Music has long served as a space for negotiation with dominant ideologies and an instrument of resistance. This panel explores how differing musical forms, i.e., rock opera, hip-hop, protest songs, challenge sociopolitical norms, redefining cultural narratives, and engage with power structures. The presentations in this panel highlight the dynamic tensions between accommodation and resistance in musical expressions through diverse studies. First, it examines how Filipino protest music adapts to digital spaces, as well as analysis of the role of streaming platforms, social media, and visibility of algorithms in shaping musical activism. Second, Filipino hip-hop is seen as a vehicle for social critique, focusing on the song Upon (chair) by the band Gloc-9 as class disparity commentary. A triadic framework is utilized in the critique of this music which includes historical context, semiotic analysis, and audience reception. Hence, this explores how hip-hop artists retain their critical edge while navigating commercial success. And third, an examination of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar’s controversy on the reinterpretation of Christian narratives. This study investigates how harmonic and musical choices challenge traditional religious perceptions, generating strong opposition and fervent devotion over time. Thus, this panel reveal how music, whether social critique, artistic reimagination, or political dissent, operates within and and against prevailing power structures –– highlighting the capacity of music to foster cultural transformation, provoke discourse, and negotiate meaning, either through radical interpretation of historical narratives, lyrical resistance, or digital activism.