It's Social Media Day today

The event will be a little over an hour from now so I'm in a rush. But I have to post this.

So today, Sunday, June 30, 2013, Third Team Media, the people responsible in setting up this gig, gave me the topic "Love for Country and Music". I'll be talking about the benefits of music and the business of it to social change for Cebu and the country. And of course the importance of social media as a tool in this medium. I'll also be sharing the podium with these great and wonderful people.

The place is at Diamond Suites & Residences. The event will run from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM.

See you :)

Adversity + Passion = Creativity

On one media interview, I was asked, "Can creativity really contribute to economic growth?

In fact, I've been asked many times of these types and many were challenging to expound.  I must admit I'm penchant for thought-provoking conversations.  I wish I have all the answers.  Sadly I don't.

But here's an AVP from the recently concluded Creative Industries Summit featuring yours truly with other sector chairmen of Creative Cebu and front liner DTI Provincial Director Nelia Navarro sharing their views as well.

Music bed are instrumental edits by Sheila and the Insects "The Disco Machine" and "Maude" courtesy of ICO Music Publishing and Merchandising.


Video directed by Zen Pastoriza (Camp Cebu).

Deanery says...

"Why sell if you can give.  Why buy if it's free?  Buy only what you need.  The want is free."

That's what CARTONATA also stands for.   Cebuano indie pop group Deanery believes in that too.

So tell me... if someone gives you this band's single, would you take it?  Yes?  Would you want to have it if it was free?  Maybe, yes, maybe.  If someone sells you this band's single as download, would you buy it?

Errr...

So answer me this... what's better than never?

What's Better Than Never by Deanery

'Rochelle'

It's obviously a girl's name.  It's also a fictional film from the television show Seinfeld.  In Illinois, it's a name of a town.

In this blog, 'Rochelle' is the latest single of Happy Days, a Cebuano geek rock group.  The band's been keeping the song in their personal players until CARTONATA.

Have a date with 'Rochelle' for P350 only at Hareld & Gumer's merchline.

Here's a sampler.

Rochelle by HAPPY DAYS

Free music anyone?

It's better to share, isn't it?  Well yes receiving feels good but would you agree with me if I say giving is better?

Music's been one of the most shared art even back when the internet is still in its incubation stage.  In the 70's and the 80's, you insert a tape in your cassette and wait until the first 3 notes of your favorite song starts spinning.  You press record and voila!  You got music.

Eventually the song grew in you and so you decided to buy the real stuff.

The 90's upgraded this with the CD.  And so the electronics companies also invented digital burners.  Voila!  You got music!

Apple catches up later with the iPod.  Who would've ever thought that you can actually carry a thousand albums with you into something that is as handy as a cigarette pack.  Voila!  You got music.

Then they invented the DRM to hopefully discourage piracy.  It failed.  Internet and satellite radios became another source of music.  This is good except that if there is no internet or wifi, you got no music.  Then there's TuneCore, Jingle Punks, YouLicense, Jango, and all other music avenues they can think of doing.

As far as I'm concerned, only Radiohead dared to do something different on 'In Rainbows'.  Then other bands adapted the business model.

My question now is this... are these music companies doing the stuff they do in the attempt to control a playlist?  Because it never really stopped the culture of sharing free music.  And sharing is a natural human need.

Wonggoys signed up for ICO Music too

Did I mention that Wonggoys are awesome?  I think I did.

So I was in Starbucks, IT Park sitting with the Wong brothers.  We signed the music publishing contract with ICO Music on the 8th of January, 2011.  It wasn't just a signing session though.  It was a meet and greet with the band's manager Mrs. Wong.

Bethany's Quibranza brothers signed up for ICO Music

Times are a-changin' they say.

The old business model of the music industry was that if you are an artist, you get help from a record company.  If you are a songwriter, your supposed best friend in the business should be the music publisher.  If you are both, then I advise you learn how to read and interpret contracts.

But times are a-changin'.



Today, bands can mobilize as their own independent record company.  In the industry lingo, it's called vanity label.

Today, you can build a fan base on your own.  This has been proven with the success of Urbandub.

Bands can run their own publishing machinery.  But then that seriously and I mean seriously entails another scope of work.  And artists in general prefer to skip the nitty gritty stuff especially with the copyright and other legal jargon.

So to seriously think about how your band can accomplish at least for a start certain level of success, it's important to get your music publishing arrangements done first.  That's what I do with ICO.

Last Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, the Quibranza brothers Luis, Angelo, and Paolo, the songwriters of the band Bethany signed up all their musical compositions with ICO Music Publishing.  My role is to administer the copyrights of their music as well as represent the authors in licensing their music for use.  That's just about it.

The rest... well, if you're a songwriter, let's meet and talk.  I'll explain what else I do.

