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MIDEM, the international music industry convention, and its digitally focused MidemNet Forum will open shop Jan. 23-27 in Cannes. The events will draw some 10,000 executives from nearly 100 countries, [...]

The last thing an industry devastated by Europe's worst street piracy--as well as the distorting influence of reality TV talent shows on the pop charts--needs is internal instability. But that's [...]

On the fast taxi ride from the Nice airport to the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, a MIDEM attendee once quipped that many music companies at this annual convention seemed [...]

A Territorial Guide to Home Video Growth in Europe U.K.: Following last year's setback, the industry has experienced an optimistic first quarter which has seen rentals steadying and plenty of [...]

MAJOR ALLIANCE, MERGER: The landmark multiple alliance signed by U.S.-based Univision Communications, Mexico's Grupo Televisa and Venezuela's Venevision in late December promises to change the Latin music panorama in the [...]

SYNTEK GOES SOLO: In his first solo outing, pop/rocker Aleks Syntek (former member of La Gente Normal and producer of acts like Cal6) took all his musical influences and blended [...]

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT: Miami-based J&N Records and Flia Entertainment have created Flia Recordings Incorporated, a strategic alliance designed to create, produce and develop rap, merenhouse and other alternative acts. Flia Entertainment, [...]

MADRID--What was already a slow traffic flow across the repertoire bridge linking Spain and Latin America trickled to a near halt after the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11. The year [...]

For Latin artists and their labels seeking to make an impact in Spain, a basic knowledge of the Spanish radio landscape is essential. The music-radio scene in Spain is puzzling [...]

MADRID--Piracy in its various forms is '100% to blame' for a slump in Spanish music sales in the first nine months of this year, according to the VP of the [...]

Female-fronted trio Camela's album Amor.com (EMI Hispavox) has not only kept bigger stars at bay in the Spanish album charts this fall but has also led to the group being [...]

Spain's Biggest Audiovisual Conglomerate Gels Structural, Personnel Shake-Up MADRID--Music-related entertainment looks set for a higher profile at Spain's biggest audiovisual conglomerate, Grupo Prisa, in an ongoing key structural and personnel [...]

Strategy Entails Building Media Group In Latin America Before Crossing Border MADRID--Spain's largest audiovisual holding, Grupo Prisa, has taken a big stride toward entering the U.S. Latin music radio sector [...]

BMG Spain has launched a flamenco label, Tablao, with three releases, Corren Tiempos de Alegria by young Gypsy singer Diego El Cigala, El Sorbo by guitarist Nino Josele, and an [...]

Madrid rock band Dover sold half a million units of its second album, Devil Came to Me (Subterfuge), in 1997. It was the first indie album in Spain to ever [...]

MADRID--You have been warned. The next Spanish 'Macarena' -style song/dance phenomenon that could sweep the world is called 'El Baile del Gorila' (The Dance of the Gorilla). It has been [...]

Entertainment Coalition Established Amid Fears About Pre-Christmas Sales MADRID--A broad-based anti-piracy coalition has been set up in Spain to combat the increasing economic damage being reported by the music, literary, [...]

Ana Torroja, former singer of Spain's most successful ever pop group, Mecano, has become one of BMG France's priority artists. Ensconced in a Paris apartment since March and rapidly improving [...]

Bagpipe-playing used to be a man's job in Spain's northwestern Celtic corner of Galicia and Asturias. But in recent years, 25-year-old Susana Seivane has turned that around. She will become [...]

MADRID--Spanish sales sensation and BMG Latin priority act Estopa is to spearhead this year's Rock en N, a rock en espanol tour that will go to the U.S., Mexico, and [...]

LONDON--While the recent terrorist attacks were aimed at devastating the U.S., what became clear within hours of the atrocities was that citizens worldwide were affected by the tragedy. Thousands of [...]

MADRID--Sello Autor--the nonprofit label arm of Spanish authors' and publishers' society SGAE--is to expand, with the creation of a sister imprint, Factoria Autor. The new label will be dedicated to [...]

In addition to being a popular year-round beach destination for European tourists, the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa are now the Latin music center of Europe. [...]

Spanish indie distributor Alfa Discos has inked a deal to distribute U.K. world- and roots-music label Nascente in Spain. Madrid-based Alfa claims the pact is its biggest foreign deal yet. [...]

The demise of flamenco is predicted with depressing regularity in Spain. Yet the music remains stronger than ever, and two new collections this summer explore its influence beyond Spain's borders. [...]

Spanish indie label Nuevos Medios is used to making history. Label founder and owner Mario Pacheco pioneered the new flamenco movement in the early 1980s, signing the group Ketama, which [...]

