Performers, authors, producers, promoters, managers, sound technicians… and many other professionals are promoting the creation of this institution with the aim of ensuring that music plays an important national and international role as an ambassador of our culture and represents the talent and excellence of the entire industry.
The association, which was presented this morning at a well-attended public event at the Teatro Rojas del Círculo Bellas Artes of Madrid, will organise the Academy Awards this spring to recognise musical excellence in our country.
It aims to be a meeting point for the entire industry in defence of its interests, including improving the positioning of professionals and their training, or promoting specific aid plans and introducing Spanish artists on international circuits.
The Board of Directors promoting the Academy have worked over the last year to set up this important initiative, which already has the backing of a large number of distinguished professionals
Some members of the Board and professionals of the sector this morning at the presentation. ©Pablo Lorente
Madrid, 24 January 2024
Spain is a country of music and has a lot to say to the world in this field. However, the Spanish music industry has until now lacked a single, global voice representing the feelings and interests of the sector with a common, cross-cutting vision that would contribute to its national and international projection. The new Spanish Music Academy has been created to fill this void. After more than a year of work by a large group of professionals from different areas of the music community, it was presented this morning in a multitudinous and exciting event attended by leading figures from all fields of music in our country.
Coming at a great moment for the music sector, after several decades of professionalisation and structuring, and with the necessary maturity, the launch of a Music Academy in Spain is a historical claim and a necessary aspiration of all professionals in the sector, which has finally culminated today with its presentation in society.
The current president of the Academy, Luis Cobos, presented the main lines of action proposed to dignify the music sector, to promote excellence and training, to make visible the contribution of Spanish music to culture not only in our country but also beyond our borders, and to serve as a link between Europe and America. “We present this Academy of Music as a tangible, solid and forward-looking reality, ready to welcome and represent the excellence, talent and effort of the people who make up the music sector in Spain. It is the home of all of us who dedicate ourselves to the art and industry of music. This marks a before and after for the sector”, said the president, who called on young people to join the project and feel “owners of this house, to take over from us in time and become co-responsible for the destiny of their Music Academy”.
Thus, among its main objectives is to raise the cultural and social status of music, recovering the respect of public administrations and society itself for a sector that brings unquestionable cultural value to Spain and that constitutes a strong and consolidated economic industry. “We want it to be a place to claim common interests, emphasising the whole, hence its transversal spirit, highlighting the humanist values that music represents”, said Charlie Sánchez, producer and member of the board, who also pleaded for the union of the sector. Artists’ representative Francisco López, artists Judith Mateo and Pasión Vega and promoter Pino Sagliocco expressed themselves in similar terms. “It will never be complete until all the professionals are inside without it being a closed structure”, assured López. “At last we are a team”, emphasised Pasión Vega. “At last, we have a voice”, acknowledged Sagliocco.
Moments of the presentation at the Fernando de Rojas Theatre in Madrid. ©Pablo Lorente
Board and support
The expectations of the current Board of Directors are based on the firm involvement of all the members of the Academy in order to achieve a democratic, plural, participative organisation in which all professionals feel represented. The Board of Directors promoting the Spanish Academy of Music is made up of the following members: Luis Cobos, Antonio Onetti, Antonio Guisasola, Alejandro Sanz, Pablo Alborán, Luz Casal, Manuel Carrasco, Pasión Vega, Nacho García Vega, Rosana Arbelo, Sabino Méndez, Luis Mendo, Pepe Sánchez, Narcís Rebollo, José M. Barbat, Guillermo González, José M. Barbat, Guillermo González, José M. Barbat, Guillermo González, José M. Barbat, José M. Barbat, José M. Barbat, José M. Barbat, José M. Barbat, José M. Barbat, José M. Barbat and José M. Barbat. Barbat, Guillermo González, J. Carlos Sánchez, Rafael Aguilar, Cecilia León Rodrigo, Pino Sagliocco, Francisco López and Íñigo Argomániz.
Already formed by more than 250 academicians, personalities who are absolute references for the whole sector in their different professional disciplines, and more than 600 highly experienced members, the Academy expects to expand its social base significantly in the near future. By doing so, the Spanish Academy of Music aspires to become the free and democratic home of those who work in the entire value chain of the sector.
Today’s event was attended by a number of music industry professionals and well-known voices from the industry, such as Natalia Lacunza, Sidecars, Alba Morena, Marlon, Álvaro de Luna, Dani Fernández, Nil Moliner, among others, as well as the support of other prominent figures from the sector who, due to professional commitments, were unable to attend the event but who participated with video messages calling for unity and to sign up for the Academy, such as Kiki Morente, Jadel, Israel Fernández, Soledad Giménez, Ruth Lorenzo, Natalia Lyans, María Toledo, Mikel Izal, Diana Navarro, David de María, Karen, Álex Ubago, Diego El Cigala, Gerardo Núñez, José Mercé, Paco Ortega, Paloma San Basilio, Café Quijano, Camela, Duquende, Fortu, Javier Gurruchaga, Josemi Carmona, Juan Valderrama, Nacho García, José Manuel Zapata, Ariel Rot, Carmen Linares, Ana Belén, Miguel Ríos, Miguel Poveda, Raphael, David Summers, Vicente Amigo, Lucrecia, among many others. In addition, the presentation, which was hosted by Diego Losada, featured performances by Virginia Alves and Tomasito.
Luis Cobos during his speech. ©Pablo Lorente
Music Awards, museum and internationalization
In this spirit, the annual Music Awards will be organised and presented to reward the best work in the sector of the Arts and Sciences of Music, recognising individuals and institutions for their merits in the creation, promotion, protection, study and development of Spanish, Latin American and world music.
The awards, whose first edition will be taking place next May, will be held in Madrid and have the strong support of the Community of Madrid, which demonstrates its commitment to the music industry and the talent of our country and will turn the capital into the musical epicentre for a few days, as the awards will be accompanied by various parallel activities to fill the Madrid region with music.
In addition, among other aims to contribute to the knowledge and dissemination of the work of all those who make the musical community possible, is the creation of a Music Museum, including a Hall of Fame.
Likewise, the aims of the Spanish Academy of Music are not limited to the national sphere, but it intends to establish itself as a meeting point between Europe and America, and to show internationally the value and strength that Spanish culture and, in particular, music, brings to the world. It will also seek to bring together the different existing sectoral organisations and provide them with all its support and collaboration.
The ambition of the new Academy is embodied in a wide-ranging catalogue of actions that it intends to develop immediately, including support for live music, promoting the Spanish repertoire and its artists and authors inside and outside Spain, programming conferences and seminars, and undertaking to improve the conditions of music workers and the groups and associations that fight for it. In this sense, they will organise, together with management entities and associations with their own resources, aid systems for the sector to alleviate these conditions.
It will also promote agreements with the administrations to organise music seasons in schools, high schools and universities, with the participation of relevant artists, authors, producers and professionals from the sector. These would show the value of music and the value of the creators themselves, and the benefits that live and recorded music bring to children and young people. It will also encourage and reward the study and research of musical arts and sciences and the interaction between technology and music, stimulating and helping in its conservation and promotion.
A moment during the event. ©Pablo Lorente
©Pablo Lorente
©Pablo Lorente
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