ANOTHER LEVEL FOR MAINSTREAM OPM

Some popular new breed of OPM artists hardly appear on TV but thanks to social media, these artists get to connect to their followers through their fan page, vlogs and other digital platforms, and mind you, their music videos even get more views on youtube than those of established singers. Among the country's superstars, only a few like Sarah Geronimo hit more than a hundred million views on YouTube, but that was only after her song "Tala" became a viral hit and "Tala" now join the league of monster hits like "Buwan" and "Mundo," as one of the most viewed music videos on YouTube."
Acoustic star TJ Monterverde and fast-rising band The Juans promote their tracks and gigs on social media accounts capitavating savvy millennials with their brand of OPM that is quite engaging, easy on ears and better sounding contemporary music. Another artist who is starting to make a name is rapper JSE. His song "Pinagpalit" is popular among millenials and massively mimicked by Tik-Tok users.

What is interesting about contemporary OPM is their catchy and uplifting lyrics echoed by the songs' catchy vibes and cool tune.Social media has played a big role in the careers of new artists and they don't necessarily need to hire influential managers to get exposure on TV for as long as they hit it big on social media, making it the medium for exposure to promote music. TJ Monteverde's songs like "Tulad Mo, "Karera," may be underrated but has a quite big following on YouTube, ditto for IV of Spades' "Dulo ng Walang Hanggan" and "Take That Man," Unique's "Sino" and a lot more.According to Spotify, the top 3 most-streamed tracks by local artists in the country are "Mundo" by IV of Spades, "Kathang Isip" by Ben & Ben, and "Tagpuan" by Moira dela Torre.
Two impressive song that deserves attention are Darren Espanto's latest single "Sasagipin Kita" and Inigo Pascual's "Catching Feelings." Darren displays a remarkable growth as an artist now that he's approaching adulthood and Inigo's "Catching Feelings" continue to enjoy airplay (thanks to Skycable commercial). It's a pity that James Reid is involved in lots of negative write ups. The actor-singer recently created his own music label and perhaps he should stay away from negativity which is not doing any good to his music career.

I wished new artists are given more exposure on TV like ASAP but as it is, watching ASAP is like watching the same artists week after week, singing outdated songs and most of the regular mainstays like Gary V, Martin Nievera, and Zsa Zsa Padillla have been with the show for like five decades now. Call it "staying power" and this indeed a big accomplishment but ASAP has to go also with the times and audience deserves to see new mainstream artists on ASAP stage. We also get the feel that ASAP ig getting to look like a mini Regine and Ogie show. We even see Ogie doing millennial stuffs performing alongside with Inigo Pascual and Darren Espanto doing a song and dance number and it's not funny No offense meant, as Ogie is a great composer and a good singer as well (with big hit songs to his credit). Presumably, many established artists have big contracts with the show but I guess there should be a balance in the choice of repertoire and exposure from different artists. I wished JR, Michael Pangilinan and Sam Concepcion would also enjoy the same exposure given to Erik Santos, Jed Madela and company.

OPM has gone a long way and is alive and kicking, sounding better and broader reaching a new level of identity that embodies the new generation and looking better than ever. It is also note to mention that even neighboring countries look up to local artists. If K-Pop did it, Pinoy music can also penetrate the Asian market, why not.

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