Move Concerts talks management growth, ’24 tours
Move Concerts boss Phil Rodriguez has spoken out on the company’s growing management arm and 2024 touring fortunes in an interview with IQ.
Move Music Management, which was formed by Rodriguez and Move’s Argentina CEO Sebastian Carlomagno, has hired Jason Odio to help with its expanding roster of artists.
Odio will be based in the team’s Miami office in the US, and brings more than 25 experience as an executive in the nightclub and hospitality sectors.
“Jason brings a lot,” says Rodriguez. “Aside from having run successful businesses in the hospitality sector – nightclubs, restaurants, bars – he also has incredible contacts and experience in the fashion industry and art world, from producers to designers. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
Move clients include Tiago PZK, Bhavi, Ambik and K4OS, who are all signed to Rodriguez’s Grand Move Records. The promoter describes the firm’s management division and indie record label as its “Covid projects”.
“We were approach regarding management for a few of the artists that were coming out of the urban scene that blew up in Argentina about two years ago – during and right after Covid,” he explains. “Tiago PZK was the one that we really got excited about, so we signed him up for management and then started a label for his releases, Grand Move Records.
“We then signed a licensing deal with Warner Latin when Tiago’s numbers out grew the South Cone markets: Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. As time went by other artists approached us and we now have four artists under our management division: Ambik, Bhavi , K4OS and Tiago PZK. We want to grow slowly – quality before quantity.”
“We’re seeing [A-list] artists doing stronger than ever, but a softer scenario for the mid-level artists”
Rodriguez says Move’s management and concert divisions operate independently of one another, while utilising certain synergies.
“In the markets where Move Concerts has offices, our local offices will promote the concerts for our management artists,” he says. “Furthermore, we use our local offices to help push and market our artists in tandem with Warner Latin.”
Turning to Move’s touring activities, Rodriguez says the first half of 2024 has been largely positive up to this point.
“So far, we’re ahead of the ball – more hits than misses,” he says. “The biggest highlight so far this year were the two stadium dates we promoted with Karol G in San Jose, Costa Rica at the Nacional Stadium. She broke all previous sales records in that country. She’s a superstar.
“Aside from the increase in costs, we’re seeing [A-list] artists doing stronger than ever but a softer scenario for the mid-level artists.”
Latin America’s largest independent promoter, Move Concerts is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico.
“We have a great line up of upcoming shows in Puerto Rico: Bad Bunny, Carin Leon, Residente, Rawayana and Rainao,” concludes Rodriguez. “In the region, we have four dates with Eric Clapton with Gary Clark Jr, a nine-date South American tour with Keane, which has sold stronger than their previous tours, two stadium dates with Paul McCartney and five stadium, plus one arena show, with Iron Maiden, who are doing bigger business than ever in the region.”
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Karol G breaks Costa Rica ticket sales record
Latin superstar Karol G has continued to break records with her Mañana Será Bonito LATAM Tour, recording the highest ever ticket sales for a concert in Costa Rica.
The Colombian singer-songwriter, who is represented worldwide by Jbeau Lewis and Ryan Soroka at UTA, sold 104,686 tickets across her sold-out 9-10 March shows at Estadio Nacional in San José.
The two dates were promoted by Move Concerts and broke the previous record set by Coldplay, who launched their Music of the Spheres Tour at the venue in 2022.
Karol G recently became the first artist to sell out four nights at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
G recently became the first artist to sell out four nights at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Spain, where she will stop from 20-23 July as part of her Live Nation-promoted European tour debut, Mañana Será Bonito (Tomorrow Will Be Nice).
The Mañana Será Bonito LATAM Tour kicked off in Mexico City in February, when she became the first female artist to sell out the Estadio Azteca for three consecutive nights, with 80,000 attendees per night. The trek will visit the Dominican Republic this weekend, before moving on to Perú, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
Last year, the reggaeton star grossed $145 million with 843,000 tickets sold for just 18 shows, and also became the first female artist to reach #1 on Billboard Top 200 with a Spanish-language album. She also made history in Puerto Rico by becoming the first artist ever to sell out three nights at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, drawing more than 100,000 fans across the trio of concerts.
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Iron Maiden smash Colombia ticket sales record
Tickets for Iron Maiden‘s first concert in Colombia for 13 years were snapped up at a record rate for an international act, according to promoter Move Concerts.
