This is not goodbye. This is the next verse.
Eight years ago, Hear65 set out with a simple belief that Singapore music by our homegrown talents is too good not to be heard.
Launched in 2018 as a national movement by the National Arts Council and Bandwagon, Hear65 was built to be a platform where anyone, regardless of background or taste, could stumble upon a local artist they'd never heard of, read the story behind a song, or discover that the music being made right here, right now, is worth paying attention to.
That belief hasn't changed but the way we act on it is evolving.
What we built together
The movement quickly made an impact. In 2019, Hear65 was awarded Gold for Best PR Campaign (Government/Public Services) at the PR Awards Southeast Asia, recognising its success in bringing Singapore music into the national conversation.
View this post on Instagram
Over the past eight years, Hear65 has grown into something we're incredibly proud of. What began as Discover, a digital repository for homegrown releases, became an archive documenting 3,430 artists and 8,022 albums, a living record of Singapore music in all its breadth and complexity. More than 2,000 articles have been published along the way, capturing the growth, the turning points, and the many voices shaping our vibrant music landscape.
Classical, jazz, ethnic, and traditional music sat alongside ambient, electronic, hip-hop, pop, rock, punk, metal, indie, R&B, and experimental sounds. Established names shared space with rising acts, independent musicians, composers, producers, and scene-builders. Instead of defining a single Singaporean sound, we have tried to showcase the many different scores that make us unique. This is the essence of Singapore music as an integration of many sounds, many languages and many generations, a constantly evolving ecosystem shaped by many communities and voices.
Even when live music fell silent during the pandemic, Hear65 kept going. Virtual shows such as the award-winning Sing Along SG campaign, which reached more than 4 million peoples, digital features, and online moments kept artists and audiences connected when venues went dark. Meeting audiences where they were, the platform remained a space for discovery, for community, for the simple act of listening.
As the platform grew, so did the ways fans could connect with the artists they love. Track Talk gave artists a dedicated space to speak, candid, unfiltered, in their own words, about their new releases each week. This small format bloomed with a big heart, a reminder that behind everysong is a person with something to say.
View this post on Instagram
From the air waves to real life
Some of the most exciting moments came when Hear65 stepped beyond the website entirely.
Through I Play SG Music, Singapore music found its way into the spaces where people live, play and work. What began in February 2022 with music streaming at Our Tampines Hub and Funan grew into something much larger. Funan's Underpass Pedestrian Walkway was transformed into an immersive tribute to local musicians, with larger-than-life installations, AR filters, interactive displays, and homegrown music filling every corner.
By 2023, a three-year partnership between the National Arts Council and SMRT Trains Ltd. brought local music, art, and poetry to over 3 million daily commuters across 134 MRT and LRT stations and bus interchanges. From the heartlands to Sands Expo & Convention Centre, I Play SG Music went on to play songs from 270 local artists across the island, turning familiar public spaces into unexpected moments of music discovery.
Earlier this year, produced by Bandwagon and Hear65 in conjunction with the National Arts Council, Stellar Ace, and SMRT, the Music Aura campaign took music discovery further still, inviting commuters to take the I Play SG Music personality quiz, find their music aura, and unlock playlists of homegrown tracks tailored just for them. Billboards and digital screens at stations from Orchard to Marsiling made local music impossible to miss.
View this post on Instagram
This is the living proof that Singapore music belongs everywhere, in the heartlands, in the underpass, on the train home. With the National Arts Council’s resources being invested in I Play SG Music, fans can look forward to encountering local music and artists in new ways.
The next verse
This chapter of Hear65 as a website is closing, but the movement it represents is very much alive. With I Play SG Music, Singaporeans from all walks of life will be able to encounter more live, in-person experiences that aim to bring our local tunes even closer to audiences.
The Hear65 website will remain accessible under Bandwagon Asia. The archive of stories, releases, playlists, and resources isn't going anywhere, and it's there for anyone who wants to explore, revisit, or discover Singapore music.
To the artists who trusted us with their songs and stories: a heartfelt thank you. To the labels, partners, and collaborators who believed in what we were building: thank you. And to everyone who has ever listened, watched, attended, shared, or simply hit play on a local track: thank you most of all.
Keep streaming local releases. Keep attending live shows. Keep sharing the artists you love.
