PhilPop 2013: Looking for new songwriters

MANILA, Philippines - The illustrious Philippine Popular Music Festival songwriting competition is ecstatic about its second run this year. It has been accepting entries via its website www.philpop.com.ph until Feb. 28. 

Last year, Filipinos from here and about 100 other cities around the world submitted their songs to PhilPop with the hope of being one of the Top 14 finalists and bagging the P1M grand prize. More than the prize, to be counted as one of the 14 among thousands of entries submitted is definitely something to be proud of.

Behind this endeavor is the PhilPop Musicfest Foundation Inc., a group led by Manuel V. Pangilinan as its chairman and steered by maestro Ryan Cayabyab who stands as the executive director. Other members of the board are Ogie Alcasid and Noel Cabangon, who lend their time and influence and steer the foundation towards a direction that will certainly uplift the Filipino music industry and aid in nation building by pushing forth the country’s musical identity.

PhilPop seeks to identify deserving songwriters who can inspire and spark positive change through their songs and give them the opportunity to shine. The competition is open to amateurs and professionals, songwriters of Filipino descent (so even those residing abroad can join), whose song entry is written in a popular or new song genre, or a fusion thereof, in any form or structure, in Filipino, a Philippine regional language, a Philippine dialect, English, or any combination thereof.

The song entry must be entirely original. It must not be licensed to any publisher; has not been printed and distributed as hard copy; or through the Internet; has never been previously recorded and must not infringe on any existing copyright or any other rights. It must not have been performed live in any venue, on traditional radio and TV or pre-recorded and uploaded on the Internet, or recorded on video or other format for future broadcast.

“Philpop is not only about choosing the best songs and awarding deserving songwriters-winners cash incentives, it is also about touching base with the entire national community of aspiring songwriters and giving them the necessary tools to write more meaningful songs to benefit the local communities, and eventually the entire nation.”

PhilPop is presented by Maynilad, Smart, Meralco, PLDT, Resorts World Manila, TV5, Metro Pacific Investments Corp., NLEX, Sun Cellular, the First Pacific Leadership Academy, KBP and Philex.