INDEX
IN-CON: Creating New Pathways into the Asian Music Market
Having watched Taiwan’s indie scene up close for so many years through music venues and festivals, how do you see the uniqueness of Taiwanese music, or the cultural differences compared to other countries?
Nuno: One moment that really stood out to me was when I brought the band JhenYueTang to Fuji Rock Festival in 2025 and saw how audiences reacted. Rather than mainstream pop, their music blends Taiwanese traditional arts and folk beliefs with contemporary sounds like rock and metal. That kind of approach draws attention wherever you go, and I believe embracing what’s uniquely Taiwanese is precisely what gives artists an edge on the international stage.
Nuno: Our goal is to help Taiwan’s indie music scene grow from the ground up and gradually make its way into the broader Asian pop music market.
To do that, we’ve built a matching platform called IN-CON, designed to connect Taiwanese indie artists with international opportunities. Through this system, we support Taiwanese bands so they can perform in places like Japan, Thailand, and South Korea, and take their first real steps onto the global stage.
So what exactly is IN-CON, and how does the system work?
Nuno: We start by compiling a list of Taiwanese bands. Curators and live music venues in different countries — such as Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand—then select artists based on their own market needs and directions, choosing the acts they’re interested in or feel are a good fit for their local scenes.
Our role is mainly to provide support and facilitate the matching process. Through this, we’re able to observe patterns and characteristics shared by Taiwanese bands that have real potential for international expansion, and to steadily build up data around that.
How do you feel about the results so far?
Nuno: One of the most interesting outcomes of IN-CON is that the bands chosen by markets like Japan, South Korea, and Thailand often differ from the “Mandopop” styles that tend to be favored within Taiwan. This shows that there are bands with genuine overseas potential that may remain overlooked at home. That gap between domestic and international taste is precisely where the opportunity lies, and we want to keep turning that gap into real chances for these artists to cross borders and enter new markets.
