Chapter 2
DISCUSSION
What
is preventing Original Pinoy Music to be on the mainstream?
I. Definition of OPM
OPM or Original
Pinoy Music originally referred only to Filipino Pop song
especially in ballad form, but now it refers to any type of music created
by Filipino artist regardless of location when it was composed. It can be in
Filipino or in English language. Unfortunately, it seems to be at the
last part of the playlist of most Filipinos.
Jhoanna Paola Ballaran (2012) stated that "Back then, radio stations never ran out of OPM to play
while bars and clubs overflowed with gigs and packed audiences. Bands like
Teeth, Yano, Eraserheads, and Rivermaya were under the limelight and gained
nationwide popularity, and their songs are still an anthem today, after more
than a decade has passed.
In an industry dominated
by foreign music and endless remakes, one can’t deny the fact that popular
music has lost its glory because of lack of fresh, new tunes.
Recently, debates and conversations spurred in the online community on a blog article in GMANetwork.com by Leloy Claudio lamenting a Nietzsche-like statement that “OPM is dead” because of lack of support from record labels and the government. Some agreed but more were infuriated, including musicians and fans themselves who tirelessly support the overflowing talents of the underground music scene."
Though OPM is going with the flow of new era,
still lots of factors affect its climbing up to the mainstream. This issue
needs evidence for us to know the real cause of preventing OPM to be on top of
every Filipinos' playlist.
II. Factors preventing OPM
to be on top
A. International Music
KPop
KPop has become a viral disease here in
the Philippines. Many Filipinos were hooked with different kpop boy bands and girl group's songs. The joyful beat and colorful music video might be the reason why kpop
lovers here in the philippines are so addicted to it. Kpop fans here in the philippines are so addicted that they prioritize kpop than OPM.
American Music
American Music
Compared to OPM, American music is much better in terms of using technologies for music videos and sound effects. According to Janneth Ramos (2013) "Filipinos are known to be captivated by anything that is
American. It has something to do with Filipinos' English capability. It also
serves as our second language. By listening to American music, you'll improve
you're English ability somehow. "
B. Piracy
Most of us only think that international music is the reason why OPM is now dropping down on our playlist. We don't know that piracy has a big part of it. And because of piracy many original albums weren't sold and as a result, people releasing albums will be losing profit.
Janette Toral (2008 stated "Music can indeed be heard everywhere but somebody (record label, radio, tv, bar or malls) paid for its cost. It is hard and perhaps even unfair to go on a price war with pirates as they do not incur expenses other than manufacturing cost. They did not spend money on production and marketing. As a result, record labels are reducing the number of releases. Just a few years back, big record labels will have 12 albums scheduled for release in one year. Today, most labels only have 5-6 albums planned releases for the year. While 1 to 3 big players will likely launch up to 12 albums a year."
III. Effects of the downfall of OPM
A. Effect to the OPM artists
Filipino artists are the ones who creates OPM and if it continues to go down they might not be able to produce more original songs. There is a possibility that some of good artists will not be given the opportunity to share their talent.
Acel Van Ommen(2012) stated " Mostly big record labels don’t invest on original Pinoy music, and would rather get a singer with a pretty face or even an actor/actress (that does not even have a talent in singing to cover foreign popular music).This just shows colonial mentality that is deeply rooted in our society. The excuse for this action is that those kind of music sells..and that a pretty face OR the few familiar faces seen on TV sells more than a nobody singing a song from the heart. Another reason is the truth that people don’t buy CDs anymore. They just download it illegally and share it to their friends. The listeners are also not aware that there are a bunch of talented artists with amazing songs out there in the underground scene that are not given a chance to be heard because the radio stations won’t play their songs without “payola” or what they call “song sponsorship”. They would only play your song if you pay a certain fee that ranges to 25-60k a month.( just for one radio station)"
B. Effect to the culture
It will be a big lost to our culture if we do not help and support OPM. Just imagine our country living without any original song, that is embarrassing. Yes, we, Filipinos are naturally in love with music yet didn't manage to preserve our own music culture.
