Adam Granite, CEO, Universal Music Group AMEA, has spoken about the growing impact of rising artists from Asia, as well as the opportunities in the region for international acts.
Granite appeared at the Music Matters 2026 conference at the Hilton Singapore Orchard. It followed a performance by Malaysian pop group Dolla (pictured with Granite). The UMG-signed act are set to tour Europe.
The conversation, Music Is Universal, A Look At The Region’s Exciting Musical Future, covered a wide range of themes including Granite’s view of how music in the region is evolving and travelling globally, as well as the ever increasing need for labels to evolve their offer to artists and songwriters.
“I would say Asia has benefited from the growth of K-Pop, J-Pop and now C-Pop emerging from China, which is really leading the way,” said Granite. “But I think what is also really driving the growth here is you have such a young, engaged, mobile-first demographic, which has really leapfrogged the home broadband phase of penetration and that has led to a hyper social, incredibly engaged economy.
“For example, five South East Asian markets alone account for 1.2 billion platform MAUs [monthly active users] – an outsized footprint for a region with a population comparable to Europe, and Indonesia has the most MAUs in the world for TikTok, which is pretty incredible.”
With the example of Vietnamese repertoire securing its second biggest market in the US, Granite noted that streaming has enabled music to travel more easily.
“We’re seeing entire new genres and subgenres emerging right before our eyes,” he said. “It’s a sign of the dynamism of the music ecosystem that whole new subgenres are developing as we speak.”
“The gatekeepers are gone – K-pop has broken down the barriers for repertoire from this region traveling the world,” he added.
You see a lot of global songs and hits start in this part of the world and that really opens up exciting opportunities
Adam Granite
UMG has expanded into management in the region as part of its growing footprint and evolved offer to artists and songwriters.
“[Since I was last on this stage seven years ago] I’ve worked with our SEA CEO Calvin Wong to really build out our label infrastructure organically and through M&A, and strategic partnerships,” he said. “I’ve always wanted us to be deeply embedded in all the corners of the region because I think that’s what’s needed to truly understand the trends, spot growing genres, and make the most of opportunities. Calvin and I have always been aligned on having a comprehensive presence.”
“One of the things we noticed during this phase that was really lacking here was the management service,” he added. “You know, I think gone are the days where you would do a traditional 360 deal and the record label would show up on the album release date. Today we think those deals should probably be called 365 deals because it's really about being there throughout the year for those artists. Across South-East Asia we’re now managers to over 130 artists – that’s us providing a service artists have been asking for.”
In addition, Granite said the region has become one of the “key epicentres for global virality”.
“You see a lot of global songs and hits start in this part of the world and that really opens up exciting opportunities because it's not just the artists in this part of the world that have noticed clearly,” he explained. “Global superstars now look to this region and lean in here. And actually what that then leads to is a healthy two-way street which is emerging where you have these western artists who are engaging with these markets to tap into that virality. But the local market can then also engage with those Western artists to help build audiences overseas too. So it's a really healthy two way street that's evolving.”
