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Pinoy pop (also known as Philippine pop; an abbreviated form of " Pinoy popular music" or " Philippine popular music"; or P-Pop) refers to popular music in the Philippines originating from the OPM genre. With its beginnings in the late 1970s, Pinoy pop is a growing genre in the 2020s. Through the 1990s to the 2000s, Pinoy pop was regularly showcased in the live band scene.
Groups such as Neocolours, Side A, Introvoys, the Teeth, Yano, True Faith, Passage and Freestyle popularized songs that clearly reflect the sentimental character of OPM pop of this era.
From 2010 to 2020, Philippine pop music or Pinoy pop went through a huge metamorphosis in its increased quality, budget, investment and variety, matching the country's rapid economic growth, and an accompanying social and cultural resurgence of its Asian identity. P-Pop emerged with a heavy influence from K-pop and J-pop, a growth in Asian style ballads, idol groups, and EDM, and less reliance on Western genres, mirroring the Korean wave and similar Japanese wave popularity among Generation Z Filipinos and mainstream culture.
In the first half of the 1970s, Manila sound dominated the pop scene, with acts such Hotdog, Cinderella and Sampaguita. Originally influenced by rock-and-roll and bubblegum pop, Manila sound would take influences from funk and disco by the second half of the decade, and acts such as VST & Company, the Boyfriends and Hagibis closely emulated contemporaneous popular foreign artists such as the Bee Gees and the Village People in their performance and visual style.
"Original Pilipino music", commonly known through its abbreviation OPM (which was coined by Danny Javier of Apo Hiking Society), would emerge by the mid-1970s, and originally referred to modern Filipino pop music of the time, primarily ballads, that became popular with the decline of Manila sound. Pioneering acts include Apo Hiking Society, Rey Valera, Freddie Aguilar, Basil Valdez, Rico J. Puno and Hajji Alejandro. Female artists that defined 1970s OPM include Sharon Cuneta (then a teenager) and Leah Navarro. Singer-songwriters Ryan Cayabyab and José Mari Chan rose to fame in the 1970s by composing English OPM love songs alongside modern Tagalog songs.
Radio and music festivals played an important role in the popularization of Filipino music of the time through government or broadcasting industry quotas. In 1973, AM broadcasters were required to play 50% Filipino material for music programming with some exceptions. By 1977, all music broadcasters were required to play one Filipino song every hour. Also in 1977, the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival (Metropop Festival) was launched, drawing both amateur and commercial talent; one of the winning songs included "Anak" by Freddie Aguilar, which would become an international hit. The first iteration of the Metropop Festival would last until 1985.
English-language OPM recordings from both professional and amateur talent also exploded in the 1980s. Non-Tagalog or mixed-heritage (usually Filipino-American) artists such as Jose Mari Chan or Martin Nievera largely recorded OPM songs in English. Acts that largely recorded in Tagalog also began to record original English-language material in the 1980s, such as Basil Valdez with "You", and Apo Hiking Society with "When I Met You" and "Love Is For Singing".
Filipino rock continues to flourish at present with newer bands such as Hale, Cueshé, Sponge Cola, Chicosci, Kamikazee and Urbandub, and the emergence of the country's first virtual band, Mistula. Though only some of the spearheading bands are still fully intact, many old members have formed new bands such as Pupil, Sandwich, and Bamboo. A few band members such as Kitchie Nadal, Barbie Almalbis, and Rico Blanco have established steady solo careers.
Though rock bands have been dominating the mainstream since their commercialization in the '90s, acoustic groups were still regularly showcased in the live band scene such as Side A, True Faith, Neocolours, South Border and Freestyle popularized songs that clearly reflect the sentimental character of OPM pop. Popular acoustic acts like Nina Girado, Juris Fernandez (of MYMP) and Aiza Seguerra also prove the diversity of Filipino pop.
The 1990s would see a new generation of Filipino ballad-oriented acts such as Regine Velasquez, Rachel Alejandro, Ogie Alcasid, Ariel Rivera, Rodel Naval, the April Boys, Jaya, Jessa Zaragoza, Carol Banawa and Jolina Magdangal. Artists such as Velasquez and Jaya would continue their careers into the new millennium. Older established artists such as Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Freddie Aguilar and Jose Mari Chan continued to record new material and have exposure on radio throughout the decade.
