Beating the pirates with fancy covers

You really have to hand it to the record labels. Beleaguered as they are with poor sales, piracy and competition from foreign releases, they continue to fight. And they fight hard. One new weapon they recently came up with is totally ingenuous. It has nothing to do with music or new technology but is geared towards giving buyers more for their money by releasing CDs in fancy covers.

This started with the use of bigger sleeves like those trappers they put DVDs in or even larger. Remember Regine Velasquez’s Low Key. Then late last year, Christian Bautista’s Romance Revisited featuring the songs of Jose Mari Chan, was released in a large box that included a calendar. Then early this year, things got even better. As Always by Martin Nievera came in a notebook with a music minus one disc, the lyrics of the songs with Martin’s poems and a few sheets of note paper. And then recently, the album KC by KC Concepcion, of course, was released in a beautiful journal.

You see, a CD on which labels spend a lot in terms of royalties, arrangements, studio time, promotions, etc. etc. is now very easy to duplicate. Pop one in your PC, put in a blank disc and you can get your extra copy in less than a minute. Keep doing that and you will turn into a music pirate. But you cannot do the same with these special covers. Those freebies give the record labels an edge over the pirates because fans will not want to buy those discs without the fancy covers. Now covers like those also cost a lot but then the CDs also get to sell more because fans will surely want a copy for themselves.

Now KC is also very special in other ways. Aside from the pictures in the journal, which are gorgeous, the CD is better produced and more coherent than her first, the big selling Kristina Cassandra. It also has an all-original line-up, which is a daring move on her part. New songs are harder to sell than old tunes and today’s Pinoys have never been squeamish about showing how much they prefer listening to cover versions.

But KC, bless her, not only went all out for new compositions. Would you believe she even included three of her own compositions, Magandang Umaga, Takipsilim and Worth The Wait. Her proficiency with writing in Tagalog is a sweet surprise and she has this flair for simple but affecting melodies. Now we all know she wrote these songs while in the middle of a busy schedule. Check out her notes, she says she wrote three songs in one day. So can you just imagine what sort of songs she should be able to come up with if she has more time for her songwriting?

The first single release is Not Like The Movies by the Cebu-based team of Jaye Muller and Ben Patton. The other cuts are Di Bale Na, It’s Been A While, Tayo Na, After The End, Breathe You, Girl Most Likely To, Naaantig Ako Sa’Yo and Hulog. More pop than her first album, KC is a more accessible collection and a good step toward KC’s longevity as a singer, songwriter and, it is listed in the credits, as a record producer. Congratulations.

Meanwhile back to Martin Nievera. OK, it is hard to be totally happy about his As Always because like most he has done recently, it is made up of foreign oldies. But this is Martin and you know how he sounds. He can take any song and turn it into the most gut-busting ballad ever. He seems to feel every word and what he feels when he sings is a lot of hurt. Big hurt. And he has plenty of them in his latest CD.

So if you want to go all emo these days, get As Always. No one else can put you in that mood like Martin does. The rocker You’re All I Need by White Lion is the winner of the lot. Marvel at how easily it adapts itself to Martin’s big ballad style. Also included are Someone Who Believes In You, Miles Away, Living Inside Myself, More Than You’ll Ever Know, Honesty, One Hundred Ways, Everytime You Go Away, You And I, Beautiful and others.