“We believe the association among people with common needs and beliefs is the best – and only- way to solve problems that affect many people, nowadays.” IME, Chile.
As long as we have been working around the creation, diffusion, and promotion of electronic music in South America, we have come to see that collective organization and support are vital aspects of making the most out of the talent found in the region. Creating opportunities, raising information, standing up for the workers’ rights, among other managing activities, allow the industry to become a solid one. Since new cooperation opportunities have been raised during the pandemic, we decided to look for unions and associations that support those who contribute to making the electronic music scene in the south of the globe grow steadier.
For instance, in Bolivia, the effects of the sanitary crisis motivated a virtual meeting among workers of the electronic scene, where collaboration strategies were discussed. Thanks to this, a union that backs up their work started taking shape, supporting, and making their work visible to government entities. The project was named “Asociación Nacional de Música Electrónica y Artes Digitales” (ANMEAD) (National Association of Electronic and Digital Arts) and has already started working.
Producer and DJ Nina Schatz – who participated in the event- tell us that in Bolivia, “we still don’t have a union organization as such, but we have gathered strength among a few who have been more active in the national scene and created this association (which is still growing). We are not legally established, but the management for this has already started.”
Among the objectives traced by the ANMEAD, we find the support of creation and diffusion of electronic music produced independently in Bolivia, protecting the intellectual property of the members of the association; offering information regarding opportunities and funding available; and generating more visibility around independent electronic music in society. These are only a few of the goals set up by the association, which you can read in its full length here.
“ANMEAD starts as a project I would like to develop in Bolivia to give an identity regarding quality, platform, and other varied ways of support to Bolivian artists,” Nicolás Quiroga tells us. He is co-founder of the HEARec record label and propeller of the initiative.
In Chile, on the other hand, this kind of project has advanced a few steps further. Since 2018 there is the Industria Musical Electrónica Independiente de Chile (IME) (Musical Industry of Independent Electronic Music in Chile), which has gathered up to 83 associates. Among these, we can find artists, producers, record labels, promoters, managers, and entrepreneurs, who offer a wide variety of phonograms, festivals, publishing opportunities, and projects related to independent electronic music all around the country. This project goes hand in hand with the slowly growing professionalization Chilean music is experimenting with today.
This union-like entity emerged to look out for the rights of people working in the national electronic scene, and also holds as one of its goals to promote the development of local electronic music as an active part of Chilean culture and identity.
“We believe the association among people with common needs and beliefs is the best – and only- way to solve problems that affect many people, nowadays. When IME started, there was no work plan, no clear goals besides a few evident considerations such as defending our intellectual rights and making visible the lack of structures that permit our work to grow. Over time, the community has revealed its primary necessities, guiding a consistent and community-based work based on principles we respect every decision made: parity, equity, and transparency.” This is what Pía Sotomayor, IME’s Vice-President tells us.
“One of our major needs right now is to create alliances with other countries in the region, and we believe doing this with equivalent associations would be the best way to turn South America into a cultural pole which could compete with Europe or the USA. In this sense, we are more than willing and happy to contribute to the creation of these kinds of associations in other countries,” Pía concludes.
Currently, IME is in the process of recruiting new members. You can see more information regarding this, and write to them on their website.
One of the most important markets when it comes to the local scene is the Brazilian market. There, the pandemic has forced the organization of new spaces of collaboration for artists in the electronic scene. For example, this is how we find Rave Radar, a platform that aids artists who have seen a decline in their careers due to the cancellation of events. Rave Radar is an Instagram channel that has been promoting a lively agenda of artists streaming online from different parts of the country, along with sociopolitical talks and relevant information regarding labels and music collectives.
Amanda Mussi, artist, and member or this project, clarifies that there have been several attempts at an organization in the electronic music scene in Brazil. Still, they have not been consistent: “there is no organization that discusses, at a national or citywide level, the scene in general. I participated in a project that was supposed to aim in that direction in Sao Paulo, with the major and all. But from the beginning of 2020, they disappeared and never communicated with us again.”
“Right now, Brazil counts with no associations to help artists in the electronic scene,” Brazilian DJ Nikkatze adds. “It has been us, labels, and parties, who have adapted and used our own means to organize online events and raise funds.”
However, despite the lack of a union that supports artists working in the Brazilian electronic scene, the country has had a few organization attempts around the industry. Since 2009, the Brazil Music Conference (BRMC) takes place: an annual gathering of electronic music and entertainment in various cities around Brazil to contribute to the scene’s economic development. This initiative at least sheds some light on the direction of new opportunities for an organization.
