AUSTRALASIA
by Christie Eliezer
AUSTRALIA
Q Prime, ATC, Reeperbahn, CMA, SXSW Join BIGSOUND
More live music brands including Q Prime, ATC, Reeperbahn festival, SXSW and CMA are at BIGSOUND in Brisbane (Sept. 2-5) as speakers and buyers.
The second announcement of speakers on June 25 also saw Mexico identified as an export market, the launch of Q Prime Australia, and the spotlight on six Australian artists conveying the 2025 theme “Connections That Count.”
Drew Bennett, who leads Q Prime Australia, is seeking acts from Australia and other APAC territories looking for global representation.
Building on current success in Mexico by Aussie acts FISHER and CYRIL, Cynthia Flores (Asecendente/MUSICMEX) and Malfi Dorantes (MalfiCo/MUSICMEX) speak on approaching a market with a population five times that of Australia’s, and which replaced Australia this year in the Top 10 of recorded music markets.
With the largest amount of domestic country music acts working to break the globe in the next 18 months, providing insights are CMA’s director of international relations and development Meredith Goucher, Nashville-based artist manager Nikki Boon of Neon Coast (notably of Kane Brown whose arena run in November followed headlining the CMC Rocks festival two years before) and previously announced Rachel Lloyd of C2C Festival, UK.
Of the latest Aussie culture-movers to speak, First Nations rappers Briggs and Kobie Dee exchange how they elevate their cultures.
Multi-instrumentalist indie artist Tash Sultana, who runs her own booking agency and record label, undertook North American in June, and sold out Red Rocks a third time in under five minutes. She has over 1 billion Spotify streams.
Also discussing their singular journeys are rapper Mallrat who reached No. 1 on the album charts, singer songwriter Josh Pyke, and musician/disability advocate Elly-May Barnes who released her debut in 2024.
UK Britpop influencers Blur’s drummer and composer Dave Rowntree launches his Blur photography book No One You Know at BIGSOUND.
Others in the second announcement from America were Adam Lewis of Planetary Group, Dev Sherlock of SXSW, Jonathan Heeter of Black Pine Agency, Missy Schienberg of Scheiny Management, Aussie-born Cindy James of Virgin Music North America, Brian Zabinski of Tamizdat , and Hallie Anderson and Jess Page of RAREFORM.
The UK/European contingent included Robin Werner of Reeperbahn, ATC’s Skully Kaplin and Ollie Hodge of new label Some Action.
Last year 1,500 acts applied to showcase. The first couple of hundred from Australia and New Zealand were unveiled, with others coming from other territories.
Tixel Takes Fan-To-Fan Exchange To US
Tixel, the face value fan-to-fan ticket exchange platform which launched in Australia 2018 in response to rampant online scalping, has officially entered the United States market with a plethora of partnerships.
These include arts and cultural nonprofit Burning Man Project, San Diego’s FNGRS CRSSD, Montana’s Under the Big Sky and Vermont venue Higher Ground, along with primary ticketing platforms Eventbrite, Leap Event Technology, and Prekindle.
These joins partners in other territories as Superstruct Entertainment UK and the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Tixel founder and CEO Zac Leigh observed that buying resale tix in the U.S. led to paying up to four times the original purchase price, where scalpers and brokers profited.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. With Tixel’s entry to the market there is now a safe and fair place for fans in the U.S. to exchange tickets to any kind of event without fear of spec listings, fake tickets, or having to pay way too much simply because they missed out in the initial onsale.”
NEW ZEALAND
One New Zealand Stadium On Track For 2026 Opening
The One New Zealand Stadium in Te Kaha remains on budget and on track for an April 2026 opening, in an update from Christchurch City Council.
Work began in 2022 by BESIX Watpac, one of NZ’s biggest ever infrastructure projects. It involved 116 subcontracts with 90% of the workforce and 77% of suppliers from NZ.
In what was described by council project director Kent Summerfield as “a major milestone moment” for the project, the first of 30,000 seats began to be installed June. There are 25,000 permanent and 5,000 temporary – and 37,300 capacity for large concerts, all under cover.
The black and grey seats feature a kowhaiwhai pattern, “inspired by the hammerhead shark,” which represents strength, tenacity, speed and agility.
The almost complete roof is covered with clear Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), installed in two layers “which form an air cushion which helps keep the bad weather out and, crucially, allows natural daylight through to support the turf growth.”
ASIA
by Phil Brasor
HONG KONG
Hong Kong Coliseum To Host More Concerts
The South China Morning Post reports that Hong Kong’s secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Rosanna Law Shkupui, has said that the government will prioritize concerts over sporting events at the Hong Kong Coliseum. In March, the Kai Lak Arena opened for business, which means it can handle more sporting events, thus freeing up the Coliseum for more concerts. At a meeting of wealth management professionals, Law said, “With the opening of Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong’s sports and entertainment experience has been elevated to an unprecedented level. Volleyball, handball, fencing, table tennis and other sports being held at Kai Tak Arena have been well received by athletes and the audience, so we have room to adjust the positioning of Hong Kong Coliseum, which is the same size.” Kai Tak can hold 10,000 while the Coliseum holds 12,500.