All 42,000 tickets sold out in 21 minutes for the metal greats’ return to Bogota on 24 November next year. With more than 11 months to go until the scheduled performance at El Campin Stadium, it also became the first gig in Colombia to sell out so far in advance.
The band last graced the Colombian capital with a show at Parque Simón Bolívar in March 2011. The timespan clocked for tickets sold for the 2024 show broke the sales velocity records of all previous global icons who have performed in Colombia in the past, including the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Madonna, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we think it would blow out in 21 minutes and smash sales records”
“We all expected strong sales given the long wait since they last performed here, which was on 20 March 2011, but never in our wildest dreams did we think it would blow out in 21 minutes and smash sales records,” says Alfredo Villaveces, MD of Move Concerts Colombia. “And if we factor in the fact we went up so far ahead of the show date – something no other artist had done here – it is truly amazing.”
The sellout pace was exceeded only by Colombian superstar Karol G, who played two sellout stadium shows in her hometown of Medellin from 1-2 December.
The Latin American stretch of Iron Maiden’s 2024 The Future Past Tour has also got off to a strong start in Chile, with more than 95,000 tickets already sold for the group’s two dates in Santiago at the Estadio Nacional on 27-28 November. The Santiago shows mark the first time the band will play two stadium concerts in Chile on the same tour.
The only international act to have played more than two dates at the 60,000-cap stadium is Coldplay, who performed four concerts at the venue in September 2022.
Miami-headquartered Move Concerts is the biggest independent concert promoter in Latin America, boasting offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico.
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Move Concerts’ Rodriguez talks LatAm challenges
Move Concerts CEO Phil Rodriguez has broken down the ups and downs of the South American touring scene as the company prepares to co-promote next month’s Primavera Sound Buenos Aires.
The LatAm region’s biggest independent promoter is partnering with Primavera alongside PopArt Music and Dale Play Live on the festival, which returns to Parque Sarmiento in the Argentine capital from 25-26 November, headlined by The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Blur and Beck.
“Argentina at the moment is very challenging,” Rodriguez tells IQ. “This is the first year we are involved with this event, and it will be the second edition in Argentina. Our objective are not only to grow the numbers but as important to deliver on the experience for the punters and consolidate the brand in the market.”
Rodriguez describes the situation in certain countries in the region as “politically delicate”.
“The elections in Argentina [later this month] will be historic in terms of what direction that country will go,” he says. “Right now, the country is essentially broke.”
In general, Rodriguez reports that Move has recorded “more hits than misses”in 2023. Recent successes include a 13,000-cap sellout with Ghost at Buenos Aires’ Movistar Arena on 24 September, and the debut of its Legends in Concert series a week later, when it presented Rod Stewart and Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivete Sangaloat at Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Brazil. The latter show grossed more than US$3 million.
“We sold out – 31,000 tickets sold,” says Rodriguez. “It was a reserved seating configuration at the Allianz Stadium. Rod Stewart and Ivete Sangalo sang two songs together at the end of the show and the chemistry between them was fantastic. It was definitely a case of 1+1=3 and we will definitely repeat this concept.”
“We’re seeing local talent/Latin artists doing stadium tours. This was extremely rare before”
The firm also sold 16,000 tickets for a Bad Bunny “listening party” this week at Puerto Rico’s José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Back in March, it teamed with Bunny’s manager Noah Assad to stage Karol G’s history-making Puerto Rican shows, which saw the Colombian star become the first artist ever to sell out three nights at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, drawing more than 100,000 fans across the trio of shows.
“She’s incredibly hard-working and focused and has unquestionably taken her career to the next level – stadium level, superstar level,” reflects Rodriguez, who points out the market is especially strong for domestic artists.
“In many cases it is as strong or stronger than most international/Anglo artists,” he adds. “We’re seeing local talent/Latin artists doing stadium tours. This was extremely rare before.”
He continues: “In general, well, we cannot complain, but the audience is being more selective. The ‘after Covid boom’ is tapering off. I feel the increase in the cost of living has impacted the fans to as certain degree. For the [top] acts and top-tier festivals, business is strong. In the case of the smaller acts or festivals, there are more challenges.
