César Andión talks about the premiere of the Musical Forum of Andalusia
Andalusia’s first Musical Forum is in the books. Some 2,000 people attended the premiere in Malaga, September 5-7, including 350 delegates, speakers and media – the “perfect number to allow for intimate networking, as we wanted MFA to be a forum, not a conference massive”, according to the AMF. director César Andión, head of The Spanish Wave talent export program at Live Nation Spain. From his keynote speech at Málaga’s historic La Concepción, to the closing dinner and beachfront party in Torremolinos, he said he couldn’t be happier with AMF’s debut.
The sessions covered a variety of topics. Alexandra Ampofo (Metrópolis Music, Women Connect, Embrace Nation), Jess Kinn (One Fiinix Live), Diana Dadonova (Ukraine Music Export), Inma Grass (Founder, Altafonte) and Cindy Castillo (Mad Cool Party). Chen Castano, director of Planet Events, spoke about her 30-year career with her colleague Beatriz de la Guardia.
In other interviews, ILMC director Greg Parmely spoke with Raye Cosbert, director of Metropolis Music, who has worked closely with artists such as Bjork; Tyler the Creator; Charlie XCX and Gorillaz throughout his professional career, and Mad Cool’s Cindy Castillo delved into Rob Challice’s (Wassermann Music) 40-year career as a promoter, agent, festival organizer and avid cyclist.
Other sessions covered the ins and outs of management, offered legal advice and talked about the latest technologies, including the current NFT craze. The past, present and future of the Andalusian music industry were discussed in a session moderated by Txema Martín from local newspaper Diario Sur, who was joined by industry representatives such as María Yfeu, a artist from Seville, Eduardo Fernández Palomares, undersecretary of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, Nuria Rico from Live Nation Spain, and others. Pollstar moderated a session on Emerging Markets in Europe, Latin America and APAC, attended by Georges Perot (Athens Music Week), Heloisa Aidar and Inma Grass (Altafonte), Fran Sandoval (Chile Music), Jordi Anglés (Ticketmaster Spain), Mike Galt (Eventim Live Asia/SVP Touring) and Alvaro Covoes (Everything is new). Carlos Mc Phail (Parque Bicentenario de la Ciudad de México), Camilo Lara (IMS), Ana Rodríguez (MMF), Sergio Arbeláez (FIMPRO), Fabrizio Onetto (Seitrack), Laura García Álvarez del Castillo (Sympathy for the lawyer), Josué Orduña (Altafonte) and Robert Grima (President of Live Nation Spain, Madrid) analyzed the music industry in Mexico and its links with Spain and the rest of the world.
One of AMF’s main goals is to facilitate business between Latin America and Europe, and according to Andión, “I think we’ve done that, just bringing people together from both sides of the Atlantic in a professional and friendly environment is a success, especially focused on Latin American pros meeting Spanish and European pros I’m sure there are many examples, but for example many delegates have been invited at European and Latin American music conferences because they met at the AMF. Our Mexican public relations have been contracted by other companies and some Spanish managers are already discussing with festivals and Latin American promoters of collaborations between artists and first tours. We will continue on this unique path because it is necessary in Europe and Latin America. I believe that we have achieved the objective set in our motto: to be e the gateway between Latin America and Europe and vice versa.
Andión said Málaga was the perfect host city, calling it “the perfect place, just the right thing”. The people and professionals are friendly, there are stylish places and events, all of which radiate very southern European vibes: warm and smiling. Also, the time of year in early September is perfect. For many, the AMF marks the last meeting of the summer, but also the kick-off of the fall and winter season of music industry meetings.
AMF is one of the three parts of Andalucía Big, a project aimed at promoting the music of Andalucia and Andalusia locally and internationally. The other two are Andalucía Live Concerts, which promotes tours and performances by newcomers to the provinces of Andalucia (August 26 to September 4), and Andalucía BIG Festival, produced by the team behind the Mad Cool festival. (8-10 September). .
There was also live music at the AMF, concerts by Andalusian artists like Maria Yfeu, Tito Ramirez or Maria Guadaña, as well as from the target country Mexico (Centavrvs, Instituto Mexicano del Sonido), as well as a special performance by Ukrainian artist Maryna Krut. Their respective agents confirmed that they had all already received booking requests as a result of AMF, according to Andión, who said: “The first AMF turned out exactly as we imagined when we started. working on the project months ago. The atmosphere was friendly, professional, easy going, laid back and fun. The feedback from everyone who participated has been amazing and it makes us really happy and we want to work on the next one soon.
