It seems like an eternity since the last RiR update so we won't even recall the past topics ... Let's start fresh shall we =) ...

• Direction change
• Buzzfest 2006
• RiR ... iTunes' Label Partner
• "Record of the Year"
• "Where is Jessie?"
• "I Hear (and see), Therefore I-Pod"

It's been RiR's mission since the start to help promote and develop Asian talents for their break into the North American music scene. This is in response to the premise that Asians are, and still is, represented poorly in what is considered to be the biggest music market in the world. We have spent almost a decade making good of this mission and are extremely proud to have been labeled 'pioneers' and 'trailblazers', by peers, of this ambitious task, it never fails to humble us to this day. Assuming responsibilities in audio production, event coordination, and talent management RiR could not be any prouder of its achievements and accomplishments to date. RiR is also very proud to realise the founding, in recent months, of a slew of quality production houses in 'Minerva Records', 'Mysterio Productions', 'Provenance Production', and just recently 'Xel Records'. RiR believes that with these four units working in conjunction to RiR's goal/mission it will make its journey a much easier one. To those of you who have attended their shows, and listened to their creations, everyone would agree that they are in this business for real. It is with this that RiR wishes to change it's main focus and concentrate in an area where it hasn't been spending a lot of time on. This change of focus and direction will only help RiR achieve its goal quicker and help pave its way closer to accomplishing its goal. RiR needs to advance and diversify itself in order to stay ahead in a music industry that is, as one insider says, 'rapidly deteriorating'. RiR's new goal will not detract it from its original obligations/responsibilities (recording, production, management). RiR will now be pre-occupied with a new-found direction and will channel most of its efforts and resources to make sure that this new direction is realised and attained. RiR can only say that its new obligations will be used to help 'modernize' the Philippine music industry in the years ahead.

It feels odd not to have anything written about our past show 'Buzzfest'. It's just our biggest annual showcase and the most recent Buzzfest turns out to have plenty of memories from outstanding performances and episodes of spontaneity. I promise to post something in the coming months about Buzzfest 2006 your patience is appreciated. Please pardon the 'slacker' attitude as yours truly spent some time threading the 'eskinitas' of the Philippines. Perhaps a writeup on that will materialize, i don't know, but my three week escapade on home turf was definitely worth the 15 year wait. More later.

As the saying goes "better late than never" certainly applies to the news that Apple Computer of Cupertino, California USA has approved RiR to be an official iTunes Label Partner (iLP). RiR was in fact already an iLP since July 2006 but only had a chance to disclose it now. Being an iLP bestows each RiR's artist with the priviledge of having their songs and albums available immediately to the largest online digital music portal in the world without having to go through the rigors of iTunes' approvals and processing. RiR steps into the Digital Age once and for all. RiR's contract with iTunes will not be limited to digital audio but would have the flexibility of being able to market videos internationally. Further download portals will be approached by RiR, to partner for distribution, and added to its list of digital download portal affiliates in the time to come.

The iDentity Crisis' (iDC) sophomore album "Record of the Year" (ROTY) is officially finished being mixed and is all set for the final process ... 'Mastering'. ROTY is planned to be released early 2007 (Q1) and is poised to be RiR's first album entry into iTunes. iDC's front man Paul Castro and RiR have been working tireless hours to bring you this ground-breaking CD. Make sure to watch out for the iTunes release of iDC's "Record of the Year". This genre-bending album may very well be RiR's most important cd release to date. Also watch out for iDC's popular "Email Question of the Week" (EQOTW). What started out as a weekly time-killing exercise becomes a cult favorite in YouTube. Watch current and past EQOTW episodes on iDC's official webpage as well as on RiR's iDC band page. Join in the EQOTW bandwagon now!.

What transpired over the course of a year to our beloved Where's Jessie? (WJ) members have been anything but smooth. It could pass as a complete season of a TV Series DVD set. WJ's core of Liz, Maria, Melanie, and Melodie (L3M) have kept the band's incredible resolve intact and in-check. WJ's third dip into the lead vocalist pool which brought AshleeC to the forefront turned out to be another false promise. In classic WJ style, as I always say, the girls forged ahead without AshleeC and even found the chance to contribute another hit of a song named "Regretfully Yours". There have been auditions for a new lead vocalist but none of them rendered a worthy candidate. Sure it's been tough for WJ to overcome all these obstacles but it's also these same obstacles that make them as solid as they have been as a group. For whomever assumes the lead vocalist role WJ's sound and energy will always be dictated by the fabulous L3M combo. WJ may have to wait for the integration of a fitting lead vocalist before their most anticipated debut album could be realised. WJ appreciates everyone's patience, most especially their fans, as they try their darndest to land that elusive WJ lead vocalist.

Ok ok ok ... I'm the type of person who would persistently snob at the opportunity to try or chance the rare instance of conforming to such icons that promote social hysteria. I have sacrificed so much to achieve my non-conformist attitude and status. A bit bold perhaps but hey its the age of reality tv so meet the real me =). Recently, I was given the most difficult decision of all from the most difficult person to reject, ME. I had to replace my dying Minidisc (MD) player and suddenly had the ultimate reason to finally grab a hold of ... ahem ... an MP3 player! Yeah I know, for a technocrat like me this was the place where i've been far too slow to pick up on. I've pushed back and refused numerous opportunites to succumb and join the hordes of people who listen to music through white silvery headphones .. and .. well ... until now. Enter the NEW IPod Video (5th Generation), ok ok ok so i'm a sucker for this BUT can you just think of the possibilities. First of all! they are no bigger than a cassette tape in dimension, for those of you who know of what i speak. They have a top limit of 80 Gigabytes or have the ability of storing 20,000 CD-quality songs, which is only 19,960 more than my MD Player when encoded in 128kbps Stereo MP3 =), a difficult priviledge to ignore when you're a musician. I doubt that I will even reach a quarter of its gi-normous limit but it could also double as an external hard drive. When one considers this, it's functionality becomes something you can't refuse especially when you're constantly working with computers and appreciate the idea of portability and backups. Finally, the most fantastic feature of the new iPod is the ability to play VIDEO .... Yes folks video killed the radio star, AGAIN .... My eyes were glued to the iPod page and its Tech Specs section like an I to a Pod. Yes I know that you can only get so much from a 2.5 inch diagonal screen but listen to me for a second and believe it when i say "! its a LOT better than you think". LCD display technology these days have managed to squeeze as many colors and pixels to manifest photo-reality into ridiculously small areas. IPod's display is a marvel in this department as it employs the latest QVGA technology and is able to interpret 65,000 colors in its 320 x 240 pixel matrix. I'm in love. More about my IPod experience in later articles so please check us back soon.