“Costs certainly have impacted everybody – artist, promoters and fans. Everything is more expensive. There has also been more difficulty in venue avails as local artists are now selling more than in the past increasing holds on venues. Also, the demand for stadium dates availability is butting heads with football schedules more than ever.”
Move Concerts is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico. Since 2019, the company has operated a joint venture with US entertainment and sports company Loud and Live, whose CEO Nelson Albareda was recently named Billboard Latin Power Player Executive of the Year.
PHOTO: GHOST with Fabiano de Queiroz, VP touring MOVE Concerts (Credit: Gabriel Sotelo)
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Debut Puerto Rico festival draws sellout crowds
A new festival in Puerto Rico curated by rapper Eladio Carrión and co-promoted by Move Concerts and Noah Assad Presents drew sellout crowds to its debut editions.
The Sauce Boyz Fest was the first music festival to be staged on the Caribbean island since the Covid pandemic began in 2020.
The first event took place on 18 May at Cervecera de Puerto Rico in Mayaguez before a 7,000-strong crowd and was headlined by Carrión, who was joined by surprise guest Bad Bunny to perform Coco Chanel live for the first time. Acts such as Tokischa and Young Miko also performed.
The leg was held at the Convention District in San Juan – at just five days’ notice after switching from the original venue Estadio Sixto Escobar due to an infrastructure problem – on 20 May before a sold-out crowd of 25,000. Artists included Bizarrap and Duki, Wiz Khalifa and Carrión, who was joined onstage by Lil Wayne, Myke Towers and Jhayco.
“I’m so proud of all of the people that pushed and worked day and night to make this festival a world class event in just five days of buildup”
“I’m so proud of all of the people that pushed and worked day and night to make this festival a world class event in just five days of buildup, proud to be a part of this team and experience,” says Alejandro Pabon, MD of Move Concerts Puerto Rico.
Other attractions included a gaming area, multiple art structures, three stages and more than 30 international and local artists. The festival was also the first in Puerto Rico to be livestreamed via YouTube.
Move Concerts is Latin America’s biggest independent concert promoter with offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico, as well as its headquarters in the US in Miami, Florida.
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Move Concerts co-promotes WWE’s Puerto Rico return
Move Concerts and Noah Assad Presents co-promoted WWE’s first premium live event to be held in Puerto Rico in 15 years, headlined by Bad Bunny.
The show, titled Backlash, took place on 6 May at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, and marked the largest gate ever for any WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) event held in Puerto Rico and the largest gate in the history of the Backlash brand.
Bad Bunny, who is managed by Assad, wrestled WWE superstar Damian Priest in the co-main event.
“We have been very proud of our on-going relationship with WWE throughout the region and specially in Puerto Rico” says Fabiano de Queiroz, VP of talent & tours at Miami-headquartered Move Concerts.
“The rich wrestling history and the incredibly strong music scene made for the perfect combination on a historic night”
Organisers confirmed back-to-back sellout nights for WWE’s Backlash (17,944 attendees) and the previous night’s SmackDown TV show (16,896 attendees).
“The rich wrestling history and the incredibly strong music scene made for the perfect combination on a historic night with the best crowd in the world,” adds Alejandro Pabón MD of Move Concerts Puerto Rico.
In addition, Backlash broke merchandise and sponsorship records, as the first-ever WWE event under the expanded partnership with Fanatics overseeing the on-site event retail experience. Sponsorship revenue surpassed any Backlash event in history, breaking last year’s record with a 98% year-on-year increase through partnerships with Netflix’s FUBAR, Mike’s Harder Lemonade, and Xfinity.
Move Concerts is the biggest independent concert promoter in Latin America with offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico.
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Karol G stadium shows make history in Puerto Rico
Karol G has made history in Puerto Rico by becoming the first artist ever to sell out three nights at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
The Colombian reggaeton star drew more than 100,000 fans across the trio of shows, which includes guest appearances by Romeo Santos, Eladio, Sean Paul, Young Miko and Feid, among others.
The 10-12 March concerts were promoted by Move Concerts and Noah Assad, who also manages Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny.
“Puerto Rico has been selling out consistently and shows no sign of slowing down”
“Puerto Rico has been selling out consistently and shows no sign of slowing down,” Move boss Phil Rodriguez told IQ last year. “We co-promoted with Noah Assad three sold-out dates at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico [cap. 18,500] with Bad Bunny in San Juan that paralysed the island as the show was streamed live to 13 municipalities for free. It is estimated over 500,000 people saw the show between the Coliseo and the free transmissions.”
