Asia -- The Unpopularity of Country Music in the Philippines

I came across a very interesting, long blog post about how and why country music has not attained popularity in the Philippines....

it is not a lack of enjoyment of country music but awareness in the music-listening younger generation of the Philippines, who do love their Taylor Swift but are unaware that she actually does two versions of her songs—the original country version, complete with “ twangs “and banjos, and a radio-friendly pop version.  We won’t argue which version is better but we will point out that the original was 100% country. A catchy melody and identifiable lyrics lures you in no matter what genre, generation, or continent.

Enter a new artist with a familiar face—Miles Poblete or as she is simply known online worldwide, Miles. Miles was the much-publicized winner of the prestigious Metro Pop star search competition in 1999. She was also a GMA mainstay from 2001-2003, a very visible personality on popular weekend variety show “S.O.P” and youth-targeted “Click Barkada.”

However, during the time of her launch, like most of us entering Freshmen year in college and even surviving through the Sophomore year, unsure of our major, Miles only knew she loved singing but did not know what her true place in the Philippine Music industry was…yet. Of course, between 1999 and 2010, Miles did leave Philippine show business to pursue her studies, even earning a B.S in Tourism from University of Santo Tomas.

Read full post HERE