Music Biz Passport
Music Biz Passport
Our Music Biz Passport event series offers FREE opportunities for U.S. executives to connect with international trendsetters to learn what does and does not work in their local music economies, expose important cross-border collaborations that will make the global music business stronger, and network across country borders!
Dembow’s Global Rise: Diaspora Power and New Monetization Models
Tuesday, March 24th | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by ONErpm
Reggaeton is experiencing a notable decline in streams and overall consumption, while new urban genres are rapidly gaining momentum. Among them, Dembow — powered by the Dominican diaspora across the U.S. and Europe — has emerged as one of the most dynamic movements of 2025, mirroring the global ascent of Afrobeats. This rise reflects a broader structural shift: the growing dominance of TikTok and the creator economy as primary discovery engines, the diminishing influence of Spotify, radio, and traditional media, the surge of tropical–urban fusions, and the strategic entry of major labels into these spaces through boutique partners and specialized imprints.
This panel will examine the current state of the ecosystem, defined by significant gaps in digital management within Dembow teams, management structures unprepared for rapid regional scaling, a lack of editorial and rights frameworks for riddim-driven models, and a clear opportunity to professionalize the genre through modern, transparent labels.
ONErpm will outline how its deep presence in the Dominican Republic, its work with emerging talent, and its reputation for transparency and rights clarity position the company as a key player in shaping the future of Dembow and Latin Afrobeats. Attendees will gain practical frameworks for global expansion, DSP collaboration, converting social virality into platform success, and strengthening labels, studios, and ecosystem agents.
Music Cities, Creative Economies & the Future of Monetization
Tuesday, April 14th | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by Downtown Music Publishing
This session looks at how music-focused cities help grow global music revenue, tourism, jobs, and the overall value of creative work. Cities like Atlanta, Lagos, Abidjan, Medellín, and Berlin show how good public policy, strong infrastructure, effective rights management, and thoughtful cultural planning can boost the value of recorded music, publishing, and live events. The Centre for Music Ecosystems (CME) will share new findings from the MEDI project in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, developed with Global Citizen, including insights on creative jobs, the night-time economy, and the infrastructure needed to support sustainable music creation.
Where Country Music Meets Brazil: The Sertanejo Effect
Tuesday, June 16th | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by Sonosuite
Sertanejo, a musical style with roots in rural communities, has for a long time been one of the most popular genres in Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America. Its core strengths, including its songwriting culture, touring infrastructure and audience loyalty, mirror many of the foundations that have historically powered country music in the United States.
Fueled by streaming platforms that reward local relevance and a new generation of artists that are experimenting outside of tradition, Brazil’s sertanejo scene is emerging as a strategic case study for how local music can break into the global mainstream without sacrificing identity. It’s no longer confined to borders, it’s scaling globally.
This session brings together leaders in artist development, label strategy, funding, data insights, journalism, and distribution. The conversation will focus on release strategy, catalog development, fan behavior and how platforms are reshaping the value of regional authenticity. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how these trends are influencing international crossover, where new investment opportunities are emerging and how stakeholders can position themselves to engage with a continuously expanding Latin market.
Beyond Discovery: How Technology is Reshaping Independent Music Globally
Tuesday, September 22nd | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by Beatchain
With more than 120,000 songs uploaded to streaming platforms every day, it’s easy to assume that discovery of new talent is the biggest challenge affecting the music industry today. But for independent music rightsholders in emerging markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America, the real barriers lie elsewhere: limited local infrastructure for developing and promoting artists, scarce resources for independent labels and A&Rs to identify the right talent, and insufficient tools to build and activate fan communities.
This panel will explore how tech platforms are providing scalable tools for talent discovery, roster development, marketing, data insights, community-building and direct-to-fan monetization. We’ll examine how technology is helping music rightsholders to operate more efficiently and compete globally, even in markets where industry infrastructure is still emerging but smartphone penetration and creator communities are growing at unprecedented speed.
Billions of Fans, Real Money: The Business Case for South Asian Music Now
Tuesday, October 20th | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by Cosynd
South Asian music has entered a measurable inflection point — not as a cultural trend, but as a scalable global market shift. Indian artists now represent half of the 2026 GRAMMY Best Global Music Album nominees, Punjabi and Hindi tracks are charting across North America, the UK, and the Middle East, and major industry institutions are expanding formal coverage of the region to meet undeniable demand. With 2B+ people in South Asia and a 45M+ global diaspora concentrated in high-earning markets, this moment mirrors the early commercial acceleration of reggaeton, Afrobeats, and K-pop before each reshaped global music strategy.
This session moves beyond headlines to unpack what this growth actually means for leaders across distribution, publishing, touring, sync, marketing, and rights administration. We’ll explore how companies should be preparing catalogs and metadata for multilingual expansion, strengthening copyright and ownership frameworks across borders, building pipelines for cross-market talent, and structuring partnerships that protect rights while unlocking scale. The takeaway: a practical framework for identifying real revenue opportunities — and ensuring the value created in this next wave is properly owned, protected, and monetized.
Making Culture Pop: The Global Breakthrough of Arabic Music
Tuesday, November 10th | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by EMPIRE
The 20th-century U.S. music scene was defined by shifting demographics and cultural integration, but today, a new global frontier is emerging. Arabic music is experiencing a massive surge in popularity, driven by social media stars like DJ HABIBEATS, Elyanna, Mishaal Tamer and DYSTINCT who reach tens of millions. Sold-out parties globally, alongside the launch of the first official MENA music chart, signal a major shift in the industry’s landscape. Decades of work by diaspora communities and the accessibility of platforms like Spotify have finally dismantled traditional gatekeeping. While niche genres like K-pop have proven that global stardom is possible, the Arab music industry is now at a critical turning point. To produce the next world-class pop star, artists must continue to navigate structural barriers while capitalizing on this unprecedented cultural momentum.
How Music Subtitles Are Connecting Artists with 8+ Billion Fans
Tuesday, December 8th | 2 — 3 pm ET
presented by LyricFind
Today, the music world is truly global, as song lyrics can be understood by over 8 billion fans, no matter where they live or what languages they speak. This is made possible through lyric translations and subtitles, which connect all audiences more closely to all songs. Using subtitles, all artists, songwriters, labels, publishers, managers, distributors, and more can now communicate in every language the meaning and power of their songs and lyrics on YouTube, Google Search, Deezer, Spotify, Apple, and other key platforms. This is possible thanks to AI tools coupled with human vetting, which has changed the music ecosystem and amplified the power of music to reach across borders. In this panel, experts in lyric translations and rights will explain how artists can embrace music subtitles to expand their audience by 2-10x, easily reaching many more people than ever. This is the most meaningful way to export music, beyond language barriers.