When people look back on 2011 as far as OPM is concerned, it will most likely be remembered as an “in-between” year: lots of things brewing but nothing really big happening (save for a very few exceptions), no big movements in the industry.
After all, the musical boom of the '00s has been declared officially over. With the demise of a number of acts from that era (Sugarfree, Bamboo), and the closing down of NU107 Cebu and RJ UR105.9 on FM radio, it really seems like what some have been saying: that rock is dead.
Or is it? After all, former Sugarfree vocalist Ebe Dancel returned, his trademark songwriting brilliance intact. So did Bamboo Mañalac. (Incidentally, both announced their bands' respective dissolutions only days apart). And Barbie Almalbis finally returned to show that moms can still rock. It seems like the Year of the Solo artist, but Ely Buendia and his cohorts from Pupil gave us one of the strongest albums of the year, among other bands.
Pop stations now creating own material
While pop stations are killing it at the airwaves, the biggest ones seem to have a problem airing new pop material. According to Susan Arcega, PR Consultant for the Manila Broadcasting Company (Love Radio, YES-FM), this is the reason why the stations actually create their content now (see: remixed/Tagalized tunes). Sure, pop gems like Kyla's Motown-ish ditty “Mahal Kita (Di Mo Pansin)” make it to their playlists, but they didn't make enough of a dent in the pop music landscape.
But then there's pop music's biggest breakthrough this 2011: Someday Dream, who has lorded it over the music charts on the other end of the pop radio spectrum. Old fogeys can say what they want about the guy, but there is no denying the impact of this one-man act that has tweens and teens going crazy about his music (and while the kid definitely is no slouch in the looks department, it's quite amazing that his fans are primarily about his songs more than anything else).
Then again is radio even reliable anymore? The founding of Pinoytuner.com involving some of the personalities from the defunct NU107 (Manila) may not give a straight answer, but definitely offers a good case for making music, well, cool again. And it's online.
Let’s stagnate like it’s 1990
So is it a good year or a bad year?
Maybe both. It has happened before, after all. 1990 was the year rap and pop dominated the local airwaves, but there was a sense of stagnation going on. Save for the Dawn, mainstream rock had nothing else. But when people wanted their music raw and fresh, they went to hole-in-the-wall bars like Club Dredd and Mayrics.
2011 may be a different time, but it sure feels like 1990. While it can't be said that local music has stagnated, the fact that everyone is still at a loss as to how to deal with the evolving music business somehow made the music world stand still.
2012: music’s next boom year?
But 1990 was also the time when future legends like the Eraserheads were in their incubation periods. A tad optimistic, but it's safe to say that 2011 is the year future game-changers started working on what might be local music's next big boom, which could happen in 2012.
How do we know this? For one, music store sales. Gep Macadaeg, retail store operations manager for Lyric, confides that music store sales had had a significant increase this year, on a major scale (pun not intended). With other independent retailers setting up shop, more and more people seem to be buying musical instruments than ever.
Which only means more artists within the next few years, regardless of genre.
The In-Between Year
2011 has already given us new acts. Other than Someday Dream, there is also former Spongecola drummer Chris Cantada's debut, which contains tracks very reminiscent of 90s-era alt-rock earnestness (with the inevitable 90s revival happening within the next few years, Cantada may actually be on to something).
Of course, the indies continue to remain strong, with some well on their way to breaking new territory and reaching new audiences, such as in the case of electro group Techy Romantics, with their new album and somewhat-regular gig in Republiq. Dance-rock act Taken by Cars also released their sophomore album, arguably better than the first one. And goth darlings The Late Isabel released the Pinoy post-punk album that effectively put an end to the post-punk revival of the past decade.
The last boom is over. We're well on our way to the next one, but 2011 will forever be That Year In Between.
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