Move Concerts is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru, as well as Puerto Rico, the source of much of the current Latin music explosion.
“Our office in Puerto Rico is killing it,” said Rodriguez. “We sold out two arenas there with Karol G – over 24,000 tickets. We easily could have done two more arena dates there.”
Bad Bunny has been the most streamed artist on Spotify globally in each of the last three years
Bad Bunny usurped Ed Sheeran in 2022 as the highest-grossing touring artist in a calendar year. The rapper generated $435,388,660 for 81 shows in 2022, according to Pollstar data, surpassing the $432.4 million box office takings of Sheeran’s 94 ÷ tour dates in 2018.
Bad Bunny has been the most streamed artist on Spotify globally in each of the last three years, while fellow Puerto Rican acts Rauw Alejandro and Ozuna are also making huge strides internationally.
Puerto Rico’s Coca-Cola Music Hall, meanwhile, reported a total attendance of more than 165,000 people during its first 12 months of operation. Since its opening in August 2021, the 4,200-cap venue in San Juan has hosted 59 concerts and 43 private events by artists such as Ednita Nazario, Caramelos de Cianuro, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Stryper, Jesse & Joy and Louis Tomlinson, among others.
Revisit IQ Magazine‘s full 2022 feature exploring the growth of the Latin American touring market here.
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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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Latin music execs share bullish 2023 forecasts
A handful of Latin music executives have shared their 2023 forecasts, off the back of a seminal year for both the market and its homegrown stars.
“Latin America has seen historic record-breaking ticket sales in 2022,” Bruce Moran, president of Latin America at Live Nation, tells IQ.
“Coldplay alone has set sales records in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, and Argentina. The pace of sales, the number of shows and the multiple-show engagement have never ever been seen before in the region. The success of the concert industry in Latin America has been unprecedented, spectacular and, for me, career-affirming.”
Moran says only time will tell if 2023 will exceed the stratospheric success of 2022, but he’s certain it’ll be another fantastic year for the Latin American business.
“Live Nation Latin America is poised already to have a strong 2023,” he says. “The unfortunate postponement of Coldplay’s 2022 sold-out Brazil run unexpectedly resulted in significantly greater sales for the rescheduled dates in 2023, as we moved into a larger Sao Paulo venue due to availability and also to the addition of two Curitiba sellouts to the run.
“The pace of sales, the number of shows and the multiple-show engagement have never ever been seen before in the region”
“In addition to the Backstreet Boys, Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Motley Crue/Def Leppard all confirmed and on sale, we are poised to add a whole host of other events to the 2023 concert calendar.”
Move Concerts CEO Phil Rodriguez, meanwhile, is bullish about the continued growth of the market and the genre in 2023, adding: “Without a doubt, this genre is here to stay and grow and expand, just like hip-hop did.
“We will be announcing various tours for 2023 within the next month but so far what we have on sale is doing great – we just went up with Jack Johnson dates in Brazil for January and it is selling stronger than the last time in 2017. In Puerto Rico, we have seven arena dates sold out with Arcangel plus two sold-out stadium shows at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium with Karol G.”
Both Rodriguez and Moran recently told IQ that Karol G would be Latin America’s next superstar, soon after her recent $trip Love outing became the highest-grossing US tour by a female Latin act in history.
Star artists, such as Karol G, will largely dictate Latam’s growth in 2023, according to Carlos Geniso of Chilean promoter DG Medios.
“Without a doubt, this genre is here to stay and grow and expand, just like hip-hop did”
“The market is in constant growth, sometimes at a moderate pace and at other times, depending on the impact generated by the artist, it can be much higher,” he tells IQ. “If an artist launches a hit, they will have a great impact in the media and great rotation on digital platforms. Then a tour and press actions can be added, therefore the growth will go up even faster.”
Geniso has also reported strong ticket sales for 2023 concerts from the likes of Imagine Dragons, Def Leopard, Motley Crue, Big Time Rush and Backstreet Boys.
The latter will perform in February at the Sausalito Stadium in Viña del Mar, a city northwest of Santiago, which Geniso says “promotes the decentralisation of concerts in the Chilean capital, where all major events are held”.
