The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The local Tin Pan Alley is very competitive yet exciting.
It is ferocious yet inviting.
It is overcrowded yet accommodating.
It is indifferent from the inside yet stimulating.
It is concentrated and diversified yet imitating if not limiting.
It is somewhat barren yet pulsating.
However, cliche, “many are called but only few are chosen,” still holds water.
It’s not only the talent that counts.
How to last in the battle yet properly armed and prevail is a must.
Aside from relatability of the item to the listener, one has to be more creative, resourceful, and cutting edge to stand out.
In the end, marketing a musical creation, therefore, has a lot of ways and means, strategies, new ideas culled to promote a work of art and business.
Spotify, iTunes, Amazon
Although there are so many media platforms these days to vent a musical fare, especially with the advent of digital communications if not only for selling, like Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and many other outlets, it isn’t simple and easy.
You might just want to log on to any online marketplace but it’s not the be-all and end-all of salesmanship.
A more judicious and fastidious approach is in order.
There are a million and one songs and ditties of diverse genres and contents that should be promoted and sold online but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Digital or analog, marketing music requires huge, giant steps to succeed.
Publicity and massive information can help amplify a campaign but cut-throat competition within the industry is still a reality to contend with.
Star Records, Viva Records et al
Consider the prevalence of major recording studios like Star Records, Viva Records. GMA Music, Universal Records, Alpha Records, among many others, which have tie-ups with leading broadcast networks like ABS-CBN, GMA Network, TV5 or FM and AM radio bands which are still lording it over independent music productions in the advertising of musical products, online and off-line.
The big city is loaded with audio vehicles of various shapes and decibels to sound off glitter that if not neutralized, become litter.
Too crowded for comfort.
Therefore, many are diverting their tactics to sell music wares.
I remember when Buddy de Vera launched the singing career of Michael Laygo in the cult hit “Minahal Kita.”
Michael Laygo
Alpha Records reversed the manner of distribution of Laygo’s single.
From the usual imperial Manila launch, “Minahal Kita” was massively promoted in local FM and AM radio stations and eventually was selling like hotcakes in the provinces.
When the song was already enjoying the razzle and dazzle of the countryside, that was the time it was brought back to the big city.
Laygo’s song was eventually patronized in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other neighboring places and suburbs.
“Ikaw ang Iibigin Ko,” a kitschy love song by Jos Garcia which has delighted a lot of fans especially when initially promoted in the provinces.
Meanwhile, in this day and age of social media boom, in the promotion of singers, bands or solo, the deluge of likes, shares and algorithms count a lot to conquer an all-embracing demographic.
Reaching the remotest village in the country through Facebook, TikTok etc. is one victory for artists, big and small.
Deserving artists who embody the taste of a particular social station are made.
Look at what Sweetnotes of couple Jeffrey Bactong, Jr., or simply, BJ, the guitarist-singer and Charlotte Mae Bactong, the crooner, did with their syndicated sophomoric, one-dimensional MTV.
The series of their pirated digital omnibus recorded shows in honky tonk bars and plazas are the stuff being screened in public transport like provincial buses and sea fastcraft (fast ferry) or Ro-Ro (Roll-on, Roll-off) which the bulk of riding masses are found glued to the flat-screen TV.
Rapper Elias made his presence felt on Facebook and YouTube.
Sweetnotes and Elias packaging is the slant that regional marketing has geared up.
When they are already byword, invitations pour in to appear on the pop culture of the glitz and glam of national radio and TV.
At the moment, the Bactongs and Elias are enjoying the acclaim of both the imperial Manila and the provinces.
Just recently, mammoth crowds in the Visayas and Mindanao trooped to the concerts, one of them at the La Paz District Plaza in Iloilo City last week.
These idols are now in control of the music frenzied regions.