On the 2025 Golden Melody Pageant in Taipei, a dialog between Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy (the group behind the Grammys), and SXSW VP James Minor reduce straight to the center of the place the worldwide music business is headed – and why it’s by no means been extra borderless.
Held as a part of the pageant’s three-day convention lineup, the dialogue explored the Grammys’ evolving international footprint, Panay’s private musical journey, and the inventive potential of cross-cultural change. The pageant served as a lead-up to the Golden Melody Awards, mixing B2B matchmaking, reside music showcases, and business boards – all setting the stage for the awards ceremony.
For Panay, rising up in Cyprus meant tuning right into a cultural mosaic – Greek at house, however simply as typically French, Turkish, or Italian echoing from radios and avenue corners. That early publicity to a spectrum of languages and sounds formed a lifelong conviction: music isn’t sure by geography.
Now on the helm of the Recording Academy, he’s pushing to make that philosophy greater than private. His objective: to carry extra worldwide voices into the highlight and reframe the best way we speak about what – and who – makes it onto the world stage.
“There’s one thing thrilling about Ed Sheeran linking up with Diljit Dosanjh, or BTS and Coldplay merging worlds,” Panay informed Selection. “Fifteen years in the past, that type of sonic, rhythmic and linguistic amalgamation would’ve been a rarity.”
Expertise, Panay argues, is the nice enabler. Streaming platforms and social media have radically expanded who will get heard and the way far a monitor can journey. However it’s not simply entry – it’s openness. “Audiences at this time are extra prepared than ever to embrace music in languages past their very own,” Panay explains.
He urged rising Asian artists to take dangers, search collaboration, and keep true to their roots: “Be curious. Be actual. Your fact is your superpower.”
“Be open to influences and views and artists which are outdoors your personal tradition,” he provides. “Take heed to as many poly-cultural influences as you possibly can – then mix, mesh, and stir them into your personal and create one thing new.”
As for award exhibits, Panay says they’re not relics – they’re rituals. “Opposite to expectations, award exhibits everywhere in the world have loved a renaissance in the previous couple of years. So, whether or not it’s the Grammys or the Golden Melody Awards right here in Taiwan, regardless of the tradition, there’s one thing enduring and, dare I say, human in regards to the idea of an award. Offered that there’s true integrity behind the consideration.”
