Gov’t offers help to music industry

MANILA, Philippines - Hoping to bring back the glory days of original Pilipino music (OPM), President Aquino urged stakeholders yesterday to adapt to the digital age.

Speaking at the first Pinoy Music Summit at the Landbank Plaza in Manila, Aquino said he recognized the challenges posed by rapidly evolving technology, but this should not discourage songwriters and other artists from sharing their music, particularly with younger audiences.

“The days of divisiveness and one-upmanship are over. Gone is the culture where ‘My Way’ ruled society. In the straight path, you are not alone and no one is left behind. Together, Filipinos walk toward great progress,” Aquino said in Filipino.

He said the summit was an opportunity for stakeholders to tackle the condition of the industry and the solutions to their problems.

“How can the government help you and the estimated 346,000 Filipinos who work in the arts and music industry?” Aquino asked.

Citing an essay he read and the experience shared with him by AirAsia president Tony Fernandes, Aquino said there are many ways by which technology could become a Filipino musician’s friend.

Fernandes, who paid a courtesy call on Aquino during his visit to Malaysia last month, used to be the regional vice-president of Warner Music Group for Southeast Asia. But he left the company when it initially refused to embrace digital media.

“Mr. Fernandes said he felt the company was going to a dead end when they failed to adapt to the new digital technology. The point is, because of technology and global developments, even other countries experience a drop in sales in their music industry,” Aquino said.

The President said it was time for the industry to come up with ways to become more consumer-friendly, especially to known music lovers like Filipinos. He said music was part of Filipinos’ lives and thus like history’s soundtrack.

He mentioned the current situation of the US recording industry, where some companies decided to make music more accessible to a larger market, using technology that helped boost the sales of many artists to the point that vinyl production was revived.

“Imagine, the youth nowadays can purchase single tracks and enjoy the music they want. Some kids will say, ‘Why do I have to buy the entire album when there is only one song that I want to listen to?’”

Aquino said the Filipino public was always willing to help the music industry and maybe a dialogue was needed to know what would satisfy consumers.

The digital age was among the reasons blamed by most Filipino musicians for the constant decline of record sales over the past 10 years.

The 2010 Nielsen Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report estimated that 37 percent of Filipinos would just download or upload music files online.