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| Gloc-9 (Image Source: Business Mirror/ASINTADA Management and Productions Inc.) |
Following a string of significant signings in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Downtown Music's B2B (business-to-business) distributor FUGA has announced a new partnership with Manila-based talent management and production company ASINTADA. The distributor also announced new hires across APAC including Noorcahyo Istyabudi and Jaya Singh who will lead business development in Indonesia and South Asia respectively. Founded in 2012, ASINTADA represents some of the local region’s biggest names in hip-hop including renowned Filipino rapper Gloc-9, providing artist management and production services to the next generation of OPM (Original Pilipino Music) talent including Shanti Dope, Flow G, Skusta Clee and more.
Widely recognized as a Filipino rap icon, Gloc-9 is one of the highest-selling and most successful hip-hop artists in the country. With an impressive 60 award wins including the prestigious Sudi National Music Award and over half a billion Spotify streams under his belt, Gloc-9 is among the few Filipino artists to have won an award in almost every album released. ASINTADA Management and Productions Inc. CEO and Talent Specialist Head Thea Gomez-Pollisco said, "Being at the forefront of the Filipino music industry, particularly the hip-hop scene, we want to work with the best. Asintada not only carries the name of headliners such as Gloc-9, Flow G, and Skusta Clee; we are also in the business of helping rising hip-hop artists by guiding them towards the ideal path to reach their goals. We are hopeful our new partnership with FUGA will bring us to greater heights as we face the challenge of whatever is next for us." As part of the wide-ranging partnership, FUGA will provide global distribution and bespoke marketing services to ASINTADA which will also benefit from access to the distributor’s trends and analytics platform.
Aside from ASINTADA, FUGA has also announced partnerships with Jesuit Communications Foundation – the media arm of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus whose ministry of evangelization and education are behind its acclaimed audiovisual productions, music and publications as well as digital programs and campaigns – alongside Crown Studios Inc., a full-service talent and entertainment management agency led by one of the Philippines' most high-profile actresses Maja Salvador, and 314 Studios, a record label and production house founded in 2023 by a collective of singer-songwriters, music producers, and audio engineers and home to artists Lipip, esseca, Chelly Lim, and koi. Today’s announcement is the latest in a string of new partnerships in the Philippines including label and publisher Morobeats – founded in 2014 by DJ Medmessiah and home to Naus, Prophecee, H20 Klann, JMara, Flackos and more.
FUGA continues to expand its service offering in APAC by hiring Noorcahyo Istyabudi to lead business development within Indonesia. The Jakarta-based Istyabudi brings extensive marketing and business growth experience to the distributor, holding previous roles at ByteDance/Resso, MOLA Records and the AMI Awards (Anugerah Musik Indonesia). Since his arrival, the company has seen significant growth in its partnerships across Indonesia – including 12Wired, FAX Music Group, Sintesa Pro, La Munai Records, VtmnD by VinDes, Dentum, and DD. Also joining the company is Mumbai-based Jaya J. Singh as FUGA’s Regional Representative for South Asia where her responsibilities include overseeing all business development and marketing in India and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region. Both Istaybudi and Singh will report directly to FUGA’s Business Development Manager for Asia Pacific Anita Zagar who said, "With such remarkable growth of local talent across the region, FUGA is proud to be working with some of the most groundbreaking labels and artists that APAC has to offer. We look forward to continuing our expansion in the territory and working closely with our new partners to provide our best-in-class services and helping them reach new global audiences."
Downtown Music is the world’s leading music services company with over 2 million clients from 145 countries representing a catalog of over 50 million music assets in a wide variety of genres and languages. Downtown’s technology and service offerings support creators and businesses in all facets of the music industry including music creation, distribution, publishing, marketing, royalty collection, financing, accounting and payment services. Part of Downtown Music, FUGA is the largest full-service B2B music distributor in the world with clients ranging from Beggars, Better Noise and Curb to Mom + Pop, Epitaph, and Ninja Tune. With a global award-nominated marketing team operating across 17 countries, FUGA and its partners deliver over a quarter of the world’s new releases and empower 1,600 music rights holders globally.
