AbstractThe rapid economic growth in the colony beginning in the mid-nineteenth century gave rise to a modernity that transformed the musical mode of production in Manila. A new market comprised of the culturally-supportive elite and middle-class population patronised musical productions. In addition, musicians and other artists formed unions to create an institutionalised representation of themselves corresponding to the larger socio-political and economic forces in the network of production, creating new relations necessary in the existing social formation. Exchanges between the various players of the musical mode of production required matching forces to avoid exploitation, particularly of labour. This article examines three of the more prominent musical associations in the late nineteenth century—Liceo Artístico-Literario, Sociedad de Conciertos Unión Artístico-Musical, and Sociedad Musical Filipina de Santa Cecilia—investigating how they advanced music and education and promoted th.....