IV. Steps that Filipinos are taking to lift up OPM
A. Concerts promoting OPM
B. Reviving Old Songs
We have been hearing revivals of old song nowadays, like "Akin Ka Nalang" revived by JM De Guzman whichis originally by Itchyworms.
Aaron Tadeo stated "Reviving old songs also has its perks. It does keep the old songs alive even for the next generations. So even after a few more generations, when these OPM songs are revived, even the kids of our kids could still relish the legacy of original Filipino music."
C. Making Song Writing Competitions
ABS-CBN and GMA Network recently held a Song Writing Competition in order to promote OPM and to give oppotunity to those Filipino artists to showcase their talents.This kind of competition gives us hope that OPM still is still alive as long as there are willingto support and make music.
B. Piracy
Most of us only think that international music is the reason why OPM is now dropping down on our playlist. We don't know that piracy has a big part of it. And because of piracy many original albums weren't sold and as a result, people releasing albums will be losing profit.
Janette Toral (2008 stated "Music can indeed be heard everywhere but somebody (record label, radio, tv, bar or malls) paid for its cost. It is hard and perhaps even unfair to go on a price war with pirates as they do not incur expenses other than manufacturing cost. They did not spend money on production and marketing. As a result, record labels are reducing the number of releases. Just a few years back, big record labels will have 12 albums scheduled for release in one year. Today, most labels only have 5-6 albums planned releases for the year. While 1 to 3 big players will likely launch up to 12 albums a year."
III. Effects of the downfall of OPM
A. Effect to the OPM artists
Filipino artists are the ones who creates OPM and if it continues to go down they might not be able to produce more original songs. There is a possibility that some of good artists will not be given the opportunity to share their talent.
Acel Van Ommen(2012) stated " Mostly big record labels don’t invest on original Pinoy music, and would rather get a singer with a pretty face or even an actor/actress (that does not even have a talent in singing to cover foreign popular music).This just shows colonial mentality that is deeply rooted in our society. The excuse for this action is that those kind of music sells..and that a pretty face OR the few familiar faces seen on TV sells more than a nobody singing a song from the heart. Another reason is the truth that people don’t buy CDs anymore. They just download it illegally and share it to their friends. The listeners are also not aware that there are a bunch of talented artists with amazing songs out there in the underground scene that are not given a chance to be heard because the radio stations won’t play their songs without “payola” or what they call “song sponsorship”. They would only play your song if you pay a certain fee that ranges to 25-60k a month.( just for one radio station)"
B. Effect to the culture
It will be a big lost to our culture if we do not help and support OPM. Just imagine our country living without any original song, that is embarrassing. Yes, we, Filipinos are naturally in love with music yet didn't manage to preserve our own music culture.
IV. Steps that Filipinos are taking to lift up OPM
A. Concerts promoting OPM
Filipinos are now taking steps in order to promote OPM not just to the philippines but aslo to the other countries. By means of concert filipino artists can showcase their talent and their music to many people. One of the concerts done by filipino artists is "Icons at Arena"
Vladimir Bunoan (2012) stated "An all-star gathering of some of the country's top musical artists formally opened the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena on Saturday night with a celebration of original Pilipino music.
At a time when foreign acts have been dominating the concert scene for the past couple of years, "Icons at the Arena" was a reminder of the excellence of both Filipino singers and their music.
But at the same time, the show also showed how OPM -- or to be more accurate, OPM pop -- seemed to have stalled, with current or even fairly recent local songs under-represented in the two-hour show."
We have been hearing revivals of old song nowadays, like "Akin Ka Nalang" revived by JM De Guzman whichis originally by Itchyworms.
Aaron Tadeo stated "Reviving old songs also has its perks. It does keep the old songs alive even for the next generations. So even after a few more generations, when these OPM songs are revived, even the kids of our kids could still relish the legacy of original Filipino music."
C. Making Song Writing Competitions
ABS-CBN and GMA Network recently held a Song Writing Competition in order to promote OPM and to give oppotunity to those Filipino artists to showcase their talents.This kind of competition gives us hope that OPM still is still alive as long as there are willingto support and make music.
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