Bilbao is the most populous city in the Basque Country, the autonomous region located in the north of Spain. There, for ten years, it has been held annually BIME, an international meeting of the music industry that includes two large sections: Pro and Live. The first is made up of a series of presentations, workshops and business rounds aimed at market professionals: from managers and bookers, to press agents and visual artists meet at the Euskalduna Palace to exchange experiences, learn and question both the present and the future of the activity. As its name suggests, Live is made up of a large program of free showcases at 14 venues in the city.
In its tenth edition, which took place from October 26 to 29, BIME brought together more than 4,000 professionals and 70 artists who came from more than 50 countries.
Understand today to think about the future
“The fundamental thing is to have the sensitivity to help an artist to sound in the best possible way“, said Afo Green in “Sympathy for the music industry”, the panel presented by the homonymous podcast hosted by Carlos Galán during the first day of BIME. In the more than thirty years of his career, the Argentine producer has been able to reinvent himself to the paradigms of the industry and to the new forms of consumption; He currently serves as Chairman and CEO of LATAM, Spain and Portugal for Sony Music, one of the most influential multinational record companies in the Latin market.
The Colombian women Caroline Castile He wowed the audience of his masterclass “Optimizing music metadata for web 2.0 and web 3.0” and proposed a revolution. In tune with the idea that artists do not need record labels, he offered a step-by-step so that the metadata is correctly loaded and thus be able to take advantage of everything uploaded, not only in digital distributors. In addition to music, Castilla is the founder of Love My Robot, a company specializing in artificial intelligence, crypto art, and alternative ways of distributing music (thanks for sharing that Excel, Carolina).
Other panels on the first day of BIME were related to sustainability, mental health, copyright, and more. They didn’t forget anything.
Unlike last year, when the shows were concentrated in a festival-style event on the outskirts of Bilbao, BIME Live changed its proposal and scheduled its showcases in multiple venues. Of course, choosing what to see was a difficult task, but the new mechanics enabled a tour of the city streets and highlighted the music clubs that were so affected after the pandemic.
Some highlights of Wednesday’s programming were the Valencian Sandra Montfort in the Karola -stage curated by KEXP-, the also Spanish I bite on stage Crystal, and the Colombian Girl in Bilborock -one of the most curious venues: a 17th century church that today functions as a cultural center-. There was also an Argentine night: hypnotic Y The kissesboth on their first tour of Spain and winners of the International Development of INAMU, took their songs to the Sala BBK. In the morning, Buco Cantlón presented the different activities that differentiate the Institute that he presides over in a cocktail with alfajores and red wine. Argentina had its stand at BIMEwhere the vice president was also present Charo Bogarin.
Meanwhile, at Azkuna Zentroa, the festival awards, the only award in Spain for music festivals. In its ninth edition, Bilbao BBK Live won the award for “Best Large Format Festival”, PortAmerica to “Best Medium Format Festival”, and Botanical Nights for “Best Small Format Festival”. There were a total of 19 categories covering different aspects of the festivals: from “Festival with the best camping area” (Bilbao BBK Live) to “Best communication campaign” (Inverfest) and “Most sustainable festival” (Rototom Sunplash). Cosquín Rock won the award for “Best Festival in Latin America”. The full list of winners can be found on their official site.
First the music, then the numbers
The second day of BIME was marked by one of the most forceful phrases that have been heard in the lecture halls: “Talent is the most important thing, numbers are sought with a good strategy“. Rebecca LeonCEO of Lionfish and manager of Rosalia -among others-, spoke in his talk about how sometimes the musician’s main job is lost sight of, and ultimately his key to success: making good songs.
James Cruz was another of the highlights of the day, who contributed in his interview with Beatriz De La Pava his views on the development of projects -Cruz is a key figure in the success behind projects such as 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj, among others-. In a closer panorama for independent projects, there was the panel “An in-depth look at the independent music industry in Latin America”, where representatives of independent companies and local institutions from Spain (WIN), Argentina (S-Music), Chile (Chilemúsica) and Brazil (ABMI) shared the successes and failures of public policies in their territoriesand made clear the importance of having information on the consumption habits of independent music in order to plan actions.
