Mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. continues to champion Original Pilipino Music (OPM) by supporting the 2020 PhilPop songwriting tilt, which goes nationwide to discover more talented songwriters.
Pushing forward amid limitations brought about by the pandemic, PhilPop Festival Chair Ryan Cayabyab shared, “We’ve planned for this year’s festival way back in 2019 when COVID-19 was nowhere in sight. When the pandemic hit us, we had to make a huge pivot in terms of the execution of most ideas, many of which were originally envisioned to happen in the usual, traditional in-person platform.”
He added, “We did encounter challenges in executing some tasks. In terms of producing the songs, for example, it was quite a different process owing to the restrictions in travel and mobility. But I’m happy to say that PhilPop managed to find ways thanks to the ingenuity of the team and their passion to make things happen.”
Singer-songwriter and Festival Co-chair Noel Cabangon also admitted that lack of physical interaction made early goings of the search quite difficult.
“PhilPop festival this year is basically faced with a challenge of not celebrating the event face to face or with physical presence and interaction between the audience and the performers. It may have its advantage in terms of costs of production but to make it more appealing and creative on digital is a tough challenge.”
Technology bridged much of the distance for this year’s nationwide search.
“Technology made things possible for us. It also helps provide a new dimension and flavors to our songs as we discover more reasons of how great it is as a tool in music production,” explained Cayabyab.
Meanwhile, Smart People’s Choice Award for Best Song also makes a return this year. Music fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite song via Twitter Poll from Dec. 4 to 11 and through streaming on Spotify and YouTube on Dec. 11.
PhilPop 2020 pulled all the stops by gathering finalists from the following clusters: Mindanao, Visayas, North Luzon, South Luzon, and Metro Manila. Those who will top the votes per cluster will be named Smart’s People’s Choice awardee bringing a total of five winners this year for this category.
“This year’s finalists are a great mix of songs and I am sure many – whether they are here or across our borders – will enjoy listening to the top 15 songs,” Cayabyab ends.
To vote for your favorite songs, join the Twitter Poll starting Dec. 4 or stream the songs on Spotify and YouTube. The PhilPop 2020 Finals Night takes centerstage on Dec. 12.