Music website targets Filipino music lovers overseas

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net FILIPINOS overseas who long to listen to the sounds of home can access a new online music site and download an entire library of Filipino music. PinoyTunes.net has over 3,000 all-Filipino songs ranging from the latest pop and rocks songs to classics of the 80s and 90s, as well as hard-to-find songs released during the 60s and 70s. The songs are encoded in high-quality MP3 format and have been encoded with digital rights management security. which allows the copying of the downloaded songs up to five times. The songs come from such record labels as Alpha Music, Star Records, GMA Records and Villar Records. It also includes songs from independent labels giving these artists an opportunity to promote their craft. PinoyTunes.net is founded by Bambi Fonacier, who also owns music retail store Odyssey and the Touch Music Video digital entertainment station. Her aim is to reach Filipinos abroad who might want to hear the songs that they used to listen to while in the Philippines as well as show the latest music trends in the country. The site was launched during a Philippine trade exposition in New Jersey. Fonacier noted that the US is perhaps the single biggest market for their service. “Since around 70 percent of the US population is connected to the Internet, it is safe to assume that there are about three million US-based Filipinos who have access to the internet. Translated to sales this means a multi-million dollar business opportunity not only for our company but also for the Filipino music industry as a whole,” Fonacier said. Fonacier said that even artists are excited about her online library as their music can be heard worldwide and artists can earn royalties when songs are purchased and downloaded. Registration is required to download songs, with an annual membership fee of $11.99, which can be paid through online payment service PayPal. There is also a five-day trial membership worth $3.