MADRID--Virgin Spain's worldmusic imprint Yerbabuena has taken over the promotion and distribution of U.S. labels Higher Octave and Narada, as well as the U.K.'s Real World, to become what Yerbabuena [...]

Madrid is to gain a 15,000-capacity indoor music venue within 20 months, which should go some way toward putting the Spanish capital on the European touring circuit. The June 28 [...]

New President Makes New Media A Priority MADRID--The new president of Universal Music Spain, Carlos Ituino, has signaled his intention to prioritize new-media activities with the first structural changes at [...]

IBIZA, Spain-The Spanish Balearic island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean has been a music haven for gentle outcasts since the first hippies, as well as U.S. draft dodgers avoiding the [...]

SELLO AUTOR, the nonprofit record label run by Spanish authors' and publishers' society SGAE, has signed a deal through Universal Venezuela to distribute the album Encuentros con la Havana across [...]

President Announces 'Most Sweeping Changes' MADRID--BMG Spain president Jose Maria Camara has announced what he claims are the most sweeping changes at the company since it was formed 15 years [...]

MADRID--Spanish music conglomerate Gran Via Musical (GVM) has created a new Madrid-based Latin record label with Sony Music Entertainment and Emilio Estefan's Miami-based Crescent Moon label. As yet unnamed, the [...]

EUROTROPICAL, the Canary Islands-based Cuban/Caribbean music imprint of MuXXIc, has signed Cuba's most popular salsero, Paulo FG. The singer, who began his career as Paulito FG, was formerly signed to [...]

Virgin Spain Strikes Deal With Cuba's Egrem MADRID--Previously unreleased albums recorded by leading Cuban artists in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s have become available on the streets of Cuba for [...]

MADRID--Call it rock, pop-rock, Latino rock or rock en espanol. Whatever term you choose, the fact is that Spanish rock has become commercially and critically successful. Languid Latino rock group [...]

SPAIN'S AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS SOCIETY, SGAE, held the first-ever overseas meeting of its international bureau chiefs (except Japan) and its Caribbean basin members on consecutive days during the May 16-20 [...]

MADRID--Spanish music's biggest rising star, Alejandro Sanz, has taken his first steps toward attracting a mainstream English-speaking audience, recording his first song in English with fellow Warner act the Corrs. [...]

Label And Agent Say It Is Unlikely That The 93-Year-Old Will Perform Again HAVANA--Cuban sonero Compay Segundo, 93, is recovering from emergency hospital treatment for extreme fatigue. As a result, [...]

HAVANA--Frequent visitors to Cuba who check out its formidable--yet often untapped--reserve musical maestros can't believe their ears. Cuban music industry managers are, often for the first time, peppering their speech [...]

CUBAN SONERO COMPAY SEGUNDO, 93, is recovering from emergency treatment for extreme fatigue in Havana Segundo, who found international fame at the age of 89 with the Grammy-winning Ry Cooder-produced [...]

MADRID--Key management changes at heavyweight Spanish independent label MuXXIc are aimed at ensuring it stays on target to rival the majors for market share in domestic repertoire this year. MuXXIc [...]

SURISTAN DISCOS is a new Madrid-based label launched April 26 by the owners of leading Madrid small live venue Suristan. The name means 'lands of the south,' and music from [...]

MADRID -- Universal Music Spain has closed one of its three labels--Universal-- and, as of May 1, is operating just two in the shape of Mercury and Polydor. Mercury's new [...]

UNIVERSAL MUSIC SPAIN has carried out a management restructuring and confirmed the closure of one of its three labels. Effective May 1, the Mercury imprint in Spain is to be [...]

MADRID--When this month's Cubadisco fair brings together Latin America's two music giants--Cuba and Brazil--in a celebration of their musical traditions, it will attract attention from around the world. Record labels [...]

LEADING SPANISH AND CUBAN ARTISTS have recorded an album to raise money for Cuba's music schools and conservatories, which are suffering chronic shortages of instruments and music paper. Encuentro con [...]

U.S. A Key Contributor To Revenue Received By SGAE Last Year MADRID--The current high standing of Latino music worldwide is reflected in the latest figures from Spain's authors and publishers' [...]

SUMMER STARTS EARLY in Spain, and that means that the summer hit machinery is already in top gear. The six-strong teenage girl group Papa Levante has gone platinum (100,000 sales) [...]

NOVA EDICIONES MUSICALES (NEM), the publishing arm of Spanish music conglomerate Gran Via Musical, is to acquire exclusive Spanish subpublishing rights of the catalog of four New York library-music publishers [...]