Big UP! Meet the Big Up! speakers 2023
ALBERTO ALFONSO
Founder and director of Art Music Agency, Alberto Alfonso belongs to that generation of young entrepreneurs who already have an extensive professional career. He currently manages the management/booking of Ilegales and José Ignacio Lapido. With a broad transversal vision of the sector, which ranges from festivals such as the Festival do Queixo, to cycles such as Acustiquísimos, it has been developing projects that sustain the cultural fabric of which we are a part. The persevering line of work and his exceptional concept of the industry, both artistically and socioeconomically, have been the foundation stones on which to consolidate his career. Quality and experience accumulated over almost a decade organizing top-level concerts such as Ludovico Einaudi, Kaiser Chiefs, Belle and Sebastian, Izal, Amaral, Melendi, Umberto Tozzi, Ska-p, etc.
ALEX MACIÁ
He began his musical studies at the age of nine at the professional conservatory of Elche and finished them at the age of twenty-six after finishing the music master's degree in Mannheim (Germany). While studying these classical studies, he became interested in the composition and production of video game soundtracks due to the passion he has had for them since he was a child. For this reason, he began to produce his own soundtracks, developing a portfolio until, in 2018, he was contacted by Alva Majo, a well-known YouTuber and video game developer, who allowed him to increasingly professionalize the work of composition and production to the point of make composition and production for video games your job. He currently works as a freelancer for different video game studios (majorariatto, Integron Universe, Guinxu, among others).
ALFONSO LÓPEZ
Since 2014, Director of FESTIVAL GIGANTE and Sideral Music, a production and management company. Manager of “LICHIS”, “IMBUSTEROS”, LA CABRA MECÁNICA” “MANU LAFÄM” and “TELETEXTO”. Developer and director of the Concertados.com ticket sales portal. He has been Director of the Guadalajara Music Week and has worked on the production of Festival Flamenco Pa'tos in Pekin (China) with the Gomaespuma Foundation. Furthermore, in his resume we can see that he has worked as a tour manager for Obus, Los Suaves, the German bands Halloween and Rage.
ALVARO OLTRA
Director of the General Society of Authors and Publishers in the Valencian Community and Region of Murcia. Professional with more than fifteen years of experience in the management of Intellectual Property rights. Graduate in Commercial Management and Marketing from the Business School (ESIC); MBA (Master in Business Management).
ANTONIO ALCARAZ
Founding partner and artistic director of Crash Music SL Responsible for the representation, management and booking of artists and the production of festivals. Artistic Director of Cooltural Fest – Music for All, B-SIDE Festival, Murmura Festival and Salinas Sound. Vice President of the Music for All Foundation.
CARLOS GALAN
Carlos Galan, CEO and founder of Subterfuge Records, the most relevant independent record company of the last 30 years. Names such as DOVER, FANGORIA, MARLANGO, LOS FRESONES REBELDES, NAJWAJEAN, LA LA LOVE YOU, LOS RONALDOS, MCENROE, NIÑA POLACA or ANNI B SWEET have passed through its catalogue. Precursor and promoter of the 360º strategy as a way of adapting to the new era by the music industry, his latest successful adventure is the podcasting platform SUBTERFUGE RADIO, which has become a benchmark for the format, and where the He himself presents the podcast SYMPATHY FOR THE MUSICAL INDUSTRY.
DANI FERNÁNDEZ
Dani Fernández has become one of the most important singers and authors of the moment. His songs are among the most broadcast in our country and many of them have become anthems for the public. With his second album, “Between doubts and chance”, Dani Fernández has established himself in the music scene, leading the official sales list in Spain, rising to N1 in the first week of its release and remaining on the chart for more than 70 weeks. list.
