The Philippine Popular Music Festival 2013 Experience Part 1

The Press Launch

After the success of the first ever Philippine Popular Music Festival, it’s no longer a surprise that the songwriting competition is back for a second edition this 2013. And for this year, PhilPop goes with the tagline Ako ang Musikang Pilipino! (I am Filipino Music!) aiming to put Filipino songwriters back into the spotlight. Ryan Cayabyab returns as the festival’s Executive Director.

I’ve had a blast with my experience last year with PhilPop and I did wonder how long I had to wait before the next one comes around. It turned out that I didn’t have to wait much further since PhilPop is now up and running. The website has started accepting song submissions starting this January 1, 2013 with the deadline of submission ending on February 28, 2013.

Last year, former Akafellas member Karl Villuga’s Bawat Hakbang emerged victorious out of the almost 3,000 entries submitted. And this song won him a cool P1,000,000 which is again the prize money for this year’s eventual winner. Toto Sorioso placed second with his entry Tayo-Tayo Lang while Australia based Soc Villanueva placed third with his song Kontrabida. The other finalists, though they didn’t win any of the major prizes, felt that the competition changed their lives and it opened a lot of doors for them. And they are very thrilled that the compilation album featuring all of the top 14 songs has just been certified platinum.

Ryan Cayabyab with some of the PhilPOP 2012 Finalists

For those who would want to submit entries for this year, check out the website www.philpop.com.ph for a set of updated rules. Responding to the feedback gathered from last year’s competition, there will be a more grueling screening selection process in choosing the top 14 finalists.

Here are more details included in the press release regarding the competition rules:

The competition is open to amateurs and professionals, participant must be of Filipino descent so even those residing abroad can join, the song entry may be written in a popular or new song genre, or a fusion thereof, in any form or structure, as lyrics may be in Filipino, a Philippine regional language, a Philippine dialect, English, or any combination thereof.

The song entry must be entirely original. It must not be licensed to any publisher; has not been printed and distributed as hard copy; or through the internet; has never been previously recorded and must not infringe on any existing copyright or any other rights. It must not have been performed live in any venue, on traditional radio and television, or internet, or pre-recorded and uploaded on the internet, or recorded on video or other format for future broadcast.

Ryan Cayabyab

The Philippine Popular Music Festival 2013 was launched at the Genting Club over at the Maxim’s Hotel, Resorts World Manila. During the launch, Ryan Cayabyab recalled the Workshop with the Maestro series, gave a sneak peek of Pintig and several of the finalists performed their songs.

I think it’s nice to include in here what Ryan Cayabyab wrote in my little notebook of OPM icons. In it, he wrote Enjoy ka lang! Just Enjoy! which I actually do when I play these notes on the piano.

Just Enjoy!

PhilPop is supported by Maynilad, Smart, Meralco, PLDT, Resorts World Manila, TV5, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, NLEX, Sun Cellular, the First Pacific Leadership Academy, KBP, and Philex.

The Philippine Popular Music Festival 2013 Experience Part 2
The Philippine Popular Music Festival 2013 Experience Part 3
The Philippine Popular Music Festival 2013 Experience Part 4