BIME Bilbao: for more Argentine music abroad

BIME (Bizkaia International Music Experience) is one of the most important events in the international music field that held its ninth edition in Bilbao. The live music industry was one of the sectors most affected by COVID, as it emerges from the situation report of the Cultural Information System of Argentina (SINCA). One of the goals of our country’s delegation was to rebuild and reactivate ties with other nations.” It is an activity that already comes from many years of neglect and that also suffered from the pandemic. One of the main objectives set by ACMMA (Association of Music Managers of Argentina) was for the Government to attend to what was a cultural tool that made Argentina stand out throughout the Spanish-speaking world during the 70s and 80s. Also what should be an important source of foreign exchange for the country, as it is for the United Kingdom, Spain, Colombia and many others who support the dissemination of their music around the world, “they said from ACCMA. With five years, ACCMA is the association that brings together the main musical managers of Argentina that also became the voice of its represented: the musicians. Achievements include the realization of protocols for mass events in 2018, the formation of working groups with national and provincial authorities, the first protocol for Streaming in July 2020. As well as an active work in bills or decrees linked to the declaration of live music as an industry, the equalization with other cultural industries, the regulation of touring buses, among other laws. He has actively worked with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Production and the Ministry of Tourism.

In the last BIME was achieved after many years an outstanding Argentine presence coordinated from the state by the Secretary of Cultural Development, Lucrecia Cardoso. While Eduardo Sempe, as BIME delegate for Latin America, organized the delegation composed of ACMMA members Ana Poluyan (manager Los Pericos and Miranda!), Carlos F. Mendez (manager Soledad), Cristian Merchot (manager la Bersuit), Santiago Torres (Billboard director), Rodrigo Espector (Director of BAFIM of the City of Buenos Aires), producers “Tano” Guidoccio and Hernan Castro. In Spain, the businessmen Guillermo Gonzalez (from the CAPTE board of directors) and the Spanish Argentine Miguel Garcia Garrido (Charco Producciones) joined.  “The important objective to achieve was to put Argentine music back in the place it knew how to occupy, where Argentine artists were recognized and hired all over the world, and Argentina was a beacon where all the musicians of Latin America looked,” said the managers.  Years of lack of policies to support the live music industry reduced the Argentine music export market to its lowest level in 50 years, according to ACCMA.  And they added “In a world in which other countries have been investing heavily in disseminating and internationalizing their artists for years. There are emblematic cases such as: Spain (with Sounds from Spain), Colombia (with its Orange Economy and Procolombia) and lately Chile (with its Chilemusica program)”. Therefore, the objective proposed by the association of managers was to reposition Argentine music in the world with a double objective: cultural and economic.
Due to this, the same Argentine Embassy of Spain in an event convened by its ambassador, Ricardo Alfonsin, received the day before the launch of BIME, members of this delegation and important references of the music of Spain, such as the presidents of the labels SONY, UNIVERSAL, BMG, directors of agencies, programmers of first line festivals and Spanish press. Then, throughout the BIME conference, the Argentine delegation held meetings with the President of the Spanish Federation of Music (EsMusica), industry leaders from all over Latin America, programmers and producers of the main events and music festivals in Latin America. Thus, in those BIME days, it was possible to rebuild ties, close agreements with artists, companies and festivals for the growth of Argentine music.

Original source in Spanish

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