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Friday, September 21, 2012

How OPM Can Win My Concert Budget Back

I have been reading several distressing articles in the newspapers recently about how our local artists are once again being clobbered by the influx of foreign acts these past few years and how they feel that they're being shortchanged by the unequal treatment.

These artists have been pleading for the locals (that's us) to also support OPM.  But since the market for music right now is so fluid and it's globalized like all the other businesses, our local artists really have to compete and be world class, if they want to get money from regular concert buyers like me!

I have already seen 27 shows or concerts this year (from January to September 2012), but only three of them were by OPM artists - Gary Valenciano's show in the Music Museum, Markki Stroem's show in Music Museum and the joint show of Giniling Festival, Jurassic Pards and Robin Nievera.  Probably the only local act that I see more than once in a year, is our Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra - and our opera singers - since we've had a bevy of operas this year!  I have seen Rachelle Gerodias sing more times this year than, say Sarah Geronimo, whom I've never seen live, for the simple reason that I don't like her and I don't like her music.  It really all boils down to a matter of taste.

But I love OPM and I consciously try to discover as many OPM artists as I could and buy, really buy their CDs - and not just download them for free.  So I am giving them some tips as to how they can let me part with my hard-earned moolah -

#1  I love pop music so it's fairly easy to make me like you.  Your music doesn't have to be artsy-fartsy.  You know how mababaw I am?  My #1 favorite song for this year (as of this week) is Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe'.  The first time I heard this song (way way before it became famous), I was immediately hooked, so much so that I used it during our fashion show - way before people were humming to it!  I just loved it. It was cute and it was the perfect pop song.  So there.  I am mababaw and as long as the melody is cute and catchy, I'm for it.  I don't even care much for the lyrics.  Case in point - Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks!  Listen to the lyrics of that song - it's terrifying - but the beat is just so catchy - I love it!!

#2  I don't really like it when our local singers do covers.  It just turns me off.  It tells me that you are tamad and you want to be famous the easy way - do a cover of a famous song!  I actually didn't like Sarah Geronimo before because I only hear her do other people's songs, which was irritating!  I finally saw how good she was when she did 'Kung Siya Ang Mahal' which really floored me!  I began to like her, but sadly, her discography is still littered with so many remakes and she also sings remakes in her concerts - so well, booorrrinnggg!! So she'd never get my concert money.  She'd have to do a concert that is 90% original songs of hers before I will part with my 4000 pesos to watch her.  Otherwise, my friend Sofia can sing just as well as her and I can watch her for free whenever we do karaoke.

#3 You'd have to be yummy like Markki Stroem before I'd part with my 4000 pesos to watch you.  And Markki sings jazz - and I love jazz!!  So he fits my bill perfectly!! And he does original compositions, so bravo!!

#4  No one is producing local artists that is interesting to me!! Here is the list of local artists I'd love to see live -

a.  Siakol
b.  Kiss Jane
c.  Christian Bautista
d.  Markki Stroem
e.  Emanuelle
f.  Miguel Escueta
g.  Kamikazee
h. Itchyworms
i.  Pops Fernandez
j.  Tanya Markova
k.  Giniling Festival
l.  Jurassic Pards
m.  Krissy & Ericka
n.  Never the Strangers
o.  Gracenote

#5  Gary V's show at the Music Museum was a visual delight but local artists don't have to put too much gimiks in their show.  What's important for me is that they come out with an interesting setlist where they sing the songs I like and sing it as close to the original version as possible.

#6  Use the social networking websites to advertise their gigs.  Facebook was pretty helpful for me to see Chris Cantada earlier this year.  I in turn discovered Giniling Festival and Jurassic Pards - two very interesting bands!  

The only OPM artist I'll be watching before the year ends is Christian Bautista.  I just hope some of those I mentioned above will have gigs before the year ends!
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