There’s no doubt that the music scenes in Visayas and Mindanao are getting more and more vibrant everyday. 2025 saw numerous collectives, artists, labels, and promoters achieve greater heights in their respective scenes.
We saw homegrown artists represent the region abroad — such as Vincent Eco and KRNA performing in Japan — with more acts slated to represent Visayas and Mindanao in the coming year, like Davao’s Delinquent Society historic Bangkok Music City performance this January.
We also saw more national and international acts touring the Visayas-Mindanao circuit, from acts like Cream Flower, Linger Escape, and Munimuni performing in the south to artists like Subsonic Eye, Dabda, Wanmtnt, and more.
With that, we present our five predictions for where we see the VisMin scene growing in 2026 — from the increase of gig venues to which genres will continue to dominate.
Rise of physical media releases
Analog will be back in full force. While collecting CDs, cassettes, and vinyl have been a niche hobby after the rise of digital streaming platforms, we’re seeing a steady rise of more local artists releasing physical copies of their EPs and albums in Visayas and Mindanao.
This is largely thanks to producers like Out Cold Media, Sappy Tapes, and other cassette and CD duplicators based in the region. Coupled with the emergence of brick-and-mortar shops like Filla Killa Shop that sell merchandise from artists coming from Visayas and Mindanao, along with increased touring in the region, we’re expecting to see more artists releasing physical merchandise for their full-length releases.
In addition to more avenues to sell physical media, we’re seeing a societal push worldwide to return to “analog living,” as more and more people are burnt out with the oversaturation of content on digital.
While we can confidently say that CDs and cassettes will experience a boom, it’s unclear if we’ll see more artists invest in producing vinyl, given the higher cost of production and the lack of vinyl pressers in the country. However, we’ve seen a few artists and collectives in the region release, or gear up to release their music on vinyl, such as the Still Hostile: Cebu City hardcore compilation, the Vanity Records Cebu Ska-Rocksteddy-Reggae compilation, and the upcoming quarters EP by Bacolod’s &ND.
Shoegaze and dreampop will continue to dominate
The hold that shoegaze and dreampop have on Visayas and Mindanao will remain. When the genre resurged back into the mainstream in the late 2010s to early 2020s, it seemed that this was another musical fad before a new trend would eventually take over.
However, today’s growing crop of new artists (or new musical projects) have proved that the genre is still here to stay. You have new acts like Cebu’s in my yearning that take a lot of inspiration from the Cocteau Twins or K A N A frontman Niño Olayvar’s latest “ethereal gaze” project, Dull Roy, set to release their debut tracks this year. Existing bands like Cosmic Kid are also gearing up to drop their debut album in 2026.
Increased touring in Visayas and Mindanao
The Visayas and Mindanao region, especially in the context of Filipino independent music, have largely gone unnoticed by Luzon-based bands when it comes to touring. We saw this growing shift in 2025 as more Manila bands expanded their national tours to include the Visayas and Mindanao region, from Munimuni to Ely Buendia.
International acts are also looking to Visayas and Mindanao now. While the local hardcore scene has consistently brought in touring bands to the region, we’re seeing more scenes across indie, pop, alternative rock, and more bring more acts across Asia to their cities. For example, Indie CDO recently hosted Japanese acts like KOMMUNE and Wanmtnt in Cagayan de Oro, while September Fever 2025 marked the start of the festival inviting international artists to perform in Cebu.
More full length releases
2025 saw a number of local artists drop albums, whether it was their debut record (for acts like Monopolice, Kate Livewire, and Hollywood Folk Hogan) or another record under their belt (like Kubra Commander’s third studio album, Metabolic).
Some of 2026’s upcoming albums have been slowly teased over the past few months, such as Cosmic Kid’s upcoming record, the highly-anticipated Mandaue Nights debut album, a possible KRNA record, Wiji Kun’s sophomore album, and many more. This may be the year of the album, as more and more artists are moving away from the singles-focused mindset.
Rise of third space venues
If the lack of live houses have been a pressing problem in the Philippines as a whole, it’s even more exacerbated in the Visayas and Mindanao region. When the pandemic and general economic stability forced long-time gig venues to close, what rose up from the ashes were third spaces that served multiple functions. In Cebu, you have venues like Cebu Making Space (which is also a photo-video studio and craft workshop) as well as From Here (a co-working space), and Nest (a photo studio). Food and beverage businesses such as Viajero Cafe in Cagayan de Oro, Wayside Coffee and Also Coffee in Bacolod, as well as Suazo in Davao have also become havens for their local indie music communities.
However, we’ve seen members of the music and art community invest in opening their own spaces for live music. Filla Killa Shop in Cebu recently held their first electronic-hyperpop gig last December, while Cagayan de Oro artists announced the soft opening of Apartment 1.
We’re hoping that more artists, communities, and businesses will start to support local music in the coming year.
What are your predictions for the local music scene in 2026? Leave a comment below or on our social media.
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