Licio Schwantes, aka L_icio, is a Brazilian artist with a long trajectory, known all over the Latin American scene. He tells us they are generating space for the organization, but it has been challenging to develop something concrete.
“We have music and songwriter associations in Brazil (UBC, Abramus, among others). Nevertheless, specifically for electronic music, all we have are some groups that are getting organized to talk to the people involved in the scene, but nothing is settled. I believe that the traditional ways of association do not fit with the electronic music scenario, so I guess we first have to discuss the baselines that will support the collective discourse.”
In Colombia, something similar happens. The electronic scene’s organization and growth have been developing in the last decades, mainly through self-managed collectives such as Techsound, THC, or Nómada, among others. In the face of the situation in 2020, other collaborative spaces have been organized. One of these is “Fundación Cultura Electrónica” (Electronic Culture Foundation), which at its web site explains its mission is to give economic support to the people working in the electronic scene who have been affected by the COVID – 19 crisis.
However, the same as other countries in the region, the unions or associations in Colombia that aimed towards supporting the artists in the scene have not taken shape. DJ Hermano tells us that “there are no unions or associations that give help or support in his country. Recently, there has been talking regarding this subject, allowing for a more unified dialogue that helps identify what can be done to improve it.”
In the meantime, journalist Cristian Herrera, who has been working a long time in the animated Colombian electronic scene, explains that “in Colombia, electronic music is still related to certain niches, very self- managed. Here, the Government does not even consider the local clubs, so basically, everything happens because of our own doing.”
“Right now, there are two projects that are strongly supporting a communication and mutual support organization in the national electronic scene: ECO, which is from Bogotá, and NIVEL 4, from Barranquilla, Colombian Caribbean coast. Both projects have gathered different cultural managers, and personalities of the scene, by creating virtual conversations, workshops, and listening sessions. At the same time, they have been brave enough to manifest concrete political points of view, bringing up necessary talk to the circuit, as are diverse entities, decolonization, and decentralization,” he adds.
At the same time, Herrera states that “ECO was developed by the members of the feminist collective Pez Alado, which in my opinion, is the only collective in Colombia that has ventured bravely into the void of politicization of party spaces, mainly electronic music ones.”
These collective organization buds are also present in the electronic cultural scene in Ecuador. Ecuatorian DJ and producer Andrés Volta comment that today “several collectives are raising and supporting the scene. We find, for instance, Imsoniac, a tiny electronic music academy that produces events. There’s also Bassick, promotors that have made the largest events in Quito. Generally, many collectives in the cities have the most activity in the scene.”
The same happens in Argentina, with electronic labels and collectives that lead the scene worldwide, such as ZZK Records. However, as Damian Levensohn – Director of Radio REA- tells us, regarding unions, “there is nothing, and there have not been many attempts. Everything is extremely precarious for DJs and artists.”
It is this precariousness that motivated the electronic scene in Peru to get organized. Even though there is no union or association, “what is going on right now is a collaboration among all artists, collectives, labels, and digital media focused on electronic music. They support themselves and share everything regarding the local scene,” Alexandro Núñez, from PRVS Records, tells us.
“Alongside the CEO of the “Peruvian Sound” collective and “Lunario” digital magazine, which is the leading media sharing electronic culture today in a professional, organized and actual way, we started an association called CEP (Electronic Community of Peru). Its purpose is to gather, organize, and share the current events of electronic music culture in the country in the best way possible. The idea es to involve more collectives, digital media, record labels, producers, and DJs that wish to participate and promote their presentations and artistic productions (…) This spirit of collaboration, support among artists and the general public is seen in this space, that has as its primary goal to unite, register and share the Peruvian electronic music scene in its best way,” he comments.
To conclude, all of this, manifested by the South American scene, confirms that communication and union make a difference. There are no excuses. There is still a long way to go to solidify this kind of organization, diffusion, and support for those who nourish the electronic culture in Latin America. Our job (producers, artists, audience, technicians, and others related to the scene) makes this visible. To talk of its needs and opportunities, to gather, organize, and act. We must be capable of asking for help from private entities, the Government, brands, and other resource sources. To not stop.
Such as Pueblo Nuevo states: “Resistir y Permanecer” (“To resist and prevail”). It is necessary to educate people on the electronic scene to get interested, respect, and value what is done. We applaud those who have taken the step and organized themselves, contributing tremendously to the stage and culture, making self-management their best ally.
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