By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – In 2019, the brother of Marian Sotaridora shared the “Go Up” dance practice video of SB19. She has been hooked ever since, fully aware that SB19 is bound to strike gold (or Gento, pun intended).

“There are more fans now,” she said as she looked at the crowd, recalling the days when SB19’s fan base was still small.

Back in 2009, she stanned the second generation of KPOP which included the likes of Super Junior, Big Bang and Girls Generation. Stanning or supporting KPOP idols back then, she said, was difficult because there were fewer YouTube channels and fan-made English translations of the Korean songs would take weeks.

Fast forward to 2023, and with several SB19 concerts under her belt (including the one from Cuneta Astrodome), Sotaridora celebrated her 39th birthday last night by throwing support to her biases, SB19’s Ken and Pablo, as the three-day PPOP Convention culminated in a concert in Quezon City.

Among those who headlined last night’s concert were Alamat, BGYO, G22, Bini and Yes My Love.

“It is important to show our support because it plays a big part in our culture. This should be enriched because Filipino artists are talented. It has big potential if only there are sufficient funds, facilities, and programs that Filipino artists themselves will craft,” composer Edge Uyanguren of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines said.

Honing artists

Aside from breaking barriers in the themes they are covering, the growing PPOP movement in the music industry is also slowly changing the entertainment landscape.

SB19, for one, recently confirmed that they are now self-managed under 1Z Entertainment as they have long been vocal about investing in their own craft. One of their members even asked in jest, “Who else will invest in us?” This means that they will be extending their involvement in their music career. They intend to focus not just on the creatives (which they are already doing) but also on the business side of the craft, including managing other artists.

Uyanguren observed that foreign artists continue to dominate the country’s music scene, especially with the popularity of music platforms like Spotify and YouTube which make access to entertainment seemingly borderless. “There should be a systematic program that will support musicians. Technically, the music industry in the country is commercialized. Private record companies and labels remain the most powerful force in the industry.”

While SB19 is already considered a big artist, the 1Z Entertainment they own is “small” compared to established labels that have vast financial resources to promote their contract artists.

Fans have been doing their share to throw their support. On the eve of the release of SB19’s Gento, A’TIN held a Twitter Spaces conversation where they discussed distribution strategies, including how to properly stream and use hashtags.

Their small but dedicated supporters have since managed to create traction that have put SB19’s newest single in many charts abroad, including making an eight-place debut in the Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales last week.

Lack of government support

The elephant in the room, however, is the role of the Philippine government in all these.

Mika Geronimo, who was among the fans lining up at the convention to buy merchandise items, said that she appreciates SB19’s hard work. “(As a fan), I tweet, share TikTok videos with friends, buy merchandise, and go to concerts (to show my support). You do not even have to be VIP-seated at the concert. Presence is more important.”

But looking around her, she said that an event like PPOP Con can be replicated by the government and brought closer to more people by setting it up in other parts of the country.

Bicol Pop musician Karl Ramirez of Musika Publiko told Bulatlat that there is a supposed mechanism under the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) that would allow local governments to form their arts and culture council that can help systematize how to best help draw and implement programs that can hone artists. “This is not implemented in the whole country. It is not even implemented at the district level.”

He stressed that while there are efforts from the NCCA, it is “not consistent all the time.”

In 2021, SB19 became the NCCA’s Youth and Sentro Rizal ambassadors where they held live performances and community engagements both here and abroad. But with more PPOP groups rising, the government needs to step up.

The Philippine government enacted Republic Act No. 11904 (Philippine Creative Industries Development Act) last year which supposedly aims to protect and strengthen, among others, creative firms, artists and creators. This also includes the creation of a development agency that will “implement a long-term plan for the development and promotion of the Philippine creative industries” and a committee that will promote, most especially, the welfare of freelancers in the industry.

Ramirez said that there is no government agency tasked to gather royalties for artists, unlike in other countries like France and Thailand. The Philippine music scene is largely patterned after the US where private record labels have a big say.

“Apart from lack of confidence (that the government can properly do it), there is also no existing government institution dedicated to it,” he told Bulatlat, adding that the responsibility now falls on the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Inc. (Filscap) which “monitors our music and collects due royalties, and negotiates with the likes of YouTube on behalf of composers.”

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Filscap, which would allow them to collect license fees and royalties on their member artists’ copyrighted works.

Support needed

Among those who attended a fan-made merchandise booth during the convention were Nami and Ann who both became fans during the pandemic. They have since invested their free time to help spread the word about SB19, including hosting Twitter Spaces and fan-led community activities.

“I just came from a dark and tragic phase of my life. That was the time when I first encountered them. Then, my healing process began,” said Ann, “Sila ang pahinga namin.”

While many PPOP groups grew in popularity during the pandemic, it remained generally a dire situation for the music industry. Uyanguren said that low priority and lack of support given to artists were magnified as they could not perform in public. “There was practically no financial aid from the government. There was no support for them.”

He said that while music production has been more accessible lately and artists can easily share and distribute their works, “there should still be a program and support that will promote culture rather than commercial interests.”

“There are a lot of talented artists in the local music scene that do not stay long in the industry because of the hardships. They face hunger because there is no support. There is also a need to enrich music education that will promote indigenous music and culture,” Uyanguren said.

For his part, Ramirez stressed that the “best and brightest musicians and producers in the Philippines are mostly self-learned” as many do not have access to formal music schools or training.

Stanning our own

Siblings Ritz, Abiel, and Athena also went to last night’s concert.

While they stan KPOP idols, the three said that SB19 introduced them to more PPOP groups they now support, including Alamat and G22.

“They are more reachable. They are our very own talents. As a Filipino, it makes me proud that they are able to showcase their talent,” Athena told Bulatlat.

But Athena said there is still a long way to go for PPOP to become more accepted in the local music scene.

Like most fans attending, it is Sotaridora’s dream for PPOP groups to someday dominate the international stage. (RTS, DAA)