It has seven Platinum Records, more than 1.5 million listeners and its songs have more than 320 million views. Their latest tours have featured SOLD OUT on all dates. It has also been present at the main festivals in the country: Interstelar, Sonorama, O Son Do Camiño, PortAmerica, Granada Sound, Arenal Sound, Cruilla, Gigante, Jardín de las Delicias, Sónica or Vive Latino. He closed 2022 with “La noche del Plan Fatal”, his first concert at the Wizink Center in Madrid that became one of the most special nights for all his followers. During that year he also received important awards such as the Ondas Awards, Dial Award, Los 40 Music Award for "Best Artist of the Year", GQ Man of the Year and the MTV EMA nomination.
DANI FORÉS
Daniel Forés Mancebo has been leading Marilians Records since 2019. Before starting this journey, they founded Marilians Magazine, an online music magazine in which they covered current musical topics as well as concert chronicles and album reviews.
With the opening of Marilians Records he has tried to support and give visibility to the emerging scene and generate a community around music. In addition to selling vinyl, they do signings and presentations of records, as well as small acoustic records.
ELENA BARROSO
AIE Legal Advisor
She has a degree in Law and Political Science from the Carlos III University of Madrid, and has completed the Master's Degree in Intellectual Property, Industrial Property and New Technologies at the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Higher Course in Civil Procedural Practice from the ICAM. She is a temporary professor in the Master of Representation and Management of Artists and Athletes at the Pons Foundation and the Master of Intellectual Property at the Carlos III University. She is a practicing lawyer and member of the AIE Legal Department since June 2014.
EUGENIO GONZÁLEZ CREMADES
Eugenio González Cremades (Murcia, 1980). Linked to communication and cultural management since university days. Since 2004 he has been working at festivals such as La Mar de Músicas and Cartagena Jazz; festivals that it has been programming since 2019. It has also carried out the communication of other events and cultural institutions such as the Manifesta art biennial, the Fotoencuentros photography festival, the MuDanzas contemporary dance festival, the Víctor Villegas Auditorium, the El Batel Auditorium, the Nuevo Circus Theater
FRAN VAQUER
Technology director and co-founder of deepsense, a company specialized in the development of AI products and projects for the tourism sector. Technology consultant for Segittur's Intelligent Destination Platform. Graduated in Industrial Electronic Engineering from the University of Valencia with an Extraordinary Award for best record. Master in Big Data Analytics from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Master in Advanced and Applied Artificial Intelligence from the University of Valencia. For five years he has been responsible for the data area of a Valencian SME in the industrial sector, managing, defining and developing analytics projects.
advanced data. Additionally, he is co-author of the book Artificial Intelligence. Use cases with Deep Learning published by the Ra-Ma Publishing Group (ISBN 978-84-18971-72-3), as well as a professor of different master's degrees in Data Science, Data Engineering and Artificial Intelligence, both in Universities and private schools .
FRANCHEJO BLÁZQUEZ
Franchejo Blázquez, graduate in Advertising and PR + Business Administration and Management. Specialized in Protocol and Comprehensive Organization of Events. In 2011 he began his communication skills in Must Magazine, the first digital magazine in Spain focused on the cultural field, where he interviewed renowned music, film and television professionals. He is currently deputy director and in charge of the brand partnerships and marketing areas of Must Producciones, an artist management agency. He is currently working on the careers of artists such as Edurne, Dani Fernández or NIA, and has collaborated in the launch and positioning of artists such as AURYN, Sweet California, Belén Aguilera or Lola Indigo.
Coinciding with the COVID crisis, he developed the pioneering “Yo me quedo en casa festival”, the first online, free and non-profit festival, for 4 weekends and more than 100 hours of concerts. He is also a teacher of the subjects "Fundamentals of Music Business" and "Musical Culture" in the artistic training of the Jukebox school.
FERNANDO GARAYOA
Journalist at Diario de Noticias de Navarra, in the Culture section, director for 15 years of El Camaleón, a supplement specialized in music and cinema and collaborator in Maneras de vivir (digital), Mondo Soniro and Rock Estado. He is co-author of the biography of the group Barricada, 'Electrikaos'.