On music retail : free or fee?

It's been a long debate between big labels and indie artists since Napster days.  There should be a smart way to get this through.  I thought I'd pass this on to you.

Let me know what you think.

If music downloads were priced ridiculously cheap, would you opt to pay for it in support of the musicians/artists or would you still insist on free music download?

If you say you'd pay for the music, do you mean:

• supporting your favorite band? (yes or no)
• or supporting the musicians and artists in general? (yes or no)

If you say you'd pay for the music, how much would you pay for it?

If you say you'd still go for free music downloads, why do you prefer it this way?

I need your valuable honest opinion. Copy paste the questions and post it in the comment boxes with your replies. Or PM me. There are no right or wrong answers.

The story of the Wonggoys

I know for a fact that Cattski Espina knows good talent when she hears one.  But sharp as she is, she almost missed this one... almost.  She wrote in her blog, and I quote, "I’ve heard about them way before that one dinner meeting that started it all.  I knew they were talented, I just didn’t know they were REALLY talented."

Wonggoys is a music trio of brothers - Gabriel, William, and Kyle .
The group's moniker, sounding obviously like onggoy, Filipino word for monkey, is a reinvention of their Chinese surname Wong.

My Wonggoy story begins at The Outpost boathouse area one evening working with my laptop on a weak wifi signal.  This was sometime January 2010.  I was working on a square bamboo table and beside me to the right were two young couples.  The lady was geek pretty and from the looks of it, they seemed to look romantically involved somehow.  The guy introduced himself and asked about ways to get a gig.

At first glance I almost mistook him for an old friend who owns DaVinci Pizza.  In seconds I figured he just looked like him.  His name is Gabe.  We had a long good talk.  Then after a while I veered my focus back to my laptop and worked again.

Then a month ago, Cattski asked me to draft a music publishing contract for a group called Wonggoys.  The name stuck.  I was sure I heard the name somewhere.  Ah yes, my nephew Gio mentioned them, that they perform in his high school events and they had a huge fanbase.  To me, it sounded like it was just another band story.  I heard this often times before.

Back to the cat, she said she's signing them up for 22 Tango Records and needs a publisher from the back end.  It was meant to be a lazy Sunday for me but after I listened to the songs she emailed, I had to change priority.  In other words I got hooked and jumped on the drafts.

That was a month ago.  And guess what?  My head still spins on their music especially on "Chase The Girl Or Rule The World", my personal favorite from their debut album I’m Not Sure What To Say But I’ll Say It Anyway.

22 Tango invited me to guest in her Dec 22 show at The Outpost.  I saw Gabe again.  He was still with the geeky chick only this time without glasses.  Cattski arrived and introduced me to him.  I said we've met.  Then she said he's Gabe, a Wonggoy.

Bang! There's the connection.

Impressed by their mp3's, I waited for their turn to come on stage.  They brought session musicians with them.  They played.  They're good.  No, that's an understatement.  These young lads can really write, sing, and perform.

The cat hit a gold mine.  And she did excellent work as the creative producer for Wonggoy's album - a producership debut she declares outside her Cattski career.  Altogether, if she purrs this out right, she can make quality pop music for Cebu come alive again.

Kudos.  Congratulations.  I'm now looking forward to see and hear more of Wonggoys this year.

Just in case

I thought I'd start by sharing a couple of things I hope to do in the next 12 months of this year long journey.  What I do may not have anything to do with you personally.  Yet I'd still like to share what I've done in 2009 in case you'd come to build your own unique and special story this year to which people like myself might be involved in.

Just in case.  So here it goes...

July 2009, ICO Music Publishing and Merchandising was registered in DTI.  A couple of weeks later (and by stroke of luck), an old friend asked if I could design audio beds for her clients.  To cut the chase, three projects were closed - 2 from NatGeo and 1 for Pocket Laser iPhone app (video below).  Aside from this work-for-hire project, ICO Music has built a healthy catalog in a span of 3 months.




On Sep 10, Artist KO marketing cooperative was officially formed.  I personally submitted the application for registration to CDA on Dec 2009.  Getting the people to sign the documents was a fun ride.  My sincerest and heartfelt thanks for making it happen - Cattski (Dir), Atty. Elmido (Dir), Sandy Kiamko (Dir), Ysai Perez (Dir), Vince Yap (Treasurer), Chai Fonacier (Secretary), Cilee Kuizon, Atty. Landicho, Kaloy Uypuanco, Jay Young, Jad Bantug, Jude Gitamondoc, Randy Su, Lui Castillo, Rommel Tuico, Insoy Niñal, and Aldwin Rondina.

With this community of artists and musicians, I'm sure there'll be plenty of things to do and smile about in the many years to come.