OPM Archive looking for Filipino music artifacts

The OPM Archive Foundation has announced its official plans to collect Filipino music memorabilia and push for digital archiving in a bid to preserve cultural artifacts.

Heading the OPM Archive Foundation are Moy Ortiz, President; Krina Cayabyab, Vice-President; Dinah Remolacio, Treasurer and Chevy Salvador, Secretary.

The archive is a separate entity from Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM) in that it will serve as a foundation that collects and documents not just the actual original Filipino music, but also narratives, photographs, music sheets, and press releases.

Originally, the term “OPM” referred to the inclusive period from the 1970s to 1980s when a rich influx of new and modern sounds, melodies, lyrics, singers and musicians flooded the airwaves, and even the theater, with original dance musicals such as Rama Hari and Tales of the Manuvu. Among the familiar and popular singers who emerged, at that time were Celeste Legaspi, Basil Valdez, Hajji Alejandro, Sampaguita, Mike Hanopol, Florante, Freddie Aguilar, Leah Navarro, and Didith Reyes.

The archive, however, for the purposes of music research and study for future generations, shall extend its coverages to the precedents of this era, the 1960s, and extend to the present, and hopefully can be sustained into the future, for the identification and recognition of music development. The accompanying narratives will seek to contextualize the music in its specific social relevance that defined each period, and perhaps identify continuity to the next period.

Plans for the OPM Archive started before the COVID-19 lockdown, when the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL), where the archive are to be housed, was ready to receive hard copy donations. With the lockdown, FHL head Suzanne Yupangco and the archive group agreed to go digital. This does not, however, preclude the collecting of hard copies once the quarantine period is over.

While each hard copy donation will be digitized, the original copies will also be preserved through actual preventive conservation, knowing how digitization alone can be prone to obsolescence because of evolving digital formats.

The archive is now open for digital collection, and is open to the public for donations. For details, visit opmarchive.com.