Warner Music Philippines (WMP) is a record label in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is a regional branch of the multinational music conglomerate

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

. Founded in 1977, the company gained its self-distributed status and has since began releases of several Filipino music artists and bands. The label has been switched to digital-only releases since the 2010s.

History

WMG, then known as WEA International, established WEA Records Philippines under a distribution/license agreement for 15 years with a local group led by Bella Dy Tan. In 1992, Warner Music officially set up its own local branch, after its distributor gained its own independent status and became

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Its initial offices were at the Ma. Daniel Building in

Malate, Manila Malate is a district of Manila, Philippines. Together with the district of Ermita, it serves as Manila's center for commerce and tourism. Etymology The name ''Malate'' is believed to be derived from a corruption of the Tagalog word ''maalat'' ...

. WMP has been signed artists throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyin ...

Side A The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, Alamid,

Barbie's Cradle Barbie's Cradle was a Filipino alternative rock band, formed in 1998 by the remaining members of Barbie Almalbis' previous band, Hungry Young Poets, and disbanded in 2005 when Almalbis took up a solo career. The band released three albums, ''Ba ...

David Pomeranz David Pomeranz (born February 9, 1951) is an American singer, composer, lyricist, and writer for musical theatre. He is also an ambassador for Operation Smile. Solo career Born and raised on Long Island, Pomeranz expressed interest in music from ...

Nina Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq * Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, ...

Kitchie Nadal Anna Katrina Dumilon Nadal-López (born September 16, 1980) is a Filipina singer-songwriter who was formerly the lead vocalist for the alternative rock band, Mojofly. Her popularity in the female OPM niche grew after she released a self-tit ...

Christian Bautista Christian Joseph Morata Bautista (born October 19, 1981) is a Filipino singer, actor, host, and model. He was a finalist of ''Star in a Million'', a Philippine reality show aired on ABS-CBN channel, winning 4th place in the competition in 2003. ...

Sitti Sitti Katrina Baiddin Navarro-Ramirez (born November 29, 1984 in Las Piñas), known professionally as Sitti, is a Filipino bossa nova singer. After releasing her first album, ''Café Bossa'', in 2006, other bossa nova acts in the Philippines foll ...

, and Kamikazee. In 2003, WMP transferred its offices to the Wynsum Corporate Plaza in

Ortigas Center Ortigas Center is a central business district located within the joint boundaries of Pasig, Mandaluyong and Quezon City, within the Metro Manila region in the Philippines. With an area of more than , it is Metro Manila's second most important bu ...

and then to the

UnionBank Plaza UnionBank Plaza is an office skyscraper located in Pasig, Philippines. It rises 206 metres (676 feet) from ground level to roof, and is currently the tallest complete building in Pasig, and the 14th-tallest building in the country and Met ...

in the same district. In the 2010s, amid the widespread of piracy issues, WMP suffered a decline in revenues. Since then, it began transitioned its catalog of releases to digital-only thru global streaming music platforms like Spotify. It also launched its digital site, PressPlay.ph and by that same period, moved its offices to the EcoTower in

Bonifacio Global City Bonifacio may refer to: Places * Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, a town in Corsica, France * Strait of Bonifacio, separating Corsica from Sardinia * Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, a municipality in the Philippines * Bonifacio Global City, a central bu ...

. In 2019, WMP signed new artists and bands like

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...

Leanne & Naara Leanne and Naara is an indie pop/singer-songwriter duo based in Metro Manila, Philippines. The duo consists of Leanne Mamonong and Naara Acueza. Although they began their musical careers while in their school, the duo began released their debu ...

, Keiko Necesario and St. Wolf. In 2020, WMP signed a new partnership with Cagayan de Oro-based 9K Records, a local label featuring artists from southern parts of the Philippines. The same year, WMP also signed an agreement with the PhilPop Fest Foundation and

Smart Communications Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart (and officially stylized/ self-styled as SMART), is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provid ...

to host the 2020 edition of the annual PhilPop competition. In 2021, WMG appointed Sarah Ismail as the new Managing Director of WMP. Also in 2021, WMP signed agreement with Sora Music Group, a local

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

label founded by DJ/producer Jenil, as its sublabel. In October 2021, Warner Music Philippines launched Global Pinoy Music (GLOPM), an initiative movement to expand Filipino music worldwide in collaboration of OPM artists with international-based Filipino artists and producers.

