Ogie: The singer-songwriter will dominate the music industry

MANILA, Philippines – Multi-hyphenate Ogie Alcasid adds another feather to his cap. Apart from being an actor and a singer-songwriter, the TV5 artist is now also dabbling in talent management.

Ogie has recently put up his own talent management company named The A Team.

Among the artists his company will be managing include Davey Langit, a former contestant of the ABS-CBN reality show “Pinoy Dream Academy;” Lara Maigue, a singer-actress who was a finalists in the 2013 PhilPop songwriting competition; Cedric Bondoc and James Palma, also known as the hip-hop duo Q-York; and comedian Empoy.

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Davey, Lara, and Q-York are all products of the Elements National Singing-Songwriting Camp. In fact, the idea to put up a talent management company started when Lara started consulting Ogie about her singing career during last year's Elements music camp.

“I didn't plan it. It didn't start naman na I'll manage you, no. It started with consultation. And then I talked to her and said, 'What do you think? Maybe I'll help you.' So I formed a team. I'm not the only [one] directly managing them because I'm not a manager but I could help them in their careers,” he told Philstar.com at the 5th Elements music camp in Dumaguete City recently.

Ogie has been a mentor in the Elements music camp for three years now.

Ogie also said, “It goes to show there are so many talented singer-songwriters out there.”

“They're like me, they're singer-songwriters. So they are clients. Tinitignan ko kung ano yung gusto nila. And then we do it together. It's a team effort.”

“The plan is to give them a breakthrough. We haven't quite done that yet but we'll get there.”

Director Paolo Bustamante and talent manager Cathy Nazareno are also part of Ogie's management company.

Ogie agrees that showbiz is just one aspect of the music industry, but he nonetheless believes there is a place in show business for new singer-songwriters.

“I've always said: I've always believed that the singer-songwriter will dominate the music industry very, very soon,” he said

“There's no denying that. The singer-songwriter is so unique because it's not manufactured at all. They create their own content, they execute, they perform. Ang galing. I came from there, and I've always believed that when you do concerts you have to do your own songs,” Ogie added.

The 47-year-old singer-actor, who recently appeared on the ABS-CBN variety show “ASAP,” are dispelling any talk that there's a possibility for him to move networks in the near future, saying he has a lot of work to do with TV5.

“They're trying to establish themselves in broadcast industry slowly, slowly but surely,” he said.

The network recently lost two of its big stars, namely Sharon Cuneta and Aga Muhlach. Ogie admits there is pressure as one of the network's more established artists.

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“There is a lot of pressure but we kind of live with that, I think that's our vitamin,” he quipped. “It's a good kind of pressure because we need to create something here. We'll get it somehow, someday. We're working very, very hard. I mean, ABS-CBN and GMA-7 are established networks that have a niche.”

“So far we've been very successful with sports, so now we're helping augment it with comedy shows and a little bit of music shows, so it's gonna happen.”

Apart from his work with TV5, Ogie is also the president of the Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit. With  Noel Cabangon, Ogie is trying to establish a Linggo ng Musikang Pilipino for next year.