Seth Dungca’s “Pangako” breaks world record for the most music videos made for a song

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Filipino singer-composer Seth Dungca’s single “Pangako” recently spawned a whopping total of 64 music videos, handily surpassing the standing Guinness World Record for Most Music Videos Made for One Song.

The official world record is currently held by British EDM duo Coldcut for their 1998 song “Timber,” which has a total of five different music videos. Dungca’s “Pangako” easily tops that record by 59 more videos.

“Pangako” generated a plethora of music videos when Dungca’s record label Insight Music launched a film competition in partnership with UFC to crown the official music video for the song. As of July 8, 64 people have submitted official entries, which may all be viewed for free on the YouTube Insight 360.

While YouTube provides proof of the song’s record-breaking achievement, Dungca and Insight Music still need to get official verification from Guinness World Records. Insight Music President and Chief Creative Director Chris Cahilig discloses that the label is currently in the process of applying for the record, but he is confident that they’ve broken the 23-year-old feat.

“It’s clear that we beat the current record by a landslide. Obviously, 64 is decidedly greater than 5,” says Cahilig. “Every single one of these entries is also officially published on our YouTube channel. And they’re all unique, so the proof is right there.”

The process of world record validation can take up to 12 weeks, shortened by the organization’s Priority Application scheme that may take only five days.

“We hope to get this verified as soon as possible,” adds Cahilig, “because as far as we’re concerned, Seth and Pangako have earned it.”

As for the artist himself, Dungca thinks earning a Guinness World Record would be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement that he earnestly hopes will push through.

“I would never say no to having something as prestigious as a Guinness World Record,” says Dungca, “and to receive it because of all these uniquely beautiful music videos for my song fills me with an infinite amount of gratitude.”

Dungca says more than just the bragging rights of being a world record owner, seeing all the creativity from the 64 videos has made Pangako his proudest work yet.

“It’s crazy how much effort people put into making these videos. It shows that something about my song compelled them to direct these personal, moving, sometimes wacky music videos,” says Dungca. “The world record is really just a bonus. It’s already a huge win for me just seeing how music and film can come together to express real human beauty. I’m happy we got to do that with Pangako.”

Dungca believes that choosing from the submitted music videos poses a tough challenge for the selection team. “I’ve seen all 64,” says Dungca, “and let me tell you, the judges are in for a frustrating time. Each video strikes a chord in the viewer’s heart in a uniquely artistic way.”

Insight Music recently announced the Top 20 music videos that will compete for the grand prize of 50,000 pesos and the distinction of being Pangako’s official music video. The label is set to announce the winner along with the People’s Choice Award for most YouTube views on July 30.

Insight Music releases sleep-inducing album

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Record label Insight Music, alarmed by the rapidly increasing cases of sleeplessness among this country’s adult population, seeks to help insomnia-afflicted Filipinos fall into restful slumber by releasing The Perfect Sleep, a groundbreaking album that effectively induces sleep.

Presented by all-natural sleep supplement DreamWell and composed by brilliant music arranger Ian Joseph Tan, The Perfect Sleep is an hour-long instrumental album that promotes deep and relaxing sleep. It will be available in various streaming platforms including Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and iTunes starting April 30.

Ian Joseph Tan

“Way before the pandemic hit the Philippines, a vast number of Filipino adults were already stricken by a different kind of epidemic—sleeplessness,” says Insight Music president and chief creative director Chris Cahilig.

“Sleeplessness, a disorder that is commonly known as insomnia, may not be as deadly as Covid-19 but it is just as critical and devastating to one’s health and well-being. It is during deep slumber, after all, when the body has the opportunity to repair itself and recover so that poor sleep quality or sleep deprivation has severe consequences on the body’s capacity to resist illness,” Cahilig further explains.

A 2019 study by Sleep Cycle disclosed that the Philippines ranks 4th in the world in sleeplessness, averaging just 6 and a half hours of sleep—significantly lower than the recommended amount of 7 to 9 hours per day.

Still another study published by the St. Luke’s Medical Center claims that over 10 million adult Filipinos suffer from insomnia—putting them at risk for cardiovascular issues, cancer, depression, diabetes, as well as other afflictions. Various medical literature, in fact, affirm that lack of sleep renders the body susceptible to the debilitating effects of stress that people undergo on a daily basis.

The Perfect Sleep by DreamWell is designed specifically for listening on those nights when stress, anxiety, or plain restlessness tend to keep people awake way into the wee hours. Indeed, the album is meant to lull them to deep and restful slumber when they need it most.

The Perfect Sleep by DreamWell’s gentle guitar strums and soft beats were carefully constructed to give sleep-deprived listeners a mesmerizing experience they can instantly benefit from. After listening to the music, and enjoying the sleep induced by it, listeners will wake up feeling rested and ready for everything their waking moments might have in store.

The specialty album is the perfect sonic companion to DreamWell, an all-natural dietary supplement designed to promote healthier sleep among its users. Through its unique combination of natural ingredients like Suan Zao Ren, Wu Wei Zi, Fu Ling, and the amino acid GABA, DreamWell relaxes the mind and lulls one to sleep. It also helps bring one to Sleep Stage 3 for deep, quality sleep.

“We’ve seen the impact music can have on sleep,” says Cahilig. “Just search up ‘sleep music’ on YouTube, and you’re bound to find videos and livestreams with millions of views. There’s a real need for sleep music, and we want to serve people by providing that.

“I expect The Perfect Sleep by DreamWell to be a popular playlist of working professionals and even middle-age individuals who are having trouble sleeping. It will certainly help their physical and mental well-being,” he adds.

