Unlocking the International
Potential of Colombian Indies
Global Alliance
• How to turn creativity into sustainable
cultural industries?
• Access to national and international
markets
• SMEs as fundamental source of growth
and job creation
• Public/private partnerships
www.unesco.org/culture/alliance
Timeline
• June 2004: Colombian Ministry of Culture
approaches Global Alliance
• August 2004: draft project submitted
• January 2005: fact-finding mission
• October 2005: findings presented in
Colombia
• October 2006: WOMEX
Colombia
Anteproyecto para el fortalecimiento de
empresas independientes de producción
y promoción de músicas locales
Draft project to strengthen independent
companies working in production and
promotion of local music
Mission and Method
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Create awareness
Open up dialogue
Collect information
Recommendations
Funding
• Qualitative
• Round table
• Face-to-face
interviews
• Questionnaire
People
• Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Commerce, Instituto
Distrital de Cultura y Turismo (IDCT), Proexport,
Universidad Nacional, Universidad de los Andes,
Universidad Javeriana, British Council Colombia,
Fundación Corona
• Corporación Cultural Cabildo, Guana Records, Colectivo
la Distritofónica, Grupo Sincopando, Discosoye,
Negramenta, Corporación Tornasol, Catapulta
• MTM, Codiscos, Astar Music
Work-in-Progress
Facts
• In 2004 Colombia 4th largest sales-by-volume in
Latin America
• 2004 sales figures less than half the size of 1997
• A gold disc is worth 10,000 units
• IFPI* report 2005: Domestic repertoire accounts for
just 22% of the local market
• 7.8% access to the Internet, 60% by dial-up
*International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
Findings
• Music industry structure
– Distribution
– Live performance
– Media
• Public support
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Training
Grants and prizes
Tax Incentives
Information & Research
• International
Priorities & Developments
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Training
Information
Steering group to make the project relevant to the
real needs of the industry
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Trade-fair
Sergio Arboleda Music Industry training
Funding via with the Organisation of Ibero-American
States (OEI)
Colombian Artists at WOMEX 2006
Petrona Martínez
Los Aterciopelados
Totó La Momposina Winner of WOMEX Award 2006
‘When we started no Colombian rock was played on the radio,
there were no engineers, no lighting people, no video people,
no roadies, no trained musicians, no managers….nothing.
Now all of the above are here to stay and grow’.
Andrea Echeverría, Los Aterciopelados
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Humberto Moreno co-founder and president of MTM record label and
distributor based in Bogotá
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Operating for sixteen years with strong emphasis on traditional Colombian
and international music
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Releases in Colombia include Polo Montañez, Martirio, Totó la Momposina,
Petrona Martínez, Antonio Arnedo, Arista, Jorge Velosa y Los Carragueros
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Artists in development include Etelvina Maldonado, Veteranos del Caribe,
Mojarra Eléctrica, Dr Harvey, Tico Arnedo
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Colombian licencee or distributor for prestigious international labels
including Putumayo, Narada, Lusáfrica and Nuevos Medios
Colombian Artists in World Market
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Diverse regional traditions
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Increasingly influential position in
world market
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Major artists in the mid-40s:
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Pacho Galán
Lucho Bermúdez
Carmencita Pernett
Tony Camargo
Current success:
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Juanes
Shakira
Carlos Vives
Los Aterciopelados
Lucho Bermúdez
Background to the Colombian
Music Industry
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Importers based in Medellín, Barranquilla, Bogotá
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Discos Fuentes formed in Cartagena in the mid 1930s
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Prohibition on imports in the early 1940s sparked small labels and
strengthened the local industry: Discos Tropical, Discos Curro,
Discos Silver, Sonolux, Zeida, Discos Vergara
© Urbanimage
Decade of Boom and Crisis
• 1990s lifted market figures by more than five times
between 1991-1996
• Accompanied by period of economic growth