Local sing and dance groups SexBomb Girls and Viva Hot Babes began to popularize among the masses.
In 2010, Little Big Star 2nd runner-up and YouTube star Jake Zyrus (then known as Charice) became the first Asian to peak on the top 10 (at No. 8) of the Billboard 200 for his debut album. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 22 May 2010, " Charice debuts at No. 8 on Billboard " He was also one of the first Asian artists to have a song peak at No. 1 for Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs.Sanchez, R. J., Manila Bulletin, 24 May 2010, " Charice happy with chart performance of her album, song"
Notable pop artists of the 2010s include Toni Gonzaga, Moira Dela Torre, Ben&Ben, Yeng Constantino and Sarah Geronimo whose songs "Tala" and "Kilometro" were chosen by CNN Philippines as best songs of the decade.
In May 2020, in the midst of pandemic, Star Hunt Academy led by Laurenti Dyogi introduced new Pinoy pop idol groups trainees in public, composed of eight SHA Girls (now collectively known as Bini) and five SHA Boys (now collectively known as BGYO). On January 29, 2021, Star Hunt Academy (SHA) Boys officially debuted as BGYO. A week after the release of their debut single "The Light", BGYO made a history for being the fastest Pinoy pop group to reach over a million views on YouTube.
On February 14, 2021, Viva Entertainment introduced their newest P-pop group Alamat with the release of its debut single "Kbye". Formed through Pwede: The National Boyband Search, the group distinguishes itself as a multilingual and multiethnic boy band that sings in seven Philippine languages: Tagalog language, Ilocano language, Kapampangan, Cebuano language, Hiligaynon, Bikol languages, and Waray language. Shortly after the release of their debut single, Alamat ranked second on the Pandora Predictions Chart, released on the week of February 23 and also holds the distinction of being the second P-pop group to make it on Billboard chart and the fastest-rising Pinoy act on the Billboard Next Big Sound chart, debuting at number two. On February 24, their debut single "Kbye" ranked sixth on Myx chart.
On June 11, 2021, Star Hunt Academy (SHA) Girls officially debuted as Bini with their debut album Born To Win. Versions in Indonesian, Japanese, Thai, and Spanish were also included in the album. The current members are Jhoanna, Colet, Maloi, Aiah, Stacey, Gwen, Mikha, and Sheena. In June 2024, Bini became the first Filipino artist to top Spotify's Daily Top Artists Philippines chart, surpassing Taylor Swift.
The 2020s also gave the Pinoy pop scene for a new generation of young solo artists. In March 2021, singer-songwriter Zack Tabudlo released his single "Binibini", which garnered 18.3 million streams on Spotify which led to became the top song on the said service's local Philippines charts for two consecutive months in April and May.
In October 2021, Arthur Nery gained into fame when his best-selling single "Pagsamo" became the top-streaming song on Spotify's Daily Top 50 chart and has over 200,000 streams for the lyric video on YouTube for the first 12 hours.
In 2015, Alden Richards' self-titled debut EP Alden Richards landed on Billboard World Albums Chart at number 10 for the week of October 17, 2015.
In 2017, Morissette was directly hand-picked by the organization of the Korean Asia Song Festival. She lined up to perform with some of the top KPOP groups in Korea, including Exo and MAMAMOO, to name a few. She was invited to sing again at the Asia Song Festival in 2018. Morissette is the only Filipino musician to be invited to this event twice in a row to represent the Philippines. She sang a Korean song (Resignation), making her version by transposing the words into English and singing the concluding section of the song in Hangul (Korean Language).
In 2019, Pinoy pop idol group MNL48 performed at AKB48 Group Asia Festival 2019, the first held at Bangkok on January 27, while the second one was held at Shanghai on August 24. Such performances catapulted MNL48 to the international stage, especially with other fans of their 48G counterparts. That same year, MNL48's Abby Trinidad was the group's representative on the New Year's Eve special of NHK's "Kohaku Uta Gassen", where along with other 48G counterparts, performed "Koi Soru Fortune Cookie". This is the third time a Filipino performer appeared on the said show, alongside Gary Valenciano and the band Smokey Mountain.
