A stellar lineup of OPM artists led by SB19’s Josh Cullen and 6cyclemind headlined the recent FENIX360 Philippines Live event at the New Frontier Theater.
Rising stars Ica Frias and alt-pop duo No Lore opened the show with tunes and dreamy visuals, capturing the hearts of new fans. OPM darlings TONEEJAY, Gracenote, and Autotelic played their infectious jams, leading fans to jump and sing along to hits like “7/11”, “Babaeng Torpe”, and “Laro”, among others. Taking a break from the hype, indie pop group Sunkissed Lola serenaded the crowd, with everyone singing to their TikTok-viral love song, “Pasilyo.” Rapper Nik Makino flew in from the US to the Philippines for this launch, sharing how he misses performing in shows.
Bringing their A-game to conclude the evening’s celebration are 6CycleMind, still one of the most sought after bands in the live circuit and SB19’s Josh Cullen, hot on the heels of the success of his solo singles, “Wild Tonight,” “Pakiusap Lang” and “Get Right.”
The event celebrated the recent Philippinen launch of FENIX360, an artist-first social media platform with a premise of an even playing field for creatives across Southeast Asia.
In a press conference at Balcony Music House last February 26, CEO Allan Klepfizs and CEO for Asia-Pacific Sandy Monteiro expressed their goals in making the app and their plans for the year. The app took six years in the making, with the team initially developing FENIX360 as a music platform. Boasting a long career in the music industry, Monteiro’s idea of a platform where musicians can freely create without restrictions piqued Klepfizs’s attention. The team’s priorities shifted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, opening FENIX360 to other creatives- visual artists, content creators, promoters, and artisans alike. “The main goal of expanding to other creative industries is that artists can have agency on how to distribute their works- something you can’t do in other platforms,” Monteiro shares.
The gist of the app? It’s an all-in-one platform where creatives can create their own customized portfolio with all their channels, monetize the content they post on the app, and receive donations and gifts from their fans. Whether users focus on one art form or hop between multiple creative endeavors, FENIX360 accommodates artists and creators alike to share content- whether these are official releases, or behind-the-scenes content fans often clamor for.
First released in Indonesia and Malaysia, the team believes that launching first in Southeast Asia is beneficial for the future-proofing of the app. “The Southeast Asian market – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore- has a younger, social-media savvy demographic, making it a great playground for creatives,” both CEOs explain. With the rise of copyright issues in social media for the past weeks, FENIX360 assures its users that copyright strikes will not affect the user experience. As FENIX360 is still cooking new developments, the idea of live streaming is on the team’s work-in-progress list. “We are open to feedback, which you can send over via the app,” Klepfizs quips to the media.
As FENIX360 ventures in the Philippine and Southeast Asian market, exciting times are ahead for creatives across the country.
Image credits: Danielle Franco