Latin America and its invisible frontiers

By Enrique Blanc

Brazil has always had a prominent place in the Latin American music circuit. That is due to its musical production and the magic that characterizes the countless sounds and beats. However, the country is seen by the rest of Latin America as a walled territory not keen to establish a dialog with the rest of the continent. No one can disregard the vast amount of Brazilian composers. They have given the world movements and styles ranging from Bossa Nova to Mangue Beat and Tropicalism. A question always comes up when talking about Jobim, Elis, Caetano, Os Mutantes, Chico Science, Tribalistas, to mention just a few artists of global impact: Why is a country so passionate about music, little reliant on USA and British imports, so unenthusiastic about cultural exchange with the songs composed and sung in its neighboring nations?

When visiting Ibermúsicas website (ibermusicas.org), you will come across the phrase “Program for the promotion of Ibero-American music”. You will also read stories such as the following: “Brazilian singer and songwriter Ana Paula da Silva starts a tour that will take her to various places in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.” Or news such as: “The successful Brazilian group BaianaSystem will perform concerts in Spain and Portugal”, plus other stories.

Well, Brazilian artists must consider the possibilities that Ibermúsicas can offer for the development of their careers, particularly given the uncertainty created by the current Brazilian government. This is very important because many Latin American countries are keen on engaging in an exchange with Brazil. There is evidence of such interest in the networks already established within the music market, and which supports the circulation of artists throughout both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Latin America.

Strangely enough, Brazil inexplicably announced its intention claim to terminate its membership of the Southern Cultural Industries Market (Micsul), a platform for “knowledge, dissemination, promotion, circulation and commercialization” of the culture of southern Latin America. On the other hand, Brazil’s decided to stay within Ibermúsicas. This is the light at the end of the tunnel, on a path overshadowed by budget cuts in cultural projects and dogged by threats of censorship.

In the late 1980s, a musical phenomenon took place in Mexico and it changed the country’s cultural relationship with the rest of the region. The so-called “Mexican rock boom” emerged, with prominent acts such as Caifanes and Maldita Vecindad, and later Café Tacvba, Santa Sabina and Molotov, among others.

The heyday of a collection of songs that became radio hits (in public, university and even some commercial radios) was preceded by an initiative of RCA / Ariola, the multinational record company that published the “Rock en Tu Language” collection (“Rock in your language”, in Spanish) in 1987. It consisted of a series of records that allowed groups and artists such as the Spanish Radio Futura and Los Toreros Muertos and Argentines Miguel Mateos and Git to gain visibility and to circulate throughout Mexico. For the first time, the idea of ​​a common market across the continent was sown, at least in the rock world. For the very first time, music could come and go, accelerating past the Pan-American route and sailing on both sides of the Atlantic.

Since then, there has been some active exchange between the Spanish-speaking countries. This enabled the rise of artists such as Soda Stereo, Black Man, Aterciopelados, Babasónico, Bunbury, Stereo Pump and Mon Laferte.

In 1991, Brazilian band Paralamas do Sucesso, attracted by this adventure of continental dimensions, decided to translate their most popular songs into Spanish and to produce an album aimed at the Spanish-speaking market, which was released by EMI, their label at the time.

In this sense, Herbert Vianna sensed that, despite the distance between the Portuguese and the Spanish languages, something could be done to connect with audiences outside Brazil. The following year, the Paralamas - as they are known in Mexico - performed two tours and approached the Latin American rock circuit in a way no one had before.

The sparse cultural trade between Brazil and Latin America also includes pop figures such as Roberto Carlos and Nelson Ned; the sporadic collaborations between rock musicians, such as Fito Páez’s guest appearance in Titãs’ Unplugged album; the music that Rubén Albarrán from Café Tacvba recorded with Mundo Livre S/A; or duets between Julieta Venegas and Brazilian artists Marisa Monte, Otto and Lenine. But that’s about it (or little more than that).

The musical age that we are going through nowadays is characterized by the boom in the independent Ibero-American circuit, plus the networks emerging within it. This encourages the establishment of a new approach model, with greater possibilities for any member of the creative industry so that they - regardless of their origin - may venture into other scenarios. The band Francisco, El Hombre is one example of such. The Brazilian-Mexican quintet found a clever way to be present in several countries and to establish themselves as the new ambassadors of Brazilian music in Latin America. An initiative emulated by artists such as Ava Rocha and Curumin, which are also interested in learning about Spanish-speaking markets.

The circulation of Brazilian artists in the rest of Latin America is not simple, particularly given the characteristics of music markets such as Mexico and Argentina. In the former, the hegemony of Anglo-Saxonic music is rather visible, and the consumption of English-speaking artists is often higher than of the local talent, at least in certain areas. The latter, similarly to Brazil, has a very closed market in itself, in which homemade music prevails in all sorts of genres: rock, tango, pop, folklore, cumbia, alongside American and British music.

It is also important to note that Brazil has a region, particularly the Amazon, which shares some cultural traits with other countries, like Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela. The existence of indigenous peoples with their very own expression is one of them. Still, there are few efforts to encourage a more profound exchange.

It is also a well-known fact that the current Brazilian government tends to ignore the cultural exchange with other countries of the continent. This creates a lot of uncertainty. The musical connections that had been woven for many years represented an opportunity to nurture the spirit of cooperation established by Herbert Vianna. Brazil’s return to Ibermúsicas’ platform represents an option for the country’s artists to integrate with the rest of Latin America, at a challenging time within their home market.

The Internet creates a number of possibilities that make it easier for music projects to engage in internationalization: digital distribution - Latin America is the fastest growing world market in terms of digital music consumption - and the fruitful consequences of an effective social networking strategy.

Nowadays, it is important to consider the advantages that events such as SIM São Paulo in Brazil and other similar initiatives that experienced significant growth (such as FIMPro, in Guadalajara, Mexico; Circulart, in Medellin, Colombia; and Ime sur, in Santiago, Chile) offer in terms of professional networking and exchange. This undoubtedly represents a powerful tool for generating a two-way flow: from Spanish-speaking Latin America to Brazil and vice versa.