In 2020, Sarah Geronimo's single "Tala" entered at No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. Its companying music video also reached the 100 million mark on YouTube, a first for a Female Filipino solo artist. The same year, Forbes named her as one of the most powerful celebrities in the Asia–Pacific region citing her efforts on COVID-19 charitable activities. A year later, Tatler named her as one of the region's most influential figures.
In 2020, Pinoy pop boy band SB19 became a Billboard Social 50 mainstay after peaking at No. 15 on the chart, likely due to the music video of their single "Alab". SB19 reached their highest position in the weekly Billboard Social 50 list two weeks after the release of their album, ranking second behind BTS on the week of August 15, 2020. A week later, by placing in the top five of two charts, the group achieved another Billboard milestone: 5th in the Emerging Artist list, their highest ranking to date, while staying 2nd in the Social 50 chart On the week of October 31, 2020, SB19's "Go Up" peaked at number 2 in Billboard's LyricFind Global chart after debuting at number 17 the week before,. while also making its initial appearance at number 9 in the U.S. version of the chart. Two weeks after, "Hanggang sa Huli" debuted at number 16 in Billboard's LyricFind U.S. chart while also debuting at number 4 in the chart's global version. On the week of November 28, 2020, the group reached another milestone, their first number 1 in a Billboard chart, after "Alab (Burning)" debuted at number 1 in Billboard's LyricFind Global chart, and at number 6 in the U.S. version of the chart.
On January 31, two days after their debut, Star Magic's newest P-pop boy group BGYO was featured by Baekhyun Privé Alliance on the streetwear line's social media accounts, becoming the first P-Pop group to ever be featured by the clothing line.
On April 29, 2021, SB19 become the first Filipino group and Southeast Asian act to make it to the final list of Billboard Music Awards for Top Social Artist along with BTS, Blackpink, Ariana Grande, and Seventeen. It is also the first nomination for a Filipino Artist at the Billboard Music Awards. In November 25, their single Bazainga entered the Billboard Hot Trending Songs chart, becoming the First Filipino to do so. It later climbed to No. 1, a for any South-east Asian act. The song also managed to surpassed BTS' Butter for spending the most weeks at No. 1 on the said chart. In 2022, Teen Vogue named them as one of the "Favorite Boy Bands of All Time" alongside The Beatles and One Direction.
In June 2023, The song GENTO by the Filipino P-pop group SB19 was first entry on two of Billboard Billboard charts: World Digital Song Sales—a first among Filipino groups—and the Philippines Songs charts, peaking at numbers eight and eleven, respectively.
At the 2023 Asia Artist Awards (AAA), both SB19 and Hori7on attended and won awards, making them the first Filipino acts to be included in the AAA lineup when the event was held in the Philippines. HORI7ON received the Focus Award in Music, while SB19 won the Hot Trend Award and the Best Artist Award(Singer). The two groups were also part of a historic night for Filipino talent at the event held at the Philippine Arena.
In June 2024, Bini entered the Top Artists Global chart on Spotify, reaching 193rd place.
In March 2024, four years after "Tala" entered the Billboard charts, Sarah Geronimo became the first homegrown Filipina artist to receive a Billboard Women in Music in the United States, Geronimo along with Annalisa of Italy, Luísa Sonza of Brazil were the inaugural recipients of the Global Force Award. The same month, Geronimo was named Woman of the Year at the Billboard Philippines Women in Music while Bini received The Rising Star award.
On March 11, 2025, SB19's "DAM" debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. Marks the P-pop group as the first Filipino act to top the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. “DAM” is the second SB19 song to appear on the chart, following their smash hit "GENTO,” which debuted and peaked on the chart at No. 8 during the week of June 3, 2023.
On April 15, 2025, Cup of Joe's single "Multo" () became the first song by a Filipino act to enter the Billboard Global 200, peaking at No. 80. Released on September 14, 2024, as the lead single from their debut album, Silakbo () (2025). The song topped the Billboard Philippines Hot 100 for ten weeks, making it the longest song to remain at No. 1, surpassing Dionela's "Marilag" (), which held the position for eight consecutive weeks. In 2025, the band also entered the Spotify Global Top Artists chart at No. 182.
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