Level Up by Jocelle Koh

We got real with badass artivist/singer-songwriter Pyra about her art, activism, feminism and balancing it all over coconut shakes! Based now between London and Thailand, we discussed the artivist's colourful musical history, how she got to her current brand of dystopian pop, her brand spanking new album 'PYRADISE' and how she manages themes of activism and feminism within her work. Pyra starts by...

We had the pleasure of attending the Freshmusic awards LIVE for the first time ever last month, and I came away with so much more than I bargained for. Attending the ceremony and many discussions I've had recently around the topic of community inspired me to invite Yuneng, the founder of Freshmusic Awards to join us for this very special conversation where we talked about some of the understated v...

On this bonus episode, we invited Asian-Australian singer-songwriter and Tiktok creator Keenan Te onto the Level Up Podcast to answer all our burning questions about Tiktok, social media, and most importantly - how to navigate social media as a musician . Amassing over 4 million followers currently across Tiktok, Spotify and various social media platforms, Te broke through the clutter during Covid...

On this episode of the Level Up podcast, we're going to talk about how to craft that perfect email to media platforms. In such a way that you'll be maximising your time spent, getting a higher rate of reply, and potentially getting your foot in the door with the right people. As a self-professed email nerd, and someone who runs a media platform and receives such emails from artists everyday, I'm g...

This week, we're talking about sourcing for media platforms to reach out to to collaborate with, and what's the best way to really be effective in your approach.  I know that there's a lot of independent artists out there who feel like this is very daunting for them. They feel like they need a publicist to help them, like they need someone to help them to negotiate those deals or get those fe...

So today, we're going to be talking about best practices for EPKs, otherwise known as Electronic Press Kits for artists. And as someone who works in journalism and distribution, I think this is something that's very important for any independent artist. EPKs are a very important in helping to further your conversation with a third party, no matter if it's with a distribution partner, the DSPS, a m...

Boundaries are a tricky thing for artists. They're subjective, contested, and directly responsible for many an independent artists' mental health.  Yet as tricky as they may be, it's a conversation that HAS to be had in order to create a sustainable career as an artist. In this bite-sized episode, we share three tips for how you can create your own roadmap to establishing boundaries with audiences...

On the first episode of our Level Up podcast in 2022, we've invited Marcus Lee, a promising Singaporean artist, songwriter, and mental health advocate, to join us as we dive deeper into the topic of artists' mental health. We've been a fan of his work ethic and how he's managed to keep the ball rolling as an independent musician for a while now, but we especially wanted to pick his brain on the im...

Mental Health has increasingly become an important topic to me, especially in recent years as I grow more aware of what’s happening in the industry. Due to multiple factors such as the diversity of people you meet in the music industry and the blurred lines between artists as professionals and the art they create, I believe that building a good approach to mental health is one of the most importan...

In lieu of the season finale for the first ever season of the Level Up podcast, I wanted to talk about a topic that’s relevant to myself and to artists everywhere – Independence.  As someone who has built their career on taking the unconventional route, it’s safe to say I’m a big fan of independence in general. I believe that anything can be achieved through a good work ethic and a whole lot of pa...

On the latest episode of the Level Up Podcast, we’re wrapping up our digital distribution topic with a deep dive into a lesser explored music industry, but one brimming with potential. The Southeast Asia music scene is one of the most vibrant and diverse in the world, and while streaming is still relatively new here, it’s so exciting to understand the differences between each of the markets, and h...

Digital Distribution | Exploring the Greater China Streaming Market ft. Believe Taiwan's Jim Tseng This week, we’re honoured to have Believe Distribution’s head of Taiwan and my good friend Jim Tseng on the Level Up podcast to school us all on how the Greater China music streaming industry works, and the landscape of today. Both Taiwan and Mainland Chinese streaming markets grew despite the COVID-...

Digital Distribution | All Your Distro Questions Answered Feat. SINGPOP’s Hubert Ng & Terrence Huang *This episode is an audio replay of a SINGPOP webinar titled ‘Let Your Music Be Heard’. Watch the full webinar here on Facebook* I was honoured to be invited by SINGPOP to share about my experience working as a label manager with Believe Digital, and also about my understanding of the streaming mar...

Social Media | Interview with Jaguar Jonze - Finding Artistry & Independence via Social Media When I came back to Perth for the Summer, I did not in my wildest dreams expect to meet Taiwanese-Australian artist extraordinaire Jaguar Jonze here. But yet here she was, seated in front of me in all her signature leopard print glory. I had met Jaguar aka Deena Lynch the day before at a music mentorship...

Social Media | Artist Case Studies - Jaguar Jonze, Karencici, Joy Crookes We can talk all we want about social media, but what better way to put it in context than with some case studies deep diving into some artists we love? With Instagram as our medium of choice, we’ve chosen three artists who we  believe embody all the foundations for a healthy and creative social media persona as per talked ab...

Here's the thing about social media. It's an ESSENTIAL part to your role as an artist. Even your lack thereof of social media use (when done correctly) can establish your branding and your positioning as an artist.   I see a lot of artists and work with a lot of artists who feel constrained by the regimented and time-consuming routine by which they feel they have to use social media, to engage and...

Artist Branding & Positioning | Implementing Your Positioning On one of the previous podcasts we talked about defining yourself, your branding and positioning as an artist. But after all that work's been put into planning, you might be thinking, what now? How do I implement this new positioning and start branding myself in a more consistent and authentic way? Before we get into the implementation...

After our first full episode that went in depth about artist positioning and helping you to decipher what kind of artist you want to be, I figured that this topic might still be a little abstract for some. So we’re calling a friend today to help us put things into perspective for you! Malaysian singer-songwriter Evangeline Wong joins us on today’s show to share about her journey through the world...

Artist Branding & Positioning | What Kind Of Artist Do You Want To Be? Okay, so you wrote a song. Now what? Today we'll be navigating the Asian music industry together and discussing our very first topic: artist branding and positioning. Or in other words, 'what kind of artist do you want to be '? Before you hit submit and deliver your new track out into the world, it always helps to think, even i...

Intro | Welcome To The Level Up Podcast Welcome to the Level Up podcast! I'm Jocelle Koh, the founder of Asian Pop Weekly, and all-round music creative, and I'm here to help artists everywhere to navigate the Asian music industry. This episode is an intro spiel about me and what I hope to achieve with this podcast. All the time, artists at every stage of their career are still asking me, 'where do...