Music Matters Live will celebrate its 21st anniversary this October with four nights of free live music, bringing together 40 artists from 15 countries for a festival built around artist discovery and international exchange.
And Singapore is about to become a meeting point for emerging music from around the world.
The festival will take place on October 2, 3, 4 and 7 at Clarke Quay, with performances across venues including Fountain Square and Swee Lee.
The line-up spans Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, among others.
Acts include Japan’s KID PHENOMENON and LIL LEAGUE, Malaysia’s DOLLA, Mexico’s Bratty, New Zealand’s Borderline, Australia’s Pierce Brothers and Flynn Gurry, Singapore’s St. Humain and China’s Runyu.
A festival built around discovery
Rather than bringing together artists under one genre, Music Matters Live is using a series of showcases to put different music scenes side by side.
Universal Music’s Music Is Universal showcase on October 4 will bring together DOLLA from Malaysia, LYHAN from Vietnam, MARBLES from Indonesia, VVV from Thailand and XONARA from the Philippines.
The festival’s MadeIN series takes a similar approach, giving different countries and regions dedicated spaces to introduce emerging artists.
MadeIN Japan will feature LIL LEAGUE and KID PHENOMENON, while the inaugural MadeIN Nagaland showcase will spotlight artists from the Indian state.
Australia will also have its own presence through two Sounds Australia showcases featuring artists including Alice George, FVNERAL, Flynn Gurry, Holly Hebe, Lucy Sugerman, Mariae Cassandra, Peach Fuzz, Pierce Brothers, Reuben De Melo, SAHXL, Squid The Kid and TOWNS.
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Four nights, one global line-up
The festival will close on October 7 with Girls’ Night Out, bringing together emerging female artists from different countries, including Mexico’s Bratty, Indonesia’s Maisha Kanna, Australia’s Lucy Sugerman, Japan’s SARINA and Singapore’s Haneri.
Music Matters Live will run alongside the 21st edition of All That Matters from October 5 to 7 and will form part of the Singapore Grand Prix Season.
After 21 years, the festival is still built around the same basic idea: put emerging artists in front of new audiences.
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