For two years he has been the coordinator of the Navarra Music Commission, the public music office in Navarra, in charge of developing, launching and managing the Navarra Live Music project, for the promotion and promotion of the Navarra music industry, as well as from the digital atlas of Navarrese music. In 2014 he received the Teobaldos Award for the best journalistic work promoting Navarrese culture. Concert programming advisor for spaces such as Subsuelo, La Carbonera or Akelarre and for festivals such as Tres Sesenta, Con dos cogollos, Balconsito, Arrikurock or Villa de San Adrián.
GEMA SANCHEZ
Since 1998, he has coordinated the live music circuit AIEnruta Artistas. Organized by AIE to support the emerging music scene, through cultural exchange between autonomous communities and consolidate a stable circuit in winter, of small and medium capacity venues. The final objective is, on the one hand, to support artists and bands to disseminate their proposals and, on the other, to promote programming in spaces where they can exhibit them, contributing to promoting live music.
In addition, it manages international exchanges, thanks to collaboration agreements with the Cervantes Institute and AECID and its participation in the Sounds From Spain platform.
GERMÁN QUIMASÓ
Director and founder of Sonde 3 Producciones in 2001. Spanish management, booking and production company for international tours with offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Santiago de Chile. He represents Álvaro de Luna, La Pegatina, Macaco, Muerdo and Rayden, among other artists, and has produced European tours for Bunbury, Calamaro, Conozando Russia, Devendra Banhart, Goran Bregovic, Residente and Youssou N'Dour.
Sonde 3 Producciones is also dedicated to the production and artistic direction of festivals, they are owners of the Río Babel Festival in Madrid and the SanSan Festival in Benicàssim, Valencian Community. They are also responsible for artist direction and are promoters of the Pirineos Sur Festival in Lanuza, Aragón and the SonRías Baixas Festival in Bueu, Galicia.
Director and founder of Calaverita Records in 2017. Independent record label that in these first years has already released albums by more than 30 artists, 30s40s50s, DePedro, La Pegatina, Tanxugueiras, Travis Birds,…
GERONIMO MARSICO
Gerónimo Marsico is an artist and entrepreneur who, since he was 16, has created companies seeking to support other artists so that they can earn and make a living from what they are passionate about: Music. He presents “Monetize your audience with AI without leaving the sofa” tools to make money and get the most out of a fan base through artificial intelligence
GONZALO TAFALLA
Founder in 2012 of the store and record label Discos Bora-Bora de Granada. Musical selector at festivals such as FIB (Benicàssim), Sonorama (Arande de Duero), Esmorga (Lugo), Bella Fest (Marbella), Pulpop (Roquetas de Mar), Vida Festival (Vilanova i la Geltrú), Granada Sound, Canela Party ( Málaga), Santander Music, Oh See! Festival (Málaga), Monkey Week (Seville), Monkey Weekend (El Puerto de Santa María), among others, also outside Spain such as Bogotá (Colombia), Edinburgh (Scotland), Antwerp (Belgium, London (UK)… He has participated in several panels on music and record stores such as the one at the BIME festival in Bogotá (Colombia) in its 2023 edition.
He has worked as a booker and manager. Different Spanish and international media have recognized Discos Bora-Bora as one of the emblematic disco stores in Spain. As a label they already have more than 20 titles in their catalogue. They are an active part of RSD Spain, developing releases and activities around it.
GUILLE SOLANO
Coordinator of the “Grabaciones Vistabella” label, music producer and artist, Guille Solano, is a young but restless musician from Cartagena who has been editing music since 2019, combining his work as a musician with other facets within the world of production, mixing, etc. After a first demo, Guille Solano became part of the collective Grabaciones Vistabella and released 'Horóscopo', a collection of 4 songs that already contains one of the capital songs of his repertoire: 'Es por ti'. In 2022 he published 'Cosas son Cosas', the artist's first full-length album. After a few years developing the distribution work of Grabaciones Vistabella, Guille became part of the label's coordination.
