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How do you keep the music playing?
Many musicians are short on inspiration (and cash) these days. That’s why we hear more covers and few new compositions. Not that the country is running out of talent, but Piracy is causing the music industry’s lingering death.
My heart goes out to Filipino composers who have long suffered in silence, over the blatant disrespect for copyrighted material in this country. I can imagine how painfully infuriating an experience it is for a musician to see pirated versions of his work shoved on his face by pirated CD vendors.
The Filipino Society of Songwriters, Authors and Publishers (FILSCAP) is finding ways to stomp piracy by working with record companies in the field of Music Publishing.
Original Filipino Musician and Professor, Heber Bartolome tells me that significant gains have been made by Music Publishing in easing the revenue drain due to piracy. Music Publishers see to it that artists get paid for their work from composition to release. They also make sure artists get royalties or new revenue from future sale or use or live performance of their work.
But Music Publishing can only be effective if a strong copyright framework exists.
The Philippines has a formidable Copyright Law enshrined in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines under Republic Act 8293. The Philippine Copyright Act is expanded to protect patents, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property. Quite impressive on paper!
I doubt its enforcement though. The Philippines is still on the watch list of countries where piracy and disregard for copyrighted material is rampant and because of a culture that “takes it lightly and casually”. While the patronage of pirated products is as sacred as crime in other countries, in the Philippines seemingly decent people buy pirated products when they can.
Sadly the Philippines has also achieved very little in its anti piracy campaign despite its numerous task forces and the creation of an enforcement body such as the Optical Media Board (OMB) whose focus is to run after “movie” pirates.
While this benefits movie makers, musicians on the other hand are getting very little help.
A typical OMB raid usually seizes pirated DVD’s. The haul of pirated music is but consequential because the CD’s just happened to be there. The OMB is after all specific to “optical media”.
Besides there’s fewer pirated CD’s in the streets compared to DVD’s. The compact disc as a medium is dying. Unfortunately the technology replacing CD’s is a more voracious pirate. The Computer!
With music now downloadable to flash drives, MP3 players or the Ipod, pirates roam wild online. They worry less about raids and busts as their profit margins are now wider with reduced “selling and administrative expenses”, such as stalls and hawkers to flaunt wares.
Almost anyone can be a pirate in the comforts of home as well. Anyone who loves music and has an internet connection can download or share copyrighted material, free (or for a fee).
That’s why musicians are fighting back. Artists now opt for live performances to gain back (in the form of talent fees and ticket sales) the income from recordings that they lose to pirates. No wonder many artists and musicians perform in concerts or appear on television even if they have no new compositions or releases.
The adage “music does not put food on the table” is more apt if piracy continues. And with the looming drought in new compositions, music lovers are in for less melodious times.
Perhaps it is the artist’s way of getting back at those who claim to love music yet patronize pirated material, because these are the very people who love their music, to death. (Comments or reactions are welcome. Email: stanley.palisada@gmail.com)