With Salem (Bedouin Records), Saphy Vong (Chinabot), Wok The Rock (Yes No Wave Music), Cheryl Ong (The Observatory)

As diverse and plural as today’s music platforms might seem, access to such platforms is oftentimes restricted, bound to unfair conditions, or requires consensus to extractive strategies and algorithmic biases. Nevertheless, it is through these platforms that most people learn about new artists and sounds, and likewise publish their own creations. Within this landscape, the independent music label continues to help us navigate today’s sonic diversity in a conscious, ethical, personal, and ear-opening way.

Music labels play a role in collecting specific musical works based on shared aesthetics, ideas, or communities, and distributing them independently and/or in collaboration with other like-minded stakeholders such as specialist media and independent promoters. The experimental music scene in Southeast Asia, which is arguably still small-scale, requires local actors to take on this role to help listeners navigate the overwhelming information and sounds from the region. What should a label consider when choosing what artists or styles of music to take under its umbrella? How does a label arrange marketing strategies for releases on local and international scales? How does one align unique, fringe, or boundary-pushing aesthetic qualities with economic value? How important is it for labels to understand social and political movements? And how might labels build kinship with local artists and artistic communities? Starting from such questions, a range of label representatives working within Southeast Asia’s experimental music scene share insights into each other's practices and discuss ways in which we can build open, sustainable practices together.

About Cheryl Ong, Joe Kidd, Salem, Lafikdi, Wok the Rock