In addition, the Cartagena native has been a producer and mixer for different musicians in the collective such as Ana Cano, Caries, Perdón or Musubi. In 2023 Guille recovered songs from the first demo, as well as the aforementioned 'Es Por Ti', and re-recorded them in an electric key, making his drive for new sounds and musical and stylistic experimentation very clear. This search and contact with new sounds and styles will soon culminate in new music, but released under a new project, Sistema Nervooso.
JAVIER GARCIA
Javier García began his career in 1987 working as a Production Assistant at Doctor Music and later at The Project in international concerts, and after passing through the Barcelona City Council Production Team (IMBE), in 1990 he founded Music Bus, at that time specialized in Tecno Sound Barcelona, and later, co-founder of Music Bus Records and the music publisher Music Creativos Publishing. He has been Head of Production of Tours and events for Los Rebeldes, La Frontera, Javier Vargas, Paul Carrack, La Fura del Baus, Mojinos Escozíos, and Fundación Toni Manero, etc... In 2021 he works as A & R for Escena Music Records and is in charge of the Porcausadela Publishing Editorial. He currently works as a teacher teaching modules and courses on Music Business and Live Music Production at SAE, ESMUC. MÚSCS WORKSHOP, Postgraduate degree on the Musical Industry at IL3 UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA, etc…
JAVIER LORBADA
Javier Lorbada is an expert in Communication. As a freelancer, he has been coordinating Digital Communication and online campaigns for artists, brands, events, exhibitions and festivals for years, and makes official playlists for streaming platforms. He also acts as Streaming Manager and Digital Sales Manager for different releases and independent labels, as he is a recognized expert in musical Pitching.
Graduated in Image and Sound from the Faculty of Information Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid, he directed the television channel Sol Música for 17 years for Spain and Portugal. As a music journalist, he has collaborated with La Vanguardia, El Mundo and Diario 16, conducting interviews with Madonna, Lou Reed, Shakira, Cher, Janet Jackson and Leonard Cohen, as well as many other Spanish and Latin singers. During 2019 he was the Communication and Public Relations Coordinator of Alejandro Sanz's international #LAGIRA. As a professor and speaker in Communication, he has been collaborating for a long time in different courses, master's degrees, fairs and conferences, and has always stood out for his special interest in the search for new musical talents.
JAVIER MONTERO
Javier Montero is A&R at Universal Music Spain. He studied Law and Business Administration at the Carlos III University of Madrid and has been linked to the artistic department of Universal since 2017. An inveterate music lover and collector, since he was a teenager he formed bands to play in high school and in recent times he has been bassist for artists such as Susana Cala , Liz Forte or La Juventud. He is a promoter of an electronic music collective in Madrid and has played as a DJ in different venues in Madrid such as Siroco, Café La Palma or Moroder. She currently works with artists such as Amaia, Samuraï, Paula Koops, Candela Gómez and Judit Neddermann and is in charge of developing the creative direction of these projects.
JOAQUÍN MARTÍNEZ SILVA
Director of EsmerArte Industrias Creativas (record label, management, booking, audiovisual, publishing) with offices in Vigo, Madrid and Mexico City. Director of Casa PortAmerica in CDMX (Mexico). Artist manager (Xoel Lopez, Vetusta Morla, Carlos Sadness, Marilia Monzón, Pablo Lesuit, Furious Monkey House, Flecha Valona, etc.). Promoter and director of the PortAmerica, PortAmerica México, O Son do Camiño, Río Verbena, Ferve, etc. festivals. Programmer and Partner of The Chocolate Factory – Concert Hall – Vigo.
Audiovisual producer of several films: Cooking at the End of the World, That Damned Happiness, The Refuge of the Musicians, Me, Chef, Hunger for Experiences and Follow Your Instinct.
