Starting from Zero: Taiwan is Asia’s Most Overlooked Strategic Market for Global Artists- Models and Case Studies

Author: YSOLIFE

 

Asia Isn’t One Market Anymore

Asia’s music economy is highly fragmented. Japan and South Korea dominate global pop exports. China operates within tight domestic controls. Southeast Asia is fragmented across languages and cultures.

Yet Taiwan remains largely underutilized as a first-entry market for international artists seeking sustainable Asian expansion. Its unique combination of openness, scalability, cost-efficiency, and strong regional network effects makes it an ideal pilot market.

*Photo source: Hugo_ob/pixabay

 

Why Taiwan Deserves Serious Consideration

1. Culturally Open, Language-Resilient Market

Taiwan’s audiences consume Western, Japanese, and Korean music effortlessly. Indie, electronic, and subculture scenes thrive alongside Mandarin pop. Language barriers are minimal. The audience’s listening habits reflect high global crossover readiness.

​​Taiwan’s audiences consume Western, Japanese, and Korean music effortlessly. Indie, electronic, and subculture scenes thrive alongside Mandarin pop. If you look into the top 50 Spotify Playlists in Taiwan, you can find that the language barriers are minimal. Taiwanese audience’s listening habits reflect high global crossover readiness.

2. Perfect Mid-Sized Test Market

With a population of ~23 million, Taiwan offers a sufficient scale for statistically meaningful pilots, yet entry costs remain highly manageable compared to those in Japan or Korea. Showcase gigs, social media testing, and local collaborations provide clear signals before scaling further into Asia.

3. Geographic Hub for Northeast and Southeast Asia

Taiwan’s proximity allows easy multi-country routing into Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. This makes it a natural logistical center for regional tour blocks.

4. Festival Market Booms - Do Not Miss Out! 

Public funding and music market growth have resulted in the booming of music festivals; in fact, artists in Taiwan are relying on music festivals financially more than playing shows in venues nowadays. 

Now the festival market competition is on fire, in order not to share the same lineup with each other, many organizers now embrace artists from neighbouring countries such as Korea, Japan, Thai artists, while we start seeking Indonesia and Philippine artists on the lineup, so don’t miss out on open call business networking events hold by GMA, GIMA, Taipei Music Center and many other local festivals to link with the booking agencies.

5. High Viral Spillover Potential into Neighboring Asian Markets

Taiwan’s indie and youth subcultures act as early amplifiers. Viral momentum here often spreads into Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia via TikTok, YouTube, and fan networks.

 

Three Collaboration Models Already Working

 

1. A&R-Led Digital Entry: Using Social Platforms as Low-Risk Testbeds

Social content — including covers, features, and reinterpretations — provides non-traditional A&R teams with data-rich, low-cost audience validation before scaling into full physical touring or distribution. For emerging artists and labels, social-first content strategies have become highly effective in testing Taiwanese market viability:

• Dragon Pony (South Korea → Taiwan)
  Korean indie band Dragon Pony launched a program to cover a well-known indie songs medley, which includes Taiwanese alternative heavyweight No Party For Cao Dong's “Damn” in Mandarin. YouTube viral success translates directly into a two-night sold-out debut live show in Taipei.

• Videotapemusic × Murky Ghost (Japan → Taiwan)
  Japanese electronic producer recruits Taiwanese alternative rapper Murky Ghost for an experimental cross-genre track, breaking into underground fan communities on both sides.

• MAKI (Japan → Taiwan)
  Japanese cover artist MAKI　gains rapid Taiwanese attention by singing local folk classics such as The Torment of a Flower (雨夜花), Longing for the Spring Breeze (望春風) fluently in Taiwanese dialect, leveraging cultural proximity to fast-track audience recognition.

 

2. Deep Co-Production: Shared Content as Market Crossover Catalyst

Co-produced content enables faster and more authentic fanbase transfer than simply licensing foreign catalogs into a new territory. When local and foreign A&R teams collaborate at the production level, the resulting joint IP becomes a powerful mutual audience-building mechanism:

• Ford Trio × Mong Tong (Thailand × Taiwan)
   A collaborative EP blending Thai funk and Taiwanese psychedelic sounds. Result: Ford Trio debuts at Taiwan’s Golden Indie Awards, Mong Tong expands touring into Thailand.

• 羊文学 Hitsujibungaku × LÜCY (Japan × Taiwan)
  Japanese alternative rock band 羊文学 Hitsujibungaku invites Taiwanese indie artist LÜCY for joint single OH HEY, strategically released via 羊文学 Hitsujibungaku's YouTube channel. Immediate audience blending across J-pop, anime, and indie scenes leads to full-scale Taiwanese touring opportunities.

• Lacuna × Wendy Wander (South Korea × Taiwan)
  Reciprocal cover collaborations lead to cross-market touring demand. Both bands grow organically into each other's markets via “friend-band” social pipelines, now a common pattern in East Asian indie circuits.

*Photo credit: Jessie/YSOLIFE.

 

3. MV Localization as Soft Market Entry

Even when not explicitly aimed at market expansion, MV localization accelerates cultural familiarity, enabling softer audience onboarding in subsequent touring cycles. Japanese and Korean acts increasingly film MVs in Taiwan to build cultural proximity:

• Fujii Kaze “Workin’ Hard”: Taiwanese street scenes featuring markets, night markets, recycling trucks, capturing vivid glimpses of working-class life.

• back number “高嶺の花子さん (Takane no Hanako-san)”: Urban romance unfolding in Taipei’s Ximending alleys.

• Official髭男dism “Pretender”: Street food & Taipei skyline visuals.

• Cody・Lee(李) “在夜市再見(See you at night market)”: A fusion of Japanese youth culture and Taiwanese everyday life.

*Photo Credit: wagatsuma/pixabay

 

For global labels, A&R teams, and management firms exploring Asia, Taiwan offers unmatched pilot scalability, cultural openness, and government-supported entry pathways.

While others chase bigger headline numbers, Taiwan offers real-world data, faster audience feedback, and authentic fan base growth — all at sustainable risk levels.