Live Nation’s Moran also notes the opportunity to develop lesser-toured cities in Latin America, adding: “As our industry and as touring artists continue to recognise the wonder of the region and its audiences, we have more opportunities to expand the map.
“The longer an artist devotes to the Latin American region, the more cities we can include in a Latin American tour. Many touring artists in the recent past did not often venture to Belo Horizonte or Curitiba, Quito or Guatemala City or many other important sites that they do now. We are proud to work to bring more shows to more cities than ever before.”
Read more about Latin America’s rising stars and burgeoning touring market in IQ‘s recent market report.
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Latin music executives predict next superstar
Some of the biggest executives in the Latin music industry have shared their predictions for acts that will break through on an international level.
2022 has been a seminal year for Latin America’s homegrown superstars, led by trap reggaeton artist-come-global superstar, Bad Bunny.
With the Puerto Rican star paving the way for others, IQ asked Bruce Moran (Live Nation Latin America), Phil Rodriguez (Move Concerts) and Carlos Geniso (DG Medios) who might be following in his footsteps.
“The world is ready for a female reggaeton superstar, and in my personal opinion she might be Karol G,” Bruce Moran, president of Latin America at Live Nation, tells IQ.
“Although she is known for her work in reggaeton and trap, she does perform in other genres like sertaneja and more. Her live shows are the stuff of current legend. We think Karol G may be “the next (really) big thing.”
“The world is ready for a female reggaeton superstar, and in my personal opinion she might be Karol G”
Just yesterday (9 October), Karol G’s live legacy was immortalised after her recent $trip Love outing became the highest-grossing US tour by a female Latin act in history.
The Colombian singer-songwriter grossed US$69.9 million across 33 arena shows in North America, during September and October, according to Billboard‘s Boxscore.
The 31-year-old, whose real name is Carolina Giraldo Navarro, is represented worldwide by Jbeau Lewis and Ryan Soroka at UTA, and managed by Noah Assad who also looks after Bad Bunny.
Karol G is also the name on Phil Rodriguez’s lips, who says: “Great talent, top line management. On her next tour she will be moving up to stadium level in various markets.”
The Move Concerts CEO also gave an honourable mention to “other new artists bubbling up such as Tiago PZK, Quevedo [20-year-old Spanish rapper], Eladio Carrion [27-year-old, Grammy Award-nominated American-Puerto Rican rapper] and others that are establishing themselves at arena level such as Rauw Alejandro [29-year-old Puerto Rican singer]”.
Earlier this year, Rodriguez discussed Tiago PZK’s burgeoning career with IQ, saying tickets to see the 21-year-old Argentine rapper and singer were flying off the shelf.
“We went on sale with an arena in Buenos Aires, we sold out in a half hour”
“We went on sale with an arena in Buenos Aires, we sold out in a half hour,” said Rodriguez. “We had to announce a second date, sold that out, too. His debut album hasn’t even dropped, but he’s amazing live and we want to build on that.”
Tiago is now part-way through his 37-date Portales tour – his first-ever – which comprises a mix of arena dates in Latin America, as well as clubs in Spain, England and the US.
The rising star signed to Warner Music Latina earlier this year via a partnership with Rodriguez’s Grand Move Records label.
The Move Concerts boss manages Tiago, while Agustina Cabo, one of IQ’s 2022 New Bosses, is his personal and tour manager.
While Rodriguez and Moran are betting on younger and newer artists to break through, Carlos Geniso of Chilean promoter DG Medios is hedging his bets with more established artists.
“There are many Latin artists who will be presenting new material next year and who will be touring again with world tours,” he tells IQ. “For example, Alejandro Sanz and Pablo Alborán are always a hit in Chile and sell-out venues. They have a loyal fan base that always follows them, and they are very well-liked.
“Another very important artist is Fito Paez, who is celebrating 30 years of his most successful album “El amor después del amor” – a milestone for rock music in Spanish. In addition, urban artists are in a spectacular moment for their rising careers, and I think that’s where we have to put the eye.”
Sanz, a Spanish musician, singer and composer, has already won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards, while fellow Spaniard singer-songwriter Pablo Alborán has got five studio albums under his belt. Fito Páez, meanwhile, is a 59-year-old Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, singer-songwriter and film director.
Read more about Latin America’s rising stars and burgeoning touring market in IQ‘s recent market report.
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