Millions of fans across Asia stream DJs or artists like Fred Again or Black Coffee daily but, until recently, seeing them live meant booking a flight to London or LA. Breakout global artists have long struggled to tour the complex Asia-Pacific region: different cultures, regulations, licensing, approvals and languages. Creation Collective is changing that. We are thrilled to partner with co-founders Greg Hargrave and Zaran Vachha as they build an Asia-wide platform, allowing artists to tour the region with ease and giving fans access to artists they have been waiting for.

The Story So Far

Creation Collective was founded in 2024 with a clear mission to take Asia-Pacific's live entertainment industry from "unorganized to organized". Today, the region's concert landscape is fragmented across dozens of local promoters, with no infrastructure for artists to efficiently route multi-city tours. Creation Collective is building that infrastructure as the first true regional gateway. It gives global emerging artists (with between 1 – 30 million Spotify monthly listeners) a single point of contact across 16 cities, turning what used to require a dozen separate deals into one seamless partnership.

Zaran has been laying the groundwork since 2017 with the launch of Collective Minds, a platform dedicated to electronic, alternative, and jazz artists. Building credibility show by show, he introduced forward-thinking electronic acts to Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, forging trusted relationships with leading global agents along the way. A seasoned music promoter with over two decades of experience, Zaran has produced more than 1,000 events and maintains direct relationships with over 300 artists, many of whom have yet to tour the region.

In 2024, Zaran joined forces with Greg, a serial entrepreneur with a track record of scaling public companies. As CEO, Greg brings operational rigor and institutional discipline to Creation Collective. Together, the duo's ambition grew to become a true regional platform spanning Southeast Asia, North Asia, and Australia.

The traction speaks for itself. Creation Collective has brought over 60 shows across 16 cities including performers like Black Coffee, Jamie xx, Fred Again and Sammy Virji, selling out shows and proving demand for artists who had never toured the region before.

A Market Ready to Be Consolidated: APAC's Live Entertainment Supercycle

The global live music ticket sales market is projected to grow from USD 35.5 billion in 2025 to USD 69.3 billion by 2033 [1]. Growth is driven by a strong post-pandemic rebound, rising demand for in-person experiences, and the globalization of artist touring. Asia-Pacific is outpacing this trajectory, expanding at a 10.0% CAGR to reach USD 16.2 billion by 2033 [2].

What is driving the surge in the region?

The venues are being built. A wave of world-class spaces are opening across the region, such as Hong Kong's Kai Tak Sports Park (50,000 seats), Bangkok's AEG UOB Live (6,000 seats) and Malaysia's Idea Live Arena (7,000 seats). For the first time, Asia has the infrastructure to host both rising artists and breakout stars for global tours at scale.

Governments are leaning in. Programs like Malaysia's CEMI and Thailand's IGNITE THAILAND are embedding live entertainment into national tourism strategies, reducing promoter risk and making it easier to bring big acts to town.

Fans are showing up. A new generation of consumers across Asia are choosing to spend on moments over material items. Malaysia's annual concert count has grown over 4x since 2022, with 450 projected in 2025 [3]. Singapore's ticketed performances jumped 82% in a single year [3]. The appetite for live events is no longer emerging, it is accelerating.

And artists are taking notice. For most artists, touring is now their primary revenue engine. Artists increasingly pursue “five-continent tours,” with Singapore emerging as a key APAC hub due to regional connectivity and security [4]. For global artists, skipping Asia is no longer an option. Southeast Asia alone is home to over 300 million young consumers who are prioritizing experiences, and live entertainment sits at the heart of this shift.

In a world saturated by screens, the desire to be in the room, in the crowd, sharing a moment with thousands of strangers has never been stronger. This is the rise of the "experience generation" and Creation Collective is built to capture it.

The Creation Collective Edge

Even today, the industry's global giants remain focused on the U.S. and Europe, treating Asia as an afterthought. Meanwhile, local promoters solely operate in their own market with little to no cross-border coordination. Artists who want to tour the region with multiple shows face a patchwork of separate deals, inconsistent execution, and high friction.

Creation Collective is built to solve this by offering a single point of contact through its hub-and-spoke network across 16 cities, combining centralized coordination with expert local partnerships. With this, artists get seamless multi-market tours tailored to their vision, and fans get access to acts that previously skipped the region altogether.

The model is already proving itself. When Fred Again (a breakout global artist with 17.8 million monthly Spotify listeners) chose Creation Collective to co-promote his July 2025 Asia tour, he had a specific vision: no cookie-cutter stadium experience. He wanted an industrial warehouse venue and single-tier ticketing with no VIP hierarchy. This was meant to be a show built for his fans, not the promoter's playbook. Creation Collective delivered exactly that, selling out in days and adding a second Singapore date to meet demand.

This model is anchored by founders with rare, complementary strengths. Zaran and Greg are backed by a leadership bench that is unusually stacked for a company this young, including talent from IMG/WME, Live Nation’s Secret Sounds, Wasserman, Universal, and Warner Music. This is not a team learning on the job, it is industry insiders executing their playbook in an underserved market.

Why We Are Betting on Live Experiences with Creation Collective

At DSG Consumer Partners, we back insurgent brands that meet consumers where they are and where they are headed. In an increasingly AI-driven world, we see the experience economy gaining new significance: the irreplaceable value of human connection and shared moments. Live entertainment is the purest expression of this thesis.

Our conviction in Creation Collective rests on timing and the team. The structural tailwinds are undeniable: new venues, government support, and surging fan demand. The conditions for a category-defining platform have arrived and Creation Collective is poised to lead it. Powered by seasoned operators, the team is trusted by artists and agents, with a singular focus on elevating live experiences in the region.

Artists are already choosing Creation Collective as their gateway into Asia-Pacific and fans are showing up in the thousands. The next chapter is bigger: more cities, more artists, and new formats - from electronic music to ideas-led experiences through its Curious? vertical. This is the platform for a generation of fans to finally experience the artists they stream but would rarely see live. We are proud to partner with Greg, Zaran, and their exceptional team as they put Asia on the global touring map.

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[1] Cognitive Market Research, Live Music Market Analysis, November 2025

[2] Cognitive Market Research, Live Music Market Analysis, November 2025

[3] Straits Times, Malaysia on track to host 450 concerts in 2025, September 2025

[4] CNA, More fans are flying out to catch live shows overseas, October 2025

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