Earlier this year, Ogie Alcasid, the president of OPM (Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-Aawit), announced that they will put higher taxes for foreign acts (ex. more expensive tickets for foreign concerts) in order to protect the welfare of the local acts. At first I thought it was a good idea hearing it from the Filipino singer. But when you actually think about how these foreign singers will think about us when they realize that we’re making them rich just because our own music industry is dying, it’s a shame.
My initial reaction to this is that maybe it’s our fault why the state of our local music scene is like this. If only the Filipinos listened to local acts more, then producers won’t bother getting some famous foreigner to play in our country. But then, I realized that you can’t force people to listen to something they don’t like. I won’t listen to something I don’t like.
To be honest, one reason for the near death of OPM music is our musician’s lack of originality (esp. pop artists). They’re too lazy to make their own music and their lack of artistic decency is one reason why the OPM scene is dying. I’m saying this not because I hate listening to them but it’s what I’ve observed. Their endless revivals and parodies might have killed the music industry in a way. It’s like they forgot what OPM actually means. Some Filipino pop artists try to release their albums and not even half of the songs on their album are originals. It’s like they just got an acoustic guitar out of nowhere, sing some foreign song, cover it and people eat it up and the artists makes millions. And it’s a bit stupid, don’t you think?
Though regulating foreign acts might help our music industry, I believe it’s not the answer. Local artists especially pop stars should work more on their talent. Singing or playing an instrument isn’t enough if you want to be a musician. You need to learn how to write your own songs and have originality. According to what I’ve observed in this country, managers don’t encourage their artists to innovate and come up with something creative. I think artists do revivals more often because of money. They do revivals because they don’t require much time and effort compared to writing your own music.
I’m a big lover of both international and local music and honestly, I have nothing against adapting foreign music but when it’s all you hear in the radio, those remakes and Tagalog translations by Filipino artists, it’s quite tiring. I believe that OPM music will be a lot more competitive globally and music worthy if our artists become more authentic and original.
When will this end? Before we had piracy as a problem, now our lack of originality. It will kill the music industry faster than piracy ever will. I bet.
