The Philippine Popular Music Festival (also known as Philpop) is an annual songwriting competition organized by the Philpop MusicFest Foundation and was launched in 2012. The creation of the festival was inspired by the defunct Metro Manila Popular Music Festival. The foundation itself is headed by the chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, executive director Ryan Cayabyab and administrator and communications director Patricia Bermudez-Hizon. The competition is only open to original and previously unreleased songs in English, Filipino and other Philippine languages. Since its inception, it has been airing annually in TV5.
There are three prizes given: Grand Prize (â±1,000,000), 2nd Prize (â±500,000) and 3rd Prize (â±250,000). An additional award is given named Smart People's Choice Award (â±200,000), which is the most popular song based on the text votes sent by the people. People who win these prizes also receive trophies while the defeated finalists each receive â±50,000 and a plaque.
In its first year, the festival has received many controversies regarding to its finalists and its rules. On its second year, all the interpreters were able to film music videos for their respective song entries.
Viva Records released the compilation albums of the PhilPop Music Festival finalists.
In 2020, the Philpop Foundation formed a partnership with Warner Music Philippines and telecommunications company Smart Communications for its 2020 Edition of the competition.
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This song replaced Marion Aunor's entry, "Do, Do, Do", after Aunor backed out for personal reasons and her talent management decision.
Out of more than 2,000 entries, The Philpop, together with the adjudicators — singers Basti Artadi, Bullet Dumas, Ebe Dancel, Lara Maigue and Davey Langit, academe members and college students — selects 12 entries for the competition. Five of the composers are returning to the competition, while 11 of those are rookies.
The 30 semifinalists for the 2018 Philippine Popular Music Festival were announced on July 24, 2018. A criteria of 25% online streams, 25% SMS voting, and 50% judges' choices was used to select the top 10 finalists. The Top 10 were announced on October 17, 2018. The Grand Finals were held on December 2, 2018.
The 2020 edition of PhilPop songwriting competition was announced in July 2020. Due to the restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the music industry and the prohibition of live events, the competition was held online.
The top 15 entries were announced in September 2020, while the Grand Finals was held on December 12 via livestreaming on PhilPop's social media accounts.
In September 2022, PhilPop and Himig Handog, renowned entities in the Philippine music industry, collaborated for the biggest songwriting festival in the Philippines. This collaboration followed an open audition where songwriters could submit their released or unreleased songs.
On April 14, 2023, PhilPop and Himig Handog announced the selection of 35 DigiCamp fellows who would take part in the Songwriting Festival. These selected 35 Fellows engaged in a 2-month DigiCamp program tailored to enrich their songwriting skills. The DigiCamp curriculum included a well-structured program providing training, guidance, and mentorship to foster the development of their capabilities as songwriters. After the 2-month training, the 35 fellows had to submit their final entries to qualify for the top 12.
On July 22, 2023, PhilPop and Himig Handog, revealed the top 12 selected Grand Finalists who had qualified to progress to the forthcoming competition. The top 12 entries went through multiple rounds of adjudication, headed by an esteemed panel of Board Members, producers, key leaders, prominent songwriters, and decision-makers affiliated with PhilPop and Himig Handog.
One year after the announcement of the Top 12, on July 17, 2024, a video uploaded by Star Music PH and Philpop unveiled the names of the interpreters and their respective songs, alongside the composers. The following day, July 18, 2024, marked the highly anticipated grand media launch of Philpop Himig Handog 2024. This event was attended by the interpreters and the top 12 composers, including notable figures like Ice Seguerra, Moira Dela Torre, Johnoy Danao, Maki, , Khimo Gumatay and several emerging artists from the Philippines.
The top 12 Philpop Himig Handog songs were released on all digital platforms on July 19, 2024. The Official music videos were released on November 8, 2024, on the ABS-CBN Star Music YouTube channel. The Grand Finals were held on March 22, 2025.
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