Teacher-singer Jayson Dedal shows acting chops in BL-themed music video

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The official music video for public school teacher-turned-artist Jayson Dedal’s debut single “Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin” is a moving piece of short film that takes a page from popular Asian boys’ love (BL) series.

Jayson Dedal and Alfio Schmidt are an odd couple with incredible chemistry on the BL-themed video for Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin

The video showcases Dedal’s acting chops opposite his love interest played by top model Alfio Schmidt. We see Dedal go through the moments of unfeigned but unrequited intimacy, as he falls deeper and deeper into Schmidt’s charms.

Throughout these memorable moments like baking cakes or playing billiards, Schmidt gives Dedal every reason to believe in love. He acts as the partner his friend has wanted for a long time—someone who’s gentle, patient and, above all, present. And despite the singer’s fears of a lack of reciprocity and being out of his league, Dedal tries to muster up whatever courage he can to express his feelings. But as many real love stories go, the story doesn’t end in ‘happily ever after.’

The crushing plot twist is something best left unspoiled to viewers, but what can be said is how evidently Dedal regrets missing his chance to accept the love in front of him. And it’s clear Dedal’s somber crooning draws not only from the singer’s pain but also from the earthshaking emotion often displayed in BL series.

“For the video, we drew a lot of inspiration from BL shows” said Dedal. “Any fan of BL will tell you that it’s the one genre that really captures the essence of the selfless giving and painful pining often involved in loving someone.”

Dedal isn’t alone, as the BL genre has quickly become one of the fastest-rising television genres out there. And for good reason, as it’s a genre made exclusively to tell the stories of gay men, and by extension, the entire LGBT community.

This advocacy involving LGBT issues is something that Insight Music President and Chief Creative Head Chris Cahilig feels very strongly about, and it’s what he and the “Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin” crew really wanted to express in the music video.

“This is perhaps the first time that an openly gay Filipino balladeer will have a music video as unapologetic as this,” says Cahilig. “We hope that with the music video of ‘Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin,’ we can provide an opening for greater LGBT representation in OPM, and spawn discussions about what it means to tell stories from that perspective.”

“The song and the video make it clear that people of any gender identity or sexual orientation experience the exact same feelings cisgender and heterosexual people do,” adds Cahilig. “The LGBT community is just as—if not more—capable of telling stories of love, loss, and grief. That’s what we wanted to put on display with this song and music video.”

 Jayson Dedal finally takes his talents from public school teaching to the music business with his first single BILYON-BILYONG PANALANGIN.

Jayson Dedal and Alfio Schmidt take a sweet selfie in Insight Music’s latest MV

Jayson Dedal gazes into his love interest (Alfio Schmidt) like an abyss of unrequited longing

A lovestruck Jayson Dedal pulls out his acting chops in his emotional new music video

The music video for Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin was written and directed by Ken Laviste of Arkos Digital. It is available to stream on YouTube via Insight Music’s official page. The song is also widely available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and all other streaming platforms.

Insight Music gambles on teacher-composer Jayson Dedal, releases his debut single “Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin”

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Of the billions of dreams cast into the void every day, few make it with the certainty—and confidence—that gifted singer-songwriter Jayson Dedal felt when he did.

The 28-year-old Dedal, who is a real-life MAPEH teacher in a public school in Quezon City, recently signed up with the maverick record label Insight Music, which has just produced and released his debut single “Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin”.

“Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin” marks Jayson Dedal’s first break as a recording artist under Insight Music, making his first professional affiliation an exceptionally propitious one.

The song also served as one of the official movie soundtracks of the label’s movie production and marketing arm Insight 360 Films’ “Miss Q&A: Para Sa Maganda Lang Ba Ang Love Life?” starring Kakai Bautista and Zoren Legaspi and directed by Lemuel Lorca. The first is expected to be released this summer.

“The movie is about lost dreams and trying to redeem them,” says Cahilig. “So having a song like ‘Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin’ is—pun intended—a dream match.”

Apart from his day job as a public school teacher, Dedal has been writing songs since college and is an active member of the Filipino Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers (FILSCAP). However, the opportunity to be a solo artist seemed to elude Dedal until Insight Music recognized his potential.

Indeed, Insight Music President and Chief Creative Director Chris Cahilig took notice of this fresh new talent early on. It was Dedal, after all, who wrote boy band 1:43’s hit songs such as “Pasensya Na” and “Ikaw Lang Talaga,” as well as “Sa Iba Na Lang” by BOU, which eventually became the official movie soundtrack of “Mia” (2020).  

Public school teacher Jayson Dedal is
Insight Music's newest signed artist

“I have always been incredibly drawn towards Jayson as an artist,” says Cahilig. “His body of work speaks volumes of his gift. And when you listen to what he has to say in ‘Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin’, you’ll understand why we simply had to make sure that his talent is heard.”

Set against lush instrumentation and fueled by Dedal’s buttery vocals, “Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin” conveys Dedal’s deep anxieties about an ambiguous future. Does God hear the songwriter's prayers’ for a better future?

“It’s a personal track, to be sure,” says Dedal. “I wrote it during the lockdown, and it’s the collective result of everything I’ve been worried about—my love life, the future, and my relationship with God.”

Having made peace with his vulnerabilities, Jayson Dedal is even more grateful to Cahilig and Insight Music for giving him the chance to express his creativity, and vent his anxieties, the only way he knows how—through his music.

Cahilig is likewise buoyant about Dedal’s journey in the music industry. “Some people might give a public school teacher one look and put them in a box,” he says. “But if anything, teachers are some of the best storytellers out there, and we’re lucky to have found one as talented and as enthusiastic as Jayson Dedal.”

“Bilyon-Bilyong Panalangin” by Jayson Dedal will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and all other streaming platforms on March 5, 2021.