From the opening day there was a room for the Speedmeetings, an appointment format to connect with colleagues and establish new links. Divided into segments according to the area (media, festivals, managers), the meetings took place through the BIME website or app and each one of them had a maximum duration of 7 minutes. Undoubtedly, for the side of the “seller” it was an exercise to train the pitching, having a limited time -including a clock on the wall- you have to go to the point and be clear about what you want to communicate about the project.
Wednesday’s live music started at 2:00 p.m. on the Karola stage with cosmic wacho and lasted well into the night with Ranky Ripper Y B2B Crescent in the Crystal. Some highlights were N.HardemColombian rapper who presented the songs on his album Greenery (2021); and the Chilean showcase that took place at night in Bilborock. With a very fine curatorship, the trans-Andean delegation that appeared there was made up of Chini.PNG, Children of the Hill (“Daniel”, theme included in his new album gentle slopeshines in the live show) and Gianluca, three projects that are going strong in the neighboring country and share potential for other markets. Also from Chile, but the next day, the unique project was presented ColdSlow with his reggaeton covers in a post-punk key (“La santa” by Bad Bunny was a highlight of his set).
There was also a movie. In this golden age of music documentaries, there were two premieres at BIME that will surely continue to tour festivals and movie theaters: Patti Smith, The poetry of punk Y Laurent Garnier: Off the Record. Filmmakers Anne Cutaia and Sophie Peyrard had the ambitious idea of telling the life of the author of so many emblematic punk and alternative rock records, while Gabin Rivoire embarked on telling the story of one of the fathers of house music.
In the evening, the prizes were awarded BIME Equity presented by Amazon Music. At a gala hosted by none other than The Forbiddenthe winners of the different shortlists of these awards were revealed, which focus on the work carried out by women and dissidence within the industry, in a commitment from BIME for equal opportunities.
Media: Curation versus Algorithm
The networking continued on the last day of BIME Pro and the agenda of presentations did not diminish. Argentina Albino Cabrera of KEXP moderated the panel “The role of audio-radio in the industry in 2022 and its near future” together with representatives of the BBC, Los 40 Colombia, Radionica and Prisa Media, who put on the table different projects in which they worked and that made a difference in the broadcastings of their respective countries. Curation versus the algorithm was another of the pillars of the talk, which was repeated in the panel “Music journalism in the era of #challenge”moderated by Tomás Mayo de Altafonte and with the participation of representatives of indie todayRadio 3 from Spain and Noise Press from Colombia, plus the journalist Esther Al-Athamna.
After a day with a few shows –Tiger and Diamond Y chilly shone in their respective sets at Karola-, BIME Live continued until Saturday 29 inclusive, with the long-awaited visit of The Punsets on stage Doña Casilda and Queralt Lahoz in the Indautxu Plaza, among other proposals.
When talking to residents of Bilbao about the history of the city, some common points appear. On the one hand, the so-called “Basque conflict”, the social and political crisis with armed clashes from the separatist movement that lasted for decades. And on the other, the inauguration in 1997 of the Guggengeim Bilbao, younger brother? from the New York Museum. This latest event put the Biscayan city on the global scene of contemporary art, completely transforming the dynamics of its rather quiet streets. And for ten years BIME, which is consolidated as the great meeting of the Ibero-American music industry.
Between talks and live shows, pinchos and cañas, meetings and workshops, BIME opened a new stage for music in this key city for the movement known as Basque radical rock, by highlighting the needs that arise today among the different actors of the industry in pursuit of thinking about the future. Since last year, the event has also been held in Bogotá, closing a circle that felt natural and necessary: the bridge between Latin American and European industries. The next edition of BIME will then be in the Colombian capital, from May 3 to 6, 2023.
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BIME celebrated its 10 years in Bilbao as a meeting point for the music industry