Music is a big part of Filipino life. We know this by the universally accepted “truth” that Filipinos are great singers, and by the statistic based on We Are Social’s and Hootsuite’s 2018 report that Filipinos spend an average of two hours a day listening to streaming music. Add to that this nifty new stat: as of Jan. 1, OPM on online streaming service Spotify has reached close to 10 billion streams.

Now, assume a track runs for an average of three minutes, that would mean that OPM amounts to at least 30,000,000,000 minutes of streams.

That’s a lot. (I don’t even want to estimate how many hours, days, or even months that would last.)

Point is, this just proves that the Filipino music industry is thriving, especially online. According to Spotify, more and more OPM content has been hitting the top spot on the country’s Top 50 chart. And among those are songs by artists like IV of Spades, Ben&Ben, Juan Karlos, and Moira Dela Torre.

Spotify currently has 19 official OPM playlists (you can easily access them through the OPM tab on “Browse”). But to celebrate the resurgence of OPM online, here are some of the Nolisoli team’s favorite local tunes:

“Islands” by Reese Lansangan

I first heard this when she performed it at a gig, and I’ve been waiting for it to come out on Spotify ever since. It’s a song about dealing with separation and moving on, but it’s so chill. The music video is gorgeous, too.
– Pauline Miranda, Associate Managing Editor

“Umaapaw” by Ang Bandang Shirley

“Umaapaw” reminds me of the time when I was still getting to know my SO. Listening to it makes me feel like I’m driving, on a journey of getting to know him in an intimate manner, no rush.
– Yazhmin Malajito, Junior Content Creator

“Tila” by Clara Benin

Tila by Clara Benin remains as my favorite OPM song. Its nostalgic and calming tune paired with Benin’s soothing vocals makes me forget the chaotic state of our society for a while. It’s the song I play first on long road trips.
– Aanne Bulan, Junior Content Creator

“Aimlessness” by tide/edit

I really like the band’s Lightfoot album, but this one is my favorite track from there. To me, it evokes a sense of restlessness, the kind of fidgety feeling you get in your fingers when you want to get lost in a city somewhere. I used to listen to this a lot more when I was in college, and it reminds me of flighty days when I would ride the LRT to Recto and walk to Binondo without a plan in mind. (Super fun fact: I gave a copy of the album to my ex when we broke up, so there’s something bittersweet about it to me as well. Yay, life!)

– Zofiya Acosta, Junior Content Creator

“Oo” by UDD

I always used to listen to this back in high school. This reminds me of good times.
– Jill Chua, Junior Content Creator

“Daldalhin” by Regine Velasquez

It might seem like a joke—and it started like that—but over time I found it soothing to listen to “Ate Reg.” Whenever I’m stuck in major traffic, I just play this on Spotify and it instantly takes me there, like the song promises.

– Christian San Jose, Junior Content Creator