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A Screen shot of Rivermaya's website announces their departure from Ms. Nakpil. NEW YORK– Music as an art form is powerful. It moves people, injects new ideas and enriches culture. It is the art form so close to the human emotion, that no other medium could make a person happy, sad, or anything in between as effective as the masterful combination of melody, rhythm and rhyme.
However, with its power comes an aspect that often times mar its inherent beauty: business.
Yes, as much as it is an art form, music is a business. And this inescapable side of music more often than not puts a halt to the symphony and leaves music lovers with a taste of bitter dissonance.
Case in point, the current Rivermaya problem.
RIVERMAYA? Left to right: Mark Escueta, Mike Elgar, Jason Fernandez and Japs Sergio Last week, Rivermaya members, Mark Escueta, Japs Sergio, Mike Elgar, and Jason Fernandez announced that they are leaving the stable of their long-time manager Lizza Nakpil. The announcement came a year after ex-Rivermaya member Rico Blanco left the band.
According to sources, the four current Rivermaya members are accusing Ms. Nakpil of receiving royalties that are supposed to be for the band members, a charge that Ms. Nakpil vehemently denies.
Ms. Nakpil, on the other hand, thinks that her band’s revolt is due to a Rivermaya “reunion” concert proposal by some promoters that carries a hefty price tag, which she turned down. The concert, according to her, would bring the ex-members of the band: Rico Blanco, Bamboo, Nathan Azarcon, Perf De Castro and Mark Escueta, to play for a show that promoters are saying would pay them P42 million. The denial came because Ms. Nakpil believes that the band was not a disbanding group for members to hold a reunion.
Mr. Escueta, who appears to be leading the charge against Ms. Nakpil declined to comment on this issue. He, however, said through a text message that Ms. Nakpil is no longer representing Rivermaya. Mr. Escueta’s move to bolt out of Ms. Nakpil’s management resulted in a toss up on who owns the Rivermaya name. Escueta implied that his band will continue to use the name and thus could enter a deal with promoters offering the huge payday. Mr. Escueta’s plan to go on and use the Rivermaya name is evidenced by his application for a patent for the name at the Philippine Intellectual Property Office.
Ms. Nakpil, however, clarified that she owns the name Rivermaya ever since she started the band back in the early 90s.In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Ms. Nakpil said:
“No one from the band can claim it. Compared to other bands, Rivermaya is a different animal. Chito Roño and I formed the band. We had the idea, held auditions, and found the members—Bamboo (Manalac), Nathan (Azarcon), Rico (Blanco) and the others. We put the team together. It’s not like other bands that formed and looked for a manager. They were hired to make the band.”
Perhaps, according to sources, Mr. Escueta wants to do the reunion, but with the legal complications surrounding who owns the Rivermaya name, he couldn’t, so he decided to leave with the other members. When I asked Ms. Nakpil if she is planning to rebuild Rivermaya with new members, she said that it the thought of it has occured. Meanwhile she plans to take good care of the Rivermaya trademark, which she claims to be worth millions. So, it is all about the money. " I am afraid so, said Ms. Nakpil. " The name 'Rivermaya' is worth millions and that seems to be the reason for this conflict. The reason I call this a comedy is because it's gone as low as Jayson signing an affidavit that I just work for him and 'Rivermaya' belongs to him. You have to laugh at loud at that. At the end of our conversation, Ms. Nakpil vented out her frustration: " I had always hoped Rivermaya's last chapter would be one of drama, at least with some sense and substance. Now it's been reduced to a farce. But God has always had a bizarre sense of humor, let's take everything with a smile." For many fans of the band, legal things like this bear no weight. To them Rivermaya means good music, nothing more. But they often fail to recognize that there is so much money in big bands like Rivermaya that the music they love is nothing but consumer products no different from the toothpaste that they use, or the burger that they eat.
This is not a new story, however. Throughout the history of pop music, money is perhaps the number one reason why so many great bands folded.
The Beatles, for one, succumbed to this. Messy business deals caused turmoil within John, Paul, George, and Ringo that they just decided to call it quits and end their magical mystery tour. If this sort of money matters ended the greatest band in history, it could happen to any band.
The question for artists though is when does mere applause cease to give meaning to their music, and when does money begin to replace the thrill of a clapping audience?
For start up artists, the biggest satisfaction is audience approval. They love what they do so much, they write and play for free. They even pay for recording and other expenses without expecting any monetary returns as long as they hear their audience clap or sing along to their tunes.
But does this pure love for music die as soon as the first royalty check arrives? John Lennon once said, that he makes so much money from his Beatle songs that he writes them with a specific material purchase in mind. “Let’s write a swimming pool,” he told Paul McCartney during a songwriting session in 1964.
The Beatles in 1966 have grown tired of audience appreciation so much that they decided to quit touring. They never again heard fans clapping, dancing and screaming for their songs. But they still released albums. And those albums made them more money.
This, however, does not downplay the importance of money in the life of artists. Money is very important as it supports their livelihood and allows them to create more work. But how can artists balance the rewards of money, and artistic integrity through critical and popular acclaim?
When does money take over art as the primary motivation for creating?
When the Eraserheads reunited for a one time-million-peso show a couple of months back, many insiders believe that they all did it for the money. In fact, sources say that the members couldn’t even stand each other, as shown in their separate dressing rooms at the concert site. Some observers even noted that days after the show, when Ely Buendia recovered from the heart ailment that halted the concert, the other eHeads weren’t even communicating with each other. They simply returned to their normal routines, that is , their own bands, after they got their checks. The fans, however, want more. They want a new album, another show. And just for the band to repair burnt bridges and return to the original quartet that loved making music just for the sake of it. It ain’t happening, unless perhaps there’s another lucrative offer.
It takes rare artists to balance money and art. And those who do are rewarded with great artistic legacies and nice palatial homes on hilltops overlooking oceans.
Those who don’t are left wrestling with lawsuits.
Tags: Rivermaya the beatles eraserheads opm music filipino music perf de castro mark escueta bamboo nathan azarcon rico blanco ely buendia john lennon paul mccartney george harrison ringo starr |
