The traditional route to financial success in music, which relied on labels, publishers, touring, and CD sales, has drastically changed.

Today, most artists must find new ways to succeed as the global music landscape expands. Music boundaries are breaking, with more people listening to international artists, even in previously local-centric markets like Japan, Korea, and India. Additionally, artists are increasingly learning from and emulating the strategies of other music professionals worldwide.

Kenneth Kobori, a successful songwriter and producer in the US and Japan, launched SURF Music in 2020 as a digital marketplace for musicians to pitch and sell original music to the Asian market. By 2023, the platform had partnered with major labels in Japan and South Korea and attracted hundreds of paying musicians and producers. In a Zoom interview, Kenneth discussed his background, insights into the Japanese music industry, and the solutions SURF Music offers to help musicians break into the Asian market.

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"I have been a music producer for over 21 years working with artists in Japan, Korea, and the US."

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"For the first half of my career, I was signed to a big management company but then I realized that I was not getting the support I needed from them so I decided to go independent," he opens up.  

After going solo, Ken struggled to connect with new A&Rs, artists, and collaborators since he spent most of his time in the studio making music. This led him to wonder,

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“What if there was a platform where I could upload my latest tracks, allowing record labels worldwide to browse and select songs from my catalog whenever they wanted?”

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From this simple concept, SURF MUSIC was born.  "We started with a beta version that only allowed creators to upload songs and buyers to listen to the songs uploaded," he recalls. "After uploading my entire catalog of over 300 songs and giving access to select buyers, I was able to place 3 songs that I made over 15 years ago that I would have never pitched to anybody because it didn’t represent my current sound!" he adds with excitement.

Ken was initially overwhelmed, but the thought that if this platform could help him, it could potentially assist millions of other music creators motivated him. From there, he secured funding and built an exceptional team, bringing together experts from different pillars of the music industry. Together, they worked to identify the existing problems and inefficiencies within the industry, setting out to make SURF MUSIC the solution.

Today, SURF MUSIC operates as a B2B platform that directly connects music creators worldwide with global music buyers such as record labels, gaming companies, movie studios, and ad agencies. It offers features for collaboration, song discovery, and monetization, enabling artists to connect with like-minded individuals, discover new opportunities, and earn fair compensation for their work.

With its emphasis on direct connections, global reach, and a supportive community, SURF MUSIC provides musicians with a valuable platform to thrive in the music industry.

"Our goal is to continuously build this platform together with our community and pave the path for the next generation of music creators," he concludes.