As Southeast Asia's homegrown artists continue to win over listeners in their own countries, ABS-CBN's groups BINI and BGYO have found themselves among the acts featured in Al Jazeera's latest report examining the region's rapidly growing music scene and how local artists are increasingly challenging the long-standing dominance of K-pop, Western pop, and other international acts.
Written by Taiwan-based reporter Erin Hale, the feature explored how audiences across Southeast Asia are embracing music from their own countries, with the Philippines represented by the Nation's Girl Group BINI, Aces of P-Pop BGYO, and fellow P-pop group ALAMAT. The report also looked at artists from Thailand and Indonesia while examining music trends across Malaysia and Singapore.
According to Al Jazeera, the three P-Pop groups, all of whom debuted in 2021, draw inspiration from K-pop, J-pop, Western pop, R&B, and hip-hop while incorporating Filipino themes and languages into their music.
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The publication also recognized BINI's historic achievement of becoming the first all-Filipino group to perform at the Coachella music festival in April. Since then, the octet has continued its string of milestones, most recently being named tourism ambassadors by the Philippine Department of Tourism. The group is also preparing for their Signals World Tour after their successful Manila leg, and is set to perform at Summer Sonic Japan, continuing to bring P-pop to international audiences.
To illustrate the growing popularity of local music, Al Jazeera spoke with Filipino call center worker Jaycer Bajo, who shared how his listening habits have shifted over the past few years.
"Over the past five years, I think I’ve switched from 70 percent Western music to, right now, around 70 percent Philippines and then 30 percent elsewhere," said Jaycer, who lives north of Metro Manila.
"There were bands and groups in the Philippines that were making quality music before 2020, but it just boomed after that here," Jaycer added.
Referring to today's P-pop acts, he added, "They borrowed structure from K-Pop, but the talent elements are homegrown."
Backing this trend, Al Jazeera cited data from French music analytics platform Soundcharts, showing that local artists have steadily gained ground in the Philippines. The share of Filipino artists in Spotify's weekly Top 10 climbed from 31 percent in 2021 to 81 percent during the first half of 2026. Local artists also saw growth on radio, increasing from zero to five percent of the country's weekly Top 10 over the same period.
BGYO also shared how social media has become one of the group's strongest tools for staying connected with fans.
"We interact with all of our fans every single day, when we wake up until we sleep. We’re on the phone a lot, so we’re posting TikToks, dances, funny things. We’re tweeting, and we’re interacting with them through comments," BGYO member Nate Porcalla said.
The publication noted that, much like K-pop acts, BGYO regularly connects with fans through performances and events while releasing songs in both English and Tagalog, including their latest single, "Forever Tonight."
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Beyond the Philippines, the report also highlighted Thailand's evolving music scene through artists YOUNGOHM, MILLI, and Joey Phuwasit, while Indonesia was represented by girl group No Na, whose music incorporates elements of Indonesian culture. The feature also observed that regional artists are becoming more popular in Malaysia, while Western music and K-pop continue to dominate playlists in Singapore.
Al Jazeera likewise pointed to the rapid growth of Southeast Asia's music industry. Citing data from analyst Julia Stoll from data platform Statista, the report said the Philippines' digital music revenue, which includes podcast advertising, music streaming, music downloads, and music streaming advertising, grew from $93 million (around ₱5.7 billion) in 2021 to $180 million (around ₱11 billion) in 2025.
The publication also credited platforms such as TikTok and Instagram for helping artists reach audiences directly and grow their fan bases across borders.
As the spotlight on Southeast Asia's homegrown music continues to grow, both BGYO and BINI are showing no signs of slowing down.
BGYO recently released their On Demand EP, with the official music video for their newest track, "Sinta," set to premiere on July 9. The group will also meet fans through a series of mall tours on July 11 at SM City Telabastagan, Pampanga; July 12 at SM City Novaliches; and July 26 at SM City Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
Meanwhile, BINI is gearing up for their Signals concert in Cebu on July 11 before embarking on their highly anticipated world tour across several cities.