Associated and affiliated labels

* 1st.One Entertainment * 9K Records * Music Colony Records * Northern Root Records * Rebel Records PH * Sora Music Group

Artists

Current

1st.One 1st.One (stylized as First.One) is a Filipino boy band formed and trained by the Seoul-based talent management company FirstOne Entertainment, consisting Ace, Max, Alpha, J, Joker, and Jayson. The group debuted on July 31, 2020 with their singl ...

* AboutRadio * Aloura * Banna Harbera * Basically Saturday Night * Boy Graduate * Carousel Casualties * Ciudad * Curse One * Dave Anonuevo * Daydream *

Dicta License Dicta License is a Filipino band formed December 1999, whose music is a fusion of rock, rap, and grunge. This band consists of Pochoy Labog on vocals, Bryan Makasiar on drums, Kelley Mangahas on bass, and Boogie Romero on guitars. The band's ...

* Dilaw *

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

* Hulyo *

IV of Spades IV of Spades (stylized as IV OF SPADES, pronounced "four of spades") is a Filipino rock band from Metro Manila, Philippines, consisting of vocalist, bassist and keyboardist Zild Benitez, vocalist and lead guitarist Blaster Silonga, and drummer ...

* JRLDM * Jason Dhakal * Jikamarie * Keiko Necesario *

* LNTM *

Lola Amour Lola Amour is a Filipino rock band from Muntinlupa, Philippines that dabbles in the genres of modern rock, funk, and pop. The band consists of Pio Dumayas on lead vocals and guitar, Martin Kim on background vocals and keyboards, Raymond King on ...

* Midnasty * Muri *

Nicole Laurel Asensio Isobelle Nicole Laurel Asensio (born July 7, 1986), professionally known as Nicole Asensio, is a Filipino actress, singer and songwriter. After providing lead vocals for all-girl rock band General Luna, she began a solo career and released her f ...

* Noah Alejandre * Party Pace * Paul Pablo *

* Reon * St. Wolf * Sud * Tonie Enriquez ;Sora Music Group * Eva Smalls () * Ian Sndrz * Katsy Lee * LouisVint * Janny Medina * Jenil

* Alamid *

Pops Fernandez Maria Cielito "Pops" Lukban Fernandez (born December 12, 1966) is a Filipina singer, entertainer, entrepreneur, TV host and actress. Dubbed as The Philippines Concert Queen in which for the last Four decades she has performed Internationally ...

* Kamikazee *

Moonstar88 Moonstar88 is a Filipino rock band formed in Manila, Philippines in 1999. History Moonstar88 was formed in February 1999. They were signed to Sony BMG by 2006, and later to Ivory Records in 2012. Previously under Backbeat Management, they are n ...

Gracenote Gracenote, Inc. is a company owned by Nielsen Holdings that provides music, video and sports metadata and automatic content recognition (ACR) technologies to entertainment services and companies, worldwide. Formerly CDDB ("Compact Disc Data Base ...

* Paolo Santos * Mark Carpio *

Cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

(now Queso) *

Rico Blanco Rico Rene Granados Blanco (born March 17, 1973) is a Filipino singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actor, endorser and entrepreneur. He began his career as one of the founding members, and served as the chief songwriter, ...

Ben&Ben Ben&Ben (formerly known as The Benjamins) are a folk pop band in the Philippines. Formed in 2015, the band have since been known for their popular hits that include " Pagtingin" and " Lifetime", among others. One of the most popular acts in th ...

Zild Benitez Daniel Zildjian Garon Benitez (born April 23, 1997), popularly known as Zild, is a Filipino musician, producer, and singer-songwriter. He is currently the lead vocalist, pianist/keyboardist, synth player and bassist of IV of Spades. Personal ...

* Hey June!

References

Philippine record labels Warner Music labels Companies based in Bonifacio Global City Record labels established in 1992 1992 establishments in the Philippines {{Record-label-stub