Afo Verde, responsible for Rosalía’s takeoff as an international artist. /
BIME will feature 4,500 music professionals and artists with Neneh Cherry at Euskalduna from October 26 to 29
The meeting of the musical industry in Bilbao returns, the BIME (Bilbao International Music Experience) in its professional variant, with people with a lot to say about how the business works when the tenth anniversary of the event is celebrated.
Top-level figures will attend, such as Afo Verde, president and CEO of Sony Music Latin-Iberia, and the person responsible for taking stars like Bad Bunny, Rosalía or Camilo to the top. And Rebeca León will also be there to tell about her experience as Rosalía’s manager.
Neneh Cherry, the unforgettable singer of ‘7 Seconds’ with Youssou N’Dour, will talk about why she chose autonomy in her career when global success smiled at her, and the pros and cons of her decision.
From October 26 to 29, BIME will bring together some 4,500 professionals from 1,500 companies from more than 50 countries at the Euskalduna Palace. A report by the investment bank Goldman Sachs calculates the growth of recorded music of 166% between 2017 and 2030, the year in which it will reach a turnover of 80,000 million dollars, according to these forecasts. The rise of live music would reach 46% with a total bill of 38,000 million dollars. With an increase of 106%, the sales of the property rights of the musical pieces would add 12,500 million dollars.
It is a business in which the large investment funds have already entered, buying the catalog of artists such as Bruce Springsteen for 442 million euros and that of Bob Dylan for 177 million, among many other artists.
But professional music exceeds the number of super millionaire figures, and thus BIME has also invited other figures such as Christine White, programmer of more than 500 jazz performances at the Heritage Festival in New Orleans; Jeff Rona, composer of soundtracks for films by Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg and Jonathan Demme, among many others; Rafa Sardina, originally from Bermeo, renowned producer based in Los Angeles and winner of 18 Grammy Awards; or James Cruz, heavyweight on the world rap scene.
65 concerts
The meeting will serve to strengthen professional ties with Latin America (the BIME Pro debuted at its headquarters in Bogotá last spring) and to promote equality in music through the BIME Equity awards, which begin their career this year. On October 26, the FEST awards will be held at Azkuna Zentroa, which highlight the best Spanish festivals and which this year opens a category dedicated to the Latin American continent.
In addition, BIME Live will program a total of 65 concerts between October 26 and 29. The poster will consist of performances in venues in Bilbao and by international bands on another stage that has not yet transpired.
The artists will come from countries such as Germany, Cuba, France, Colombia, Austria, the Netherlands, Argentina, Poland and Portugal, among others. At the concerts you can listen to a wide variety of musical styles, from rock to flamenco, rap, trap, reggaeton, reggae, folk, hardcore, hyperpop and electronic music.