In the past, the Coliseum gave priority to sports activities, which prevented many concert organizers from renting it, since there was “more demand than slots available,” Law said. In 2024, 22 percent of successful applications at the Coliseum were for large-scale sporting events, while the rest were for performing arts, of which 59 percent were concerts. Since the government is expecting more concert opportunities in the future, it makes sense to offer more booking slots to concert organizers. More than 4 million people attended some 350 pop concerts in Hong Kong over the past two years, spending about HK$3.7 billion ($481 million).
Consequently, the government will become involved in actively repositioning all the venues in Hong Kong as a way of making the most of their revenue-generating potential. Some venues will be reserved for long-running performances and Cantonese opera. The idea is to give tourists more choices. In addition, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will improve allocation of venue resources in order to free up booking slots for arts groups.
KOREA
Busan Concert Hall Debuts
Conductor Chung Myung-whun, who was recently appointed artistic director of Italy’s La Scala opera house, opened the new Busan Concert Hall the weekend of June 20 with a series of inaugural concerts featuring the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra. Chung has also been named the artistic director of Classic Busan, an office in South Korea’s second biggest city, as well as the Busan Opera House, which will open some time in 2027.
The Friday night concert was invitation-only with the audience consisting mainly of city officials and dignitaries. Saturday’s matinee and the Sunday night performances were attended by classical music enthusiasts.
According to the Korea Herald, the weekend also saw the debut of the hall’s pipe organ, which was built by Germany’s Freiburger Orgelbau.
The Asia Philharmonic, founded in 1997, contains musicians from Korea, China and Japan.
The Busan Concert Hall, located in Busan Citizens Park, seats 2,011 in a vineyard arrangement. The complex also includes a 400-seat chamber music hall.
CHINA
A20 MAY Appear On Chinese TV, Signaling End Of K-pop Ban
The so-called hallyu ban against K-pop performances in China that has unofficially been in effect since 2016 seems to have finally been lifted with the appearance of A20 MAY, a K-pop girl group, on a high-profile Chinese television show on June 25. A20 MAY is the new product of former SM Entertainment CEO Lee Soo-man, and according to the Korea Times consists of two Chinese American members and three Chinese members. The group performed its second single, “Boss,” on CCTV’s music program, “China Music Top Chart,” which was resuming broadcasts after a long hiatus owing to the COVID pandemic.
A20 MAY debuted in December, and its participation on the music how was described by the Korea Times as “a landmark moment.” “Boss” entered the QQ Music chart, China’s biggest streaming platform, at No. 3 and quickly rose to No. 1 for three days in a row.
Though the group’s members have Chinese backgrounds, the fact that they were created and are managed by one of K-pop’s most important impresarios means that the Chinese ban on K-pop, instituted almost 10 years ago to tacitly protest the deployment of a missile system by South Korea that the Chinese government did not like, might finally be over. However, it seems that the authorities are starting safe with a group that many in China would identify as Chinese. A20 MAY has no Korean members, and the Maeil Business Newspaper speculated that “local organizers are expected to invite K-pop artists, but only members of foreign nationalities, including China, will be on stage.”
THAILAND
Tomorrowland To Make Asia Debut
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has announced that the EDM festival Tomorrowland will host its first-even Asian edition in Thailand in 2026 folowing a meeting between Thai government officials and Tomorrowland executives in Bangkok.
According to edm.com, the meeting was attended by Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, and Tomorrowland’s CEO, Bruno Vanwelsenaers. On her own social media account, the prime minister posted, “Tomorrowland in Thailand is closer to reality. I met with Mr. Bruno Vanwelsenaers to continue the vision initiated during former Prime Minister Srettha’s tenure—to bring of the world’s leading music festivals to Thailand.”
The festival was launched in Belgium in 2005 and this year’s edition in Belgium is expected to attract 400,000 people over two weekends.
Tomorrowland itself has not formally announced the Thailand festival yet.
Summer Sonic Lineup Revealed
Speaking of Bangkok, the second annual Summer Sonic Bangkok festival, organized by Japan’s Creativeman Productions as a Southeast Asia adjunct to its popular summer festival series in Tokyo and Osaka, has finalized its lineup ahead of its execution on August 23-24 at Bangkok’s IMPACT Challenger Halls. Top Japanese male idol act Snow Man has been added to the lineup on Saturday, which is being headlined by 21 Savage and Black Eyed Peas. Sunday headliners are Camila Cabello and Alicia Keys, who is also headlining Summer Sonic in Japan the weekend before.
