ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how the music industry in Thailand generates economic benefits, provides social contributions, and shows how indie music and its creators face a number of constraints in terms of access to the media and the lack of appropriate policy. It introduces readers to the development of the popular music industry and its institutions in Thailand. The chapter explores the alternative music movement in the mid-1990s, and highlights the culture of production of new independent record labels and their relationship with major media networks. It presents case studies of the second wave of alternative music movement, focusing on the creation of new platforms/spaces outside the music industry that eventually helped to boost the industry and the wider creative industries in the country. The chapter considers how we can better understand the practical underpinning of the Thai creative industries, particularly the music industry and its culture.
