said the group posts on TikTok, shares dances and jokes, and interacts with fans through comments.
Mary Ainslie, a Southeast Asia culture and media researcher at the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo campus in China, told Al Jazeera that the pop boom is developing alongside economic growth in the region. She said K-pop offered local industries both inspiration and a working model for reaching global audiences.
Singapore and Malaysia remain exceptions in parts of the data. Soundcharts found that Western music and K-pop still dominate Singaporean and Malaysian radio, as well as Singapore’s Spotify playlists.
Malaysia has shown more interest in regional acts, Soundcharts found. Malaysian artists’ share of Spotify’s weekly top 10 rose from 1 percent in 2021 to about 8.3 percent in the first half of 2026, while regional artists increased from 5 percent to 45.7 percent.
Tsurezure Lab, an independent researcher and data analyst cited by Al Jazeera, found that Indonesian artists’ share of Malaysia’s Spotify weekly top 50 rose from 18 percent in 2023 to about 22 percent in early 2026. The researcher attributed the trend to cultural and language overlap between Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as the presence of Indonesian workers in Malaysia and other Asian countries.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.