From her professional beginnings in television to her current role as the head of one of the leading digital distribution services in the country, Georgette Tengco has been a witness to several revolutions in the music and entertainment industry.

Her earliest music-related work experience, however, was working as an intern and then a production assistant for Regine Velasquez while Tengco was in college. “That was my real, actual first paid job,” she shares. After graduating, she became an executive producer for entertainment programs at GMA-7, where she eventually became a news anchor. “I kind of got pulled into the production side of news,” she narrates. “And then from there, they were looking for newscasters, and so I auditioned.”

Photographed by Kim Santos.

In 1999, GMA launched Entertainment Music Channel (EMC) — one of the first homegrown music channels in the country — but within less than a year, it became Channel [V} Philippines, a localized affiliate of the popular Asian music television station, with Tengco as its VP for Programming and Production. It may have only lasted for over two years, but there, Tengco had a hand in the evolution of the Filipino music video as an artform and a promotional tool. “[She is] among the pioneers of localizing the art of the music video by helping establish the music channels by which the artform developed,” says Mony Romana, Head of Label and Artist Solutions (Philippines) at Believe Music.

Currently, Tengco is Romana’s “colleague and boss” at Believe, where she serves as the global digital music company’s Country Director for the Philippines. Her transition from network television to digital music distribution involved a brief stint managing a startup video streaming company, which gave her her first taste in the ever-changing consumer habits of a then-emerging digital streaming market.

“When the offer from Believe came, I said, ‘OK, I’ve never done distribution before. But I kind of know the music industry a little bit,’” she recalls. “And then at the same time, I know digital. So I said, ‘OK, so if I put those two together…’ Of course, in any new job, there’s always something [new] that you need to study and new challenges that you need to face.”

“The distribution side was what I needed to learn,” she adds. “I needed to understand that side of the business, and at the same time, the tools that Believe had. But yeah, the background in digital really helped a lot.”

Photographed by Kim Santos.

Now, almost three years after taking the job, Tengco and her team have helped many Filipino independent artists and labels score significant successes, thanks to Believe’s expertise, guidance, and technology that allows them to navigate the different digital streaming and social media platforms, and maximize them to their advantage. “We also arm our artists and our labels with the same kind of knowledge that they’re able to use, so that they also know how to navigate it on their own,” she expounds. “The indie artists and labels have their own ways of doing things. We don’t try to influence that; we try to keep them true to who they are and talk the same way to their fans and their audience, and what we do is basically give them the tools, the technology and some of the expertise, but without really removing their very essence.”

As such, Believe’s innovative efforts in digital distribution, technology, analytics, and marketing have helped many independent artists and labels score significant successes in the past few years. Tengco mentions artists like Hev Abi, Young Blood Neet, Nik Makino, Al James, Robledo Timido, and TONEEJAY, and labels like TMP Industries, REALWRLD, and GhostWorldwide as just a few of those that the company has helped triple their streams, go viral, and dominate — or in some cases, even top — the charts.

Under Tengco, what Believe Music has done in the Philippines was not to give independent artists and labels a piece of the market pie; instead, it made the pie bigger, making room for everyone and giving indies the fighting chance to make it big. After all, success isn’t about penetrating the mass market anymore, but making your music heard by your particular market. 

Photographed by Kim Santos.

“Because there are all these different niches and different groups, there’s a market for everyone,” she explains. “You can go down to the hip-hop fans of Quezon City, as long as you know who they are. And then you can go to the Salcedo Market girlies. I’m just being really specific. And that’s the fun part. (laughs) And so as long as you know your market, then you know what you need to do.”

“I think what I’ve been particularly proud of in the years that I’ve been with Believe is that how we’ve been able to really grow artists and labels, and grow the market,” adds Tengco. “We didn’t just eat into the share of the others and the existing players; we actually grew the market to make way and to make room for the independent artists and the independent labels.”

At the end of the day, Georgette Tengco is glad that apart from the innovative distribution and marketing services that Believe has done to uplift independent artists, she is also able to help them earn from their craft. “We feel that we’re doing our jobs well, because we’re able to really propel them to the top, and at the same time, turn what they’re passionate about into their livelihood. I mean, it’s really to put the passion of artists and make that the same as what puts food on their tables. So that’s what I’m particularly proud of in terms of what we’ve done as a company,” she concludes.

Photographed by Kim Santos. Art Direction by Nicole Almero. Styling by Geno Espidol of Curator Incorporated assisted by Jermainne Lagura. Make up by Mac Cosmetics. Hair by Jean Alorro of Ceestudios by Aira Castor. Produced by Mika Cruz.

On Georgette: CAROLINA HERRERA top and skirt. LOVEROCKS Jewelry.