Seventeen years building tours across Asia — turned into practical, honest guides for independent artists, published country by country as each one is actually finished, not promised in advance.
I’ve spent seventeen years touring independent artists across Asia — from a first Manila show in 2006 to placing artists like Totemo and I Wear* Experiment on the lineup at Music Matters Live, and building touring strategy across the wider region since. Along the way I’ve learned what actually works, what doesn’t, and what most touring guides never tell you: which visas are genuinely fast and which ones require a lawyer, which festivals are worth the flight and which are aspirational for a first-timer, and why the same strategy that fills a room in Manila can empty one in Bangkok.
Every guide is built the same way: real venues and promoters, current visa and legal requirements, honest cost expectations, and a section called “What I Would Do” — my actual judgment, not just a list of facts. No recycled advice, no guessing at what’s still open or still true.
[Browse the Asia Touring Guides →]
Country Guides
Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines — venues, visas, festivals, and the real path in, market by market.
Artist Readiness
Before you book a single show: the honest checklist for knowing whether you’re actually ready to tour Asia, and why touring once is usually a waste of money.
Working With Smallfish
Direct consulting for artists who want hands-on help building a tour, navigating a visa process, or figuring out which country actually fits their sound.
Articles & Guides
Music Matters Live: Is It Worth It for an Independent Artist?
The short answer: it depends on one thing, and it’s not your music. We’ve placed two artists — Totemo and I Wear* Experiment — on the Music Matters Live lineup in Singapore, so this isn’t a guess. It’s based on actually doing it. What Music Matters Live actually is Music Matters Live runs as the…
How to Pitch Music Promoters in Asia: What to Send, Where to Send It & When
Most cold pitches sent to promoters never get a response, and it’s rarely because the music wasn’t good enough. It’s because the pitch was generic, arrived with no clear ask, or landed through a channel the promoter doesn’t actually check. This is the companion piece to our guide on finding the right promoter in the…
How to Find Asian Music Promoters
The honest first answer to “how do I find an Asian promoter” is that you’re asking the wrong-shaped question. There’s no central directory, no LinkedIn-for-Asia-promoters, and no single gatekeeper — because there’s no single Asian market. A promoter who’s right for a shoegaze band in Yogyakarta has nothing to do with the one who’ll book…
What It Actually Costs to Tour Indonesia as a Musician
The single biggest thing that determines whether a first Indonesia show is worth the money isn’t in any of the obvious line items — it’s whether anyone actually knows the show is happening. Budget everything else perfectly and skip pre-tour promotion, and you can still end up playing to an empty room. Before the full…
How Indonesia Visa Scams Actually Work — And How to Check Before You Pay
Touring in Indonesia, here’s the part almost nobody explains before an artist books a flight to Indonesia: the most common visa problem isn’t a fake visa. It’s a real one, built on a sponsor that was never legitimate — and it can be cancelled instantly, even after you’ve already landed, because the sponsorship it depended…
Touring Indonesia: What Independent Artists Get Wrong First
Quick summaryBest for: artists whose genre has a natural niche fit (metal and hardcore have a real scene; pop needs a Bahasa Indonesia strategy to compete) — less suited to acts expecting a single national strategy to work everywhereFirst visit expectation: building presence in Jakarta specifically first, not the country as a whole — the…
