AUDIOJUNKIE: Realization reboot


At a glance

  • Seriously though, it got me thinking: what if, from the start, it was just Original Pinoy Music (OPM) that we played throughout the 7,641 islands of beautiful, sunny Pinas?c


Dilaw from their official Facebook.jpg
Dilaw

Realizations come bundled when you start over in a new place. And while the excitement of seeing and experiencing a new and different scene is a colorful feature in every life reboot, it is not as romantic as it's cracked up to be. It is a challenging thing. One of the first realities one immediately must face is the need for a job. Work is life; to live, one must pay for food, house, clothes, entertainment, and all that important stuff.

For a music industry veteran like myself, it seems extra difficult. Because the place I’m situated in is not exactly a music hotspot, so choices are thin. I aspire to work in neighboring New York City, but it isn’t happening, not yet anyway. So, I ponder what to do next and continue to sift through my LinkedIn alerts as I sign up for the Glassdoor job-finder app because, you know, “the more entries, the more chances of winning.” 

Anyway, I was listening to the FM radio on one of my job-hunting drives and realized something: They play most, if not all, English language songs on the radio here in the U.S. Duh!

Arthur Miguel from his official Facebook.jpg
Arthur Miguel

And it got me thinking: American pop music dominates because the music they play is all theirs! It spread worldwide because places like the Philippines also play more American pop than OPM. Again, duh!  

Seriously though, it got me thinking: what if, from the start, it was just Original Pinoy Music (OPM) that we played throughout the 7,641 islands of beautiful, sunny Pinas? What a prouder, even more colorful culture we must have had.  What an invincible identity the sound of OPM  must have had. What satisfying music careers could all Pinoy musicians have had, and what solidarity could we as a country have?

It’s not impossible to do. Other Asian countries have done it. Japan has its mighty J-pop. China, Canto-pop, and we all know how K-pop has spread worldwide in the past decade. I mean, even Vietnam has its V-pop! Of course, It’s not like we're ignoring the homegrown sound. We have a vibrant P-pop sound. It’s modeled after K-pop, but you know, it’s getting noticed. Laws are also in place to ensure that platforms like radio play more OPM, as EO 255 comes to mind.

Nica Del Rosario from her official Facebook.jpg
Nica Del Rosario

And it’s not like there’s a shortage of material. One only needs to check the amount of original Pinoy pop that comes out weekly to know how robust the scene is. Just this past week, Dilaw dropped “Mahal,” which comes with a positive vibe and melodies about loving for the heck of it. And say what you want about Calein, but their tunes are always on point, including “Awatin,” which, soundwise, seems to lift all the good bits from ’80s tinged new wave and later dream pop.  

Solo act Arthur Miguel continues to make good on his hype as an act to always watch out for with his new release “Pagitan,” wherein he sings amidst airy synths and atmospherics, a song about loving despite distances. And ace songwriter Nica Del Rosario returns and sings about bravely facing life’s adversity on her slowly rising but epic-sounding new song on “Sa Ilalim Ng Alon.” 

Here’s hoping every Pinoy listener’s playlist, and all media platforms, emphasizes Pinoy-made songs because if Pinoy artists and listeners support each other, no one else will. 

Oh God! Those are the things I think about. I need a job to occupy my time soon.