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Building
bridges or barriers?
16 June
2007
The New York Times
published an article last month that gives a partial picture of the
developing scene in Mexico. It is perhaps the most significant step so far
towards raising awareness internationally about the growing diversity and
depth of new music here.
The article is interesting
in many aspects including the fact that the proposals from Noiselab and Nuevo Ricos dominate the
piece. It is disappointing that the author, Josh Kun, does not feel the
need to investigate the connections that exist between the parties
presented.
Noiselab and Nuevos Ricos
have a long history of interaction with Sonido Laser Drakar (Emilio
Acevedo + Danette Newcomb,
2 of NR's core players) present in the
compilations released by Noiselab when its tastes where far more electronic
than Indie in 2002 and 2003, and it have just made a full release through
the label.
The thing that ties all
the parties together is EMI, strange given the representation of the two
labels as independent entities. Camilo Lara works as an artist with
Noiselab in the form of IMS and also is the new Managing Director of EMI
Mexico. The label acts as a distributor of material for both Noiselab and
Nuevos Ricos, this should really have whetted the appetite of the Professor
from the University of Southern California.
Can these labels remain
truly independent when this kind of close interaction is going on? Or more
to the point what the hell does independent mean anymore??
Noiselab in particular
needs to be careful of the way in which it does business with the majors.
Its strategic strength and image comes from the fact that it is the only
option for the world’s independents who want to distribute in Mexico.
An amazing back catalogue
is of little practical use where the challenges of piracy and physical
distribution make extracting profit from CD sales unlikely. However the
situation for Noiselab would be somewhat worse is Independents deal directly
with the majors as Domino Records have done with the Artic Monkeys latest
album in North America distributed through Warner Music.
The bottom line is labels
are labels and business is business. The word independent is of little or no
significance in the context of the modern music industry, especially in
Mexico.
There are many
oversimplifications and misinterpretations within the piece which may be put
down to the constraints of space and perhaps some over zealous editing. The
suggestion of NAFTA has the genesis of indie rock in English is highly
questionable.
The geographical closeness
of the two nations has meant that there has always been media spill over
from the States to Mexico in terms of popular culture. It is the movement
of people between the two nations that is the key interaction in terms of
sharing contemporary culture and language, a commodity not included in the
Free Trade agreement.
NAFTA has perhaps acted as
an accelerant by introducing technology and skills in the north of the
country. In terms of freedom of expression and outward orientation the Peso
crisis in 1994 was probably of greater significance in that it weakened
the political capital of the PRI resulting in the first change of ruling party in 70 years
in between the 1997 and the 2000 elections.
Myspace is celebrated as
the spark which set off the scene. In many ways Mexico is still making a
transition to using the internet as a medium of communication and diffusion
of information, by 2006 only 20% of the population has regular access online
and still acts as a restraint on the growth. It was perhaps the
introduction of radio stations such as Radio Activa and Orbita during the
1990s that really started to get people tuning in to indie rock and its
alternatives in both English and Spanish although much of their energy has
been lost as they merged into Reactor 105.7fm in 2002.
Myspace is growing in
influence but is also losing effectiveness due to commercial intervention
and spamming. There are many other alternatives available and the long term
dominance of myspace is by no means certain.
In an interesting piece in
May’s Chilango Magazine the writer focuses on how the launch of myspace
Mexico in conjunction with a compilation CD highlights how EMI has taken
control of the medium. Although there is a reasonable selection of talent
presented there is little risk or imagination. Noiselab, Nuevos Ricos and
of course EMI are all strongly represented with the latter obviously having
enough say to make sure Los Bunkers from Chile were given an honorary
myspace Mexico passport.
Online the myspace Mexico
music homepage continually presents major label talent with a small
selection of others that are already receiving media support. The grip of
the “inner chamber” has tightened around a medium which was supposed to
provide true independence and choice in music.
Perhaps the most
misleading inclusion is the fact that Josh talks of Reactor 105.7, managed
by Camilo Lara’s brother Marcelo, as a station focused on domestic
independent music. This is strange given that only a fraction of their
airtime is given over to it, usually in the form of Noiselab or Nuevos Ricos
acts. Surely all Josh had to do was turn on and tune in to find out. The
station seems far more concerned with the requirements of sponsors that
“supplement” the central funding rather than acting in the public interest
as every state provided service should do.
Rulo, the self proclaimed
“John Peel of Mexican music”, needs to consider carefully the gap between
his rhetoric and reality or else there maybe a case for pointing out “the
emperor’s new clothes”. The “taste maker” implications of the writer’s
initial angle seem far more accurate than Rulo’s suggestion that they
respond to popular demand, although one and the other are of course
impossible to separate. Through providing “all the alternatives” they leave
people with the perception that there is no alternative, certainly in the
music meltingpot of Mexico City.
The article, which must be
regarded as a public relations exercise, is very positive and helps to build
bridges between the developing scene and the lucrative markets of the
US and hopefully Europe. However things must be representative and balanced
otherwise the long term outcomes cannot be positive for all the stakeholders
in