In one music industry governed by “likes”, subscribers and playback numbers, the record label Universal Music Mexico continues to have as its main challenge the Creation of artistic careers that transcend this dynamic of social networks, and remain in the public’s memory.
This is what he said in an interview with The Sun of Mexico, Alfredo Delgadillo he President and CEO of the record labelwhich has signed artists such as J Balvin, Alejandro Fernandez, Juan Luis Guerra, and Karol G.
This is what he said in an interview with El Sol de México, Alfredo Delgadillo the president and CEO of the company who has signed artists such as the rock group Tacvba Coffee, who has just released La bas (e), his first song in seven years; Aczinothe champion of rap rhymes in Latin America; Living Quintanaauthor of “Song without fear” that talks about feminicides in Mexico or Alejandro Fernandezthe most important regional Mexican singer in the country.
The challenge is not to find an artist, but to consolidate him beyond the numbers
Alfredo Delgadillo, President and CEO of Universal Music Mexico
“The important thing is who will follow the races, and in 20 years have that moment like a character like Alejandro Fernandez, Alejandro Sanz or Chayanne”.
The history of this record label has spanned 90 years. Its activities began in 1934, with figures such as the composer Irving Berlin and the rhythm and blues group The Platters, the Beach Boys and Jimmy Hendrix within its catalogue in its first decades of existence.
In Mexico, Universal Music is the product of the merger with Polygram in 1999 and EMI Music México in 2009, consolidating itself as one of the three most important record companies in the country, along with Warner Music and Sony Music.
Transmitting emotions, part of the equation of making music
Over the years, they have witnessed the evolution of music consumption, from 45 and 90 rpm vinyl, cassettes, CDs, vinyl again as a collector’s item and today digital platforms.
One of the most important aspects to take into account in the record industry Before adding an artist to your ranks, you need to see in them that ability to transmit emotions.
Alfredo Delgadillo He assures that the key is connect and be a magnet for the publicbut at the same time find in musicians that conviction and commitment to carry out all the activities that this profession entails.
“They will probably discover during the process that it is not necessarily what they are looking for, there are those who discover that they prefer to write or compose, they do not like that part of being overexposed. We look at that and at their work team, that is one of the things that we are recently starting to incorporate into our analysis,” reveals the executive.
Currently, the record label is made up of around 80 stampsamong which are Abbey Road Studios, Capitol, Decca, EMI, Imperial, Island, Mercury, Republic, Verbe and Virgin Music, with one of the most important catalogues: The Beatles, The Cure, INXS, Andrea Bocelli, Scorpions and in the Latin field Selena and Juan Gabrielamong the most important.
Why did nostalgia become a business?
The songs of the eighties and nineties are still current in the taste of the new generations, tours like 90’s Pop Tour, Two Amigos by Emmanuelle and Mijares; the reunions of Sin Bandera, OV7 and the next one from Timbirichethey talk about how the music of the past is more present than ever.
Alfredo Delgadillowho studied marketing, He shares two of the examples that are most significant to him in the current history of Universal Music.
Founded in the year 2000the Mexican group Belanova It remained current for eighteen years with six studio albums, although its peak was experienced before 2010, with hits such as “Pastel pink”, “I’m not going to die” and “Dance my heart.”
Despite not having new music, they returned strongly to the scene this 2024with a tour that took them to different cities in the country, and festivals Pa´l Norte, Vive Latino and Emblema. Also in terms of numbers, exceed eight million monthly listeners on Spotify alonethe most listened to digital music platform in the country.
There is a lot of nostalgia in the market
Alfredo Delgadillo, CEO of Universal Music Mexico
“It probably has to do with the fact that there aren’t necessarily many established artists today, so beyond the fact that you enjoy the music that exists today and that is spectacular, you hold on to what your family heard some time ago, and it is also that people know catalogues that they had no reference to,” he explained.
The return to the scene of this group is largely due to the constant requests of the fans. According to the executive, it was after the announcement of the 2000´s Pop Tour when they realized how much people missed them.
“Before that, we had already felt that there were certain concerns and we were constantly working on the catalogue to push, as we do with the rest of the material, to create campaigns and make it visible within the wide range that there is.
“Suddenly, this connection of nostalgia begins, much more focused, yes, to 2000 because they end up doing what they did, but there is an aspect, there is a vein that comes out of that restlessness and today they are doing a brutal tour,” he added.
Former Pxndx vocalist José Madero, is another example that comes to mind when talking about the figures that continue to connect with the public. After almost two decades at the head of the group, in 2016 He launched his solo career with the album “Crimson”, and since then he has forged a solo path that has led him to perform in venues such as the Mexico City Arena and the National Auditorium.
“It is rare that we can talk about artists who, having been part of a group, can transcend that success and become famous themselves, in the sense of communicating that message, Jose Madero has grown in a brutal way, especially in its impact on live performances.”
“For me, these types of artists have nothing to do with whether there is a moment in the market with more or less supply, but rather with maintaining their impact on the live scene over time, because they have already built many of the things that we are seeing them do today,” said Delgadillo.
Public creativity and the use of social media
Before, Radio and television set musical trendswere the ideal way to introduce new artists or the songs of those already established, but now they are social networks those that they charged a great relevance in this industry.
And according to data from the foundation Luminate Group, In the course of last year alone, an average of 1,000 were added. 103,500 songs a day. In this scenario, the process of making an album has changed, as planning is now focused on the artist’s needs.
Through the algorithms have the possibility of generate musical trendsand even rescue past hits. An example of this is the song “Pedro” by the Italian Raffaella Carràfamous in the eighties, and rescued in Tik Tok thanks to a raccoon video that dances to the rhythm of the song’s chorus.
The hashtag “Peter, Peter” add now 499.7 million posts on the platformand gave rise to Internet users remembering the deceased singer-songwriter. In this regard, Delgadillo stressed that “human beings are extremely creative, and the fact that technology brings you tools so that your creativity returns and impacts your ecosystem, is addictive.”
The executive added that nowadays people make songs their own through these contents, which is why they become key to positioning an artist, and even guaranteeing their permanence.
“It has to do with the project, with what you want, with the way and the artistic process that it requires. They are all unique, and in that respect I return to the example of Jose Madero“He makes albums, we tell him ‘hey, give more space to the songs’, and he talks about concepts in albums, that’s the way we support him, it’s the way to impact his fans.”
The new music consumers: who are they?
The executive explains that those figures aimed at a younger audience, as is the case of the group Picus childrenwho have been part of their catalog since November 2021 and currently have more than nine million followers on social media (8.5 on Tik Tok and 1.8 on Instagram)make a difference in terms of music consumption.
“He is a completely different artist, it is a process that leads us to singles, not because we don’t have an album, but because we are in a different facet,” he explains.
“We are with them building another type of factors aroundand we need that space between each song. The album is there, but people don’t know about it, because we ourselves, in the evolution of an artist, don’t know if the song we plan to release as number six will continue to make sense for the artist to keep in their repertoire. That speaks to the impact that artists leave on new generations.
We have very robust catalogs, it is up to us to make that person and the rest who are following that viral content see that that little piece of music is part of a great song.
Alfredo Delgadillo, CEO of Universal Music Mexico
“That’s the magical part that I see in this, the challenge of reaching out to those millions and millions of people who use this content to tell them, hey, yes, that’s all good, but here’s the full song of that part of the music that draws your attention so much,” he concluded.
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Looking ahead to the coming years, Alfredo Delgadillo He assures that the challenge of the label will continue to be the training of artists, so they will continue exploring the scene to find the figures of tomorrow.