JUAN CARLOS RUÍZ
CTO Safety Global and Tickets within your Reach
KUVE
KUVE is a singer, songwriter and producer born in Murcia. Music has flowed through her veins since she was born and she already knew from a very young age that she wanted to dedicate herself to music. KUVE combines her career as a musician and composer with that of producer in the 'Arde el arte' recording studio with Raúl de Lara, where she is in charge of vocal direction and production of pop albums. With three works on the market, KUVE has toured a large part of the venues and festivals in Spain and has just released the most important electronic pop album of his career titled “NO DRAMA”, of which he has already shown five previews since January 2023.
LAURA PIÑERO
Laura Piñero (Cartagena, 1985). He has been a journalist for Cadena Ser since 2009, a medium for which he signs social and cultural content at the national level. Editor of La Ventana and head of its music section where she also produces reports on the music industry. He has created and presented spaces such as Escenario Gran Vía 32, Abrovilo and CartaGrafías -stories by correspondence-, which continues today. He collaborates with the cultural program La Hora Extra and with El País+. In parallel, she is a communications advisor for festivals, a presenter of events, podcasts, audiobooks and has reviewed countless albums or songs for initiatives such as Malditos Domingos -El País Semanal-. It went through Agencia EFE, Europa Press and Rolling Stone. She is the author of the book Those Accidental Years. DRO, the independent record label that changed everything -Editorial Cúpula (Planeta)-.
MARÍA PELLICER
María Pellicer is director of EO! MÚSICA, a company dedicated to managing the careers of EL KANKA, MR. KILOMBO, EL JOSE, CARMEN BOZA, VÍCTOR MARTÍN AND EL PAU. He has worked at RLM, with artists of the stature of Rozalén, Francisca Valenzuela and David de María. In 2015 he began his full dedication to El Kanka's career, and to its development both in Spain and Latin America. Since 2017 he has worked with a wide roster of artists, turning EO! Music in one of the leading offices in independent music that encompasses all areas of the artists' careers "Management, Booking, Promotion, Production, Record Label and Editorial".
MARIO BALLESTER MUÑOZ
At the end of 2021, the Valencian guitarist musician in Calivvla and in L´Últim Europeu, Mario Ballester, decides to leave his usual job to direct one of Valencia's cultural icons, Discos Oldies, with three friends. As he says, “the risk with the least risk and the best decision I could have made.” It's not just a record store, they organize presentations, listening parties, talks, showcases... And also festivals. In February they organized the First Oldies Discos Festival and the second will take place on November 4.
MAX DODINET
Passionate about music, expert in music marketing in the digital environment with more than 15 years of experience in the cultural industry. Leading the Digital Marketing team at Sony Music Spain since 2017, he has participated in the development of digital audiences for artists such as Rosalía, Estopa, Dani Martín, Vetusta Morla, Arde Bogotá, and a long list of recording projects of very different genres and targets. . Before his time at Sony Music that began in 2015, he directed My Major Company for 3 years, a Crowdfunding platform promoted by Grupo Prisa.
SANDRA SABATER
With guitar studies at the Mestre Gomis Conservatory in Novelda and a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Complutense University of Madrid, Sandra Sabater has worked at Globomedia (Media Pro Studios) serving as Community Manager and digital creative in projects such as Zapeando, El Ministerio del Tiempo , Soy Vivo, etc...He has been a guitarist in Jordana B and Niña Polaca, a group with which they won the Pop Eye award for best new group of 2022.
She is currently focused on Ginebras, a project with which she has toured throughout Spain, touring venues and playing on the main stages of numerous festivals, which she combines with her solo project, Grasias. With Ginebras they are achieving great milestones, and just to mention a few, the award for Best Pop Album in 2021 at the MIN Awards with their first album, Ya will sleep when I die, they have recorded at the Abbey Road studios in London, they have presented their music in Mexico, and very soon they will be the first band made up entirely of women to give a show as a main artist at the Wizink Center in Madrid.
