Southeast Asia needs more regulation and investments for its cultural industries to scale, says POPS Worldwide CEO Esther Nguyen

POPS Worldwide CEO Esther Nguyen said Southeast Asia’s cultural industries need stronger regulation and more investment to scale globally, noting that audiences already listen across borders but the region’s music business still lacks the infrastructure to grow internationally. She pointed to fragmented rules and thin funding as the main barriers keeping local labels and creators from reaching the size of markets like South Korea. Nguyen’s comments position regulation and capital as the two levers that would let Southeast Asian music exports follow the path of other regional content booms.