Local sounds, regional ambitions: Mastercard's play for Southeast Asia's music future

The creator economy has solved the problem of discovery. It has yet to solve the problem of sustainability.

Across Southeast Asia, emerging musicians can rack up millions of views, build sizeable social followings and generate fleeting viral moments. Yet many still struggle to turn that visibility into long-term careers.

Mastercard believes that gap represents both a cultural challenge and a marketing opportunity. Through its Artist Accelerator programme with TikTok's SoundOn, the payments giant is betting that the future of music marketing lies not in creating the next viral hit, but in building the ecosystem that helps artists transform followers into fans - and fandom into sustainable income.

Launching first in Indonesia and Thailand, the programme combines mentorship, live performances, music education, content creation and fan participation in an effort to bridge that gap. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE recently sat down with Dheeraj Raina (pictured), senior vice president and head of marketing and communications for Southeast Asia at Mastercard, to discuss why the company sees artist development, fan culture and local music as the next frontier of experiential marketing.

Don't miss: Mastercard launches Southeast Asia artist accelerator with TikTok's SoundOn

Moving beyond reach metrics

The programme arrives at a time when Southeast Asia's music landscape is becoming increasingly localised. According to Mastercard, local content accounted for 35% of on-demand streaming in Indonesia in 2023, up 12 percentage points from three years earlier.

Similar momentum is evident elsewhere in the region, including Thailand, which is home to Asia's fifth-largest music industry and ASEAN's largest music market.

Raina argues that this shift reflects a broader consumer trend.

"More and more every year we see people consuming local music more than ever," he said. "If you look at the top titles listened to or singles listened to on any music platform in any given country in Southeast Asia, whether that's Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, you will realise that there are at least two to three local artists in the top 10."

Rather than measuring success primarily through reach, engagement or social buzz, Mastercard is focusing on a more commercially tangible outcome: converting audiences into paying supporters.

"These artists, if you look at them at this point of time, they have a lot of followers on social media, but they don't necessarily have fans, fans who would go and probably buy a ticket to listen to them," Raina said.

Our role is to really turn their followers into those fans who would go and buy a ticket for you.

That distinction is increasingly relevant for marketers operating in creator-driven economies. Large audiences no longer guarantee economic sustainability, whether for influencers, musicians or content creators. The challenge lies in converting attention into meaningful participation and revenue.

Building a bridge between demand and supply

Raina describes the programme as serving two audiences simultaneously.

On one side are emerging artists navigating a digital-first landscape where discovery increasingly happens through social platforms. On the other are consumers seeking deeper connections with the creators they follow.

"The Mastercard Artist Accelerator basically becomes like a connective tissue between these demand and supply sides of it," he said.

The strategy mirrors Mastercard's broader brand positioning around connecting consumers with their passion points. Music joins travel, food and wellness as one of the company's major experiential marketing pillars in Southeast Asia.

But unlike traditional sponsorships, Artist Accelerator gives audiences an active role in shaping artists' journeys. Fans can attend open mic sessions, participate in live streams and vote for performers throughout the programme.

"One of the priceless experiences that we are giving cardholders is becoming a part of the story and journey of that artist itself," Raina said.

"When you are watching your artist perform in open mics, you are also voting for your artists live on TikTok stream. Therefore, you are becoming a decision maker in the journey of that artist."

Why Mastercard partnered with TikTok

The collaboration with SoundOn addresses another challenge facing artist development programmes: creating viable pathways beyond exposure.

"That was the starting point of why we did the Mastercard Artist Accelerator in Southeast Asia," Raina said. "The music industry is fragmented. There are inherent challenges for any upcoming artist to come and not just create fan followership, but actually turn it into a career that actually gives you income."

The winning artists from Indonesia and Thailand will receive support beyond the accelerator itself. Mastercard and SoundOn will release a music single for each market's selected artist in partnership with an established producer, with distribution across SoundOn and other music platforms.

"That is really the kind of launch pad these artists need," Raina said.

The partnership also highlights how platforms such as TikTok are seeking to extend their role beyond discovery into artist development and monetisation.

For SoundOn, the collaboration reinforces its ambition to support creators throughout their careers rather than simply facilitating viral exposure.

The partnership comes as short-form video platforms play an increasingly central role in music discovery. TikTok has become a launchpad for global hits, with 84% of Billboard Global 200 songs in 2024 first gaining momentum on the platform.

Consumers are also 74% more likely to discover and share music through short-form content, underscoring why brands, platforms and artists are investing more heavily in creator-led ecosystems.

Betting against the viral cycle

Perhaps the most revealing aspect of Mastercard's strategy is its deliberate rejection of virality as the primary measure of success.

As brands increasingly build campaigns around trending content, many face the challenge of sustaining relevance once the initial spike fades.

Raina believes the programme's structure is designed specifically to avoid that trap.

"This programme is an accelerator and not a TikTok reel that we are asking people to create," he said. "There is a massive content engine that Mastercard has put together on this programme."

The initiative includes weekly open mics, behind-the-scenes content, artist storytelling and ongoing audience engagement designed to build long-term narratives rather than one-off moments.

The focus is on the artist rather than on that virality of the music.

Why Indonesia and Thailand came first

The selection of Indonesia and Thailand was driven by a combination of market scale and cultural readiness.

According to Raina, both countries offer large addressable audiences alongside thriving local music ecosystems.

"Both of these markets have a very fertile local music scene at this point of time," he said.

Thailand also ranks among Asia's most active music consumption markets, while Indonesia's local artists have developed significant online followings.

Mastercard has selected 20 artists in total - 10 from each market. The programme will narrow to three finalists per country before identifying one artist from Indonesia and one from Thailand to receive the next phase of support.

The company is already preparing for expansion, with Vietnam and the Philippines identified as the next markets.

A new form of loyalty

The programme also signals how loyalty strategies are evolving.

Rather than relying solely on rewards, discounts or points, Mastercard is increasingly focusing on emotional access and participation.

"Today consumers really are focusing and spending more time and more money as well on experiences than things, and that's true for any generation," Raina said. "The whole emotional connection, experiential driven connection, is more important."

That philosophy aligns closely with Mastercard's longstanding "priceless" positioning, but the Artist Accelerator suggests the concept is being reinterpreted for an era shaped by creator culture and participatory fandom.

Just weeks into the programme, Mastercard's Artist Accelerator TikTok page has already amassed more than 50,000 followers and 880,000 likes.

For Mastercard, however, the bigger test lies beyond follower counts.

The company will be watching whether fans show up physically as well as digitally, and whether participating artists can build careers that outlast the programme itself.

"Those are the learnings we will take to the other markets and make sure that we are putting them into the programme from day one," Raina concluded.

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