Q&A with Loud and Live’s Nelson Albareda

Loud and Live founder and CEO Nelson Albareda has given an insight the company’s global expansion plans in a Q&A with IQ.

The Miami, Florida-headquartered live entertainment and sports firm produces and manages the tours of many of the world’s biggest Latin artists, presenting more than 300 live concerts around the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and Latin America in 2022.

It has worked with the likes of Pitbull, Ricky Martin, Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki, Luis Fonsi, Calvin Harris, Roberto Carlos, Juan Luis Guerra and Franco De Vita, and moved into Europe last year with the inaugural Madrid Championship CrossFit competition.

Albareda will chair the Latin Live panel at this year’s ILMC at 3.30pm on Wednesday 1 March. Here, he expands further on Loud and Live’s international plans, reflects on its link-ups with Move Concerts and ASM Global, and considers what the future holds for Latin music…

How do you plan to grow your touring offering on a global level in 2023?

“We expanded our geographical touring focus in 2022, having launched our Latin America division, including producing shows in Colombia and Ecuador with the likes of Camilo, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Carlos Vives, Gian Marco and Ricardo Arjona. A handful of those shows took place in stadiums, including Carlos Vives and Ricardo Arjona, the latter of which included multiple sold-out stadium shows in Ecuador.

“In 2023 we’ll be doubling down on those efforts, expanding our offering even further into Central and South America. We’re also looking to initiate our European presence, with some initial shows in Spain on the back half of 2023.”

“The plan is to grow our team and presence in Madrid to expand our focus across live music as well”

Last year, you entered the European market with the Madrid Championship. Will you be making any moves in the continent’s live music scene?

“Yes, we launched this event in 2021 and we’ve been growing our footprint there ever since. The plan is to grow our team and presence in Madrid to expand our focus across live music as well.”

In what ways has your joint venture with Move Concerts been fruitful?

“Our complementary business focuses have brought together a compelling value proposition from a geographical expansion perspective, which has resulted in a broader offering and value proposition to the artists we work with. We will continue to collaborate and expand on our partnership in 2023, particularly as Loud and Live looks to continue its growth in Latin America, where Move is a leader.

“On a personal level, I continue to learn from Phil Rodriguez and his wealth of knowledge around the business, he’s truly a pioneer in live entertainment and someone I – and our team – consider a mentor.”

How do you see your partnership with ASM Global evolving?

“Our partnership with ASM has gone well and we continue to collaborate across strategic opportunities. We already have a robust pipeline of live shows lined up across their venues for 2023 and beyond.”

“Latin music has evolved and is now mainstream, and there’s a slew of Latin artists that have yet to blow up ala Bad Bunny”

2022 was a seminal year for the Latin music business, how do you see that continuing in 2023?

“Honestly, I expect the genre to continue the growth it’s had over the last two decades. Latin music has evolved and is now mainstream, and there’s a slew of Latin artists that have yet to blow up ala Bad Bunny, which will only further solidify Latin music on a global level.”

How are ticket sales going for 2023 concerts and what is selling well?

“Ticket sales are going very strong for 2023 and we don’t see any indication of that slowing down, so we expect sales to be strong again across all the type of artists we work with. That said, we have seen indications that Tropical music is making a strong comeback and sales are outperforming vs. previous tours, so that’s an interesting trend that we’ll continue to follow.”

What kind of challenges lie ahead for Loud And Live and the business in general?

“We’re coming off of a historic year of growth and our pipeline for 2023 is even stronger, so currently our biggest challenge would be managing any macro-economic factors. That said, live entertainment has proven to be a somewhat recession proof industry, so time will tell what impact, if any, those factors could have.”

“The largest opportunity we see for 2023 is continuing the growth of our market share across North America, while continuing to expand globally”

What opportunities do you foresee for 2023?

“The largest opportunity we see for 2023 is continuing the growth of our market share across North America, while continuing to expand globally.”

What will 2023 bring for Loud and Live?

“Besides continuing to forward investment across our live event side of the business, we will continue to diversify across complementary verticals.

“Among other exciting opportunities, we recently announced a partnership with booking agency Tesa Entertainment, a leading Latin-urban focused booking and management agency. The global partnership deal includes exclusive touring and booking rights for Loud And Live, in an effort to elevate the Latin urban genre to the next level. The first artist signed under the deal is Panamanian singer-songwriter Boza, who broke out in 2020 with his hit song Hecha Pa’ Mí and was nominated for best new artist at the 2021 Latin Grammys.

“Additionally, we will be investing further in live event IP, including launching and producing Miami’s premiere country music festival, appropriately titled Country Bay Music Festival. The large-scale multi-day music festival will feature A-List talent (to be announced in February), as well as emerging country acts. The festival will take place at the historic Miami Marine Stadium on 11-12 November 2023.”

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