In the early 1950s, music piracy started to grow in the Philippines. So, in 1952, major recording companies organized the first recording industry association in the country called the Record Industry Association of the Philippines. The association was mostly composed of foreign licensees. The first president of RIAP was Manuel P. Villar of Mareco. In 1971, independent record companies decided to bond together and formed the Philippine Recording Industry Association. Its primary goal was to promote local records. PRIA elected their first president which was Jose Mari Gonzales of Cinema-Audio. In their years of existence, the two organizations had cooperated with each other in fighting piracy. On February 10, 1972, another organization in the record industry was created called the Philippine Association of the Record Industry. Antonio Lustre of the Home Industries Development Corporation was elected as its first president. After the first two organizations were disbanded, PARI became the only and legitimate association of the record companies in the Philippines, combining both major and independent record companies. In 1990, the association began certifying recorded music in the Philippines. Constant Change by Jose Mari Chan was the first ever album to be certified. It was certified diamond on November 10, 1990. Since the awards program was launched, only eight albums were certified diamond by PARI. Aside from Constant Change, the other seven are:
Other than certifying albums, the organization also certifies singles and music videos. On January 16, 2013, the first ever single was certified. It was "I'll Be There" by Julie Anne San Jose and it was certified quadruple platinum during that time. On the other hand, no music videos are certified yet. The Philippine Association of the Record Industry filed a complaint against the popular torrent website KickassTorrents, resulting in its seizure by Philippine authorities on June 13, 2013.
Certification levels
Before 1990, music certifications were only awarded by record labels in their artists through their own guidelines until PARI took the work. Album certifications include both physical and digital sales. Beginning in March 2012, PARI began to certify singles and music videos. Before 2012, the thresholds for albums were distinguished between the domestic and international repertoire. Currently, domestic repertoire shares the same thresholds along with the international repertoire. For the full list of music certifications, please go to their .
Albums
Singles
Music videos
Members
The members of Philippine Association of the Record Industry are divided into two: corporate and associate. The corporate members are the major record companies while the associate members are the small, independent record companies.