• Multinationals start to open affiliates
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End of ’90s: crash
Onset of piracy
Closure of small shops, retail chains and distributors
5 companies closed down in last few years including
BMG & Warner affiliates
1964-1994
New Projects
• Despite unfavourable situation, a surprising number of
new projects have been established in the last year:
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Verónica Orozco www.veronica-orozco.com
Inés Gaviria www.inesgaviria.com
Sin Ánimo de Lucro www.myspace.com/sinanimodelucro
Bonka www.myspace.com/bonkacolombia
Tinto
Naty Botero www.natybotero.com
Jerau www.jerau.com
Fanny Lu www.fannylu.com
• Incredibly all independent or self-produced
Manufacturing
• Two pressing plants: Disonex & CD
Systems – able to produce 2 million units
a month while demand on legal market is
only 500,000 units on average
Independent Labels
• Ability to record in small or home studios
• Explosion in new self-produced artists
• Many disappear as quickly as they appear
but others around to stay:
La 33 / Real Charanga / Bonka / QuicChocTown / Dr Krápula Kema
/ Pescao Vivo / Inés Gaviria / La Conmoción
Dr Krápula
New Companies
• With almost every new artist, a new label
is born
• New companies have been formed:
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Gili Music
Origin Entertainment
K Discos (Warner)
All Music
Canzion
LG Music
Traditional & New Music
• Colombia a regional country:
– Caribbean Coast, Pacific Coast, Andes, Plains
• African, indigenous & Hispanic influences
• Caribbean rhythms with international recognition:
– Cumbia, Vallenato, Porro, Paseo…
• ‘Tropipop’ tendency in last 10 years
• Fuse traditional with urban styles:
– Carlos Vives, Fonseca, Fanny Lú, Bacilos,
Mauricio y Palo de Agua, Sidestepper
Sidestepper
© Urbanimage
Traditional Artists
• Awoken an interest in traditional artists
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Totó La Momposina
Grupo Bahía
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto
Petrona Martínez
Etelvina Maldonado
• Sales not sufficient to attract majors so only
medium-scale promotion
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto
© Alvaro Ernesto Ortiz & Ellen Speiser
Distribution
• Distributor is also the retail owner
– receives distributor discount, plus gross profit and other
incentives - ends up with 60% of PPD
• 3/4 clients control more than 85% of the market
• Puts producers in a weak position
• Retail market dominated by chains:
– La Música, Prodiscos, Tower Records, La Rumbita, Servimúsica,
Tango Discos, Forum, Millenium
• Belief that availability of titles should be limited to
popular titles so retailers unwilling to showcase new
artists
Direct Sales
• Distributors & traditional retailers do little to
promote home-grown artists
• Independent & self-produced artists must
arrange their own sales, before & after
performances
• Generally meet with success
Etelvina Maldonado
Promotion
• Very limited media outlets for
non-mainstream music:
– University and cultural radios
– Press
• Cultural magazines - Semana, Cambio, Soho, Jet-Set,
Caras
• Newspapers - El Tiempo, El Espectador, El Colombiano,
El Espacio
– TV
• National - Señal Colombia, Canal Institucional
• Regional - TeleCaribe, Teleantioquia
Live Performances
• Many venues and occasions for live
performances, regional festivities and company
events
• Key way to promote national artists – more than
half start out in clubs & bars
• Reality TV programmes provide opportunities for
new artists, even if quality is doubtful
Key Venues in Bogotá
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Aguapanelas
Galería Café Libro
Punto G
El Sitio
Quiebra-Canto
Salomé Pagana
Crab’s
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Teatro R101
Casa de Citas
Cabaret Son
Theatron
Alto Café El Anónimo
Downtown
Auditoría de la Antigua
Calle
Major Campaigns
• Current Colombian market sales only one sixth
of figures during golden age of ’90s
• Gold disc: previously 60,000 units
• Major TV campaigns few and far between – if
lucky, sales reach 50,000 units
• Not enough to recover high publicity costs,
without taking into account damaging effects of
piracy
Piracy
• Optimistic estimates calculate piracy at
70% of Colombian market
• Commercially driven music industry
encourages illegal activity
• Socio-economic problem
• Cannot be solved solely by repressive
measures
The Way Forward?
• Technology slow to arrive in Colombia, at least
for 80% of population with lowest purchasing
power
• Government needs to introduce effective and
dynamic support mechanisms for self-producers,
new labels & local industry
• Potential to develop music as key cultural
industry and turn it into one of the country’s main
exports