Spain Focus Index Page

Local Expertise, Worldwide Clout: A Chat With The Team Of Live Nation Spain

Live Nation has been operational in Spain since 2007, when it acquired Gamerco, the business of Spanish veteran promoter Gay Mercader. Pollstar reached out to the whole – Pino Sagliocco, Chairman, Robert Grima, President & Head Promoter, Chen Castaño, Managing Director at Planet Events, and Barnaby Harrod, head promoter at Mercury Wheels – to find out, how business is done in Spain, and how the recovery of the country’s live sector is coming along.

‘When Touring Was Off The Table, We Focused On Growing Brands’: Q’s With Narcis Rebollo, President Universal Music Spain & Portugal & GTS

Pollstar reached out to Narcis Rebollo, president Universal Music Spain & Portugal as well as of GTS, a management company that represents more than 30 artists, who are provided with a range of services focusing mainly on strategy and musical career guidance in partnership with their record company, which is usually Universal Music, of which GTS is a subsidiary.

‘The Audience Has Shown A Great Desire To Come Back’: Q’s With Clipper’s Music Group’s Juli Guiu Marquina

Clipper’s Music Group is a leading independent music company in Spain. Founded in 1952 in Barcelona, the third-generation family business is chaired by Juli Guiu Marquina. The group deals in publishing, management, label services and live. Pollstar spoke with Marquina about the state of business in Spain in general, and at Clipper’s Music Group in particular.

‘Cooperation & Competition Are Essential’: Q’s With Carme Lanuza, Director Palau Sant Jordi

Carme Lanuza is the director of the Palau Sant Jordi, as well as Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium, the legacy of the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. She also manages the Parc del Fòrum venues, which host international events such as the Primavera Sound festival. Pollstar reached out to Lanuza to get a feel for the venue circuit in Spain, and what role buildings play now that pan-European touring is picking up pace again.

‘Venues Dynamize The Offer’: Q’s With Manuel Saucedo, GM WiZink Center Madrid

Madrid is Spain’s buzzing center of all thins live entertainment, and WiZink Center has a role to play in that. The 17,400-capacity building came out on top on Pollstar’s venue chart for Spain in 2022, and regularly takes on leading positions in our worldwide rankings as well. For this week’s feature on Spain, we caught up with Manuel Saucedo, the general manager of WiZink Center, to ask him why he thinks, why Madrid has been the market to recover fastest from the pandemic, what its role is in helping the live biz back on track, and more.

‘We Never Stopped’: RLM’s Rosa Lagarrigue & Yann Barbot Marín On The Post-Pandemic Transition

RLM was founded in 1984 as an artist management company representing superstar such as Mecano, Miguel Bosé and La Union. Since its beginnings, RLM was also a concert promoter for international artists such as Mana, Juan Luis Guerra, Laura Pausini, to name a few. In 1999 the company’s CEO Rosa Lagarrigue, alongside the Prisa Media Group formed the promoting company Planet Events, which was recently sold to Live Nation. Pollstar reached out to Rosa Lagarrigue and booking director Yann Barbot Marín to talk shop.

Hitting The Limit: Riffmusic’s Chris Ortiz Is Busier Than Ever

Riff Producciones started life as the promoter of Spain’s renowned blues festival, Bluescazorla, now in its 27th year. Legends like Solomon Burke, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, and many more have performed there throughout its history. Today, Riff is one of the most successful independent promoters in the country, the list of international stars it has worked with includes Mark Knopfler, Roger Waters, Depeche Mode, Bob Dylan, Sting, ZZ Top, Rod Stewart, Lenny Kravitz, and more. Pollstar spoke with company president Chris Ortiz, who went deep into the reality of dealing with the post-pandemic glut.

‘Our People Are The Key’: Q’s With Proactiv Entertainment MD Nicolas Renna

Proactiv Entertainment was founded by Horacio Renna in 1987. Today, the business is run by his son, Nicolas, and promotes concerts, festivals, shows, and exhibitions across different regions in Spain. Proactiv leads Pollstar’s promoters ranking filtered by Spanish companies in 2022.

At the time of writing, Proactiv had just started a 25-city tour with Spanish star Malú, which will have been attended by way over 100,000 people, once the tour wraps at A Coruña’s Coliseum in September. Pollstar spoke with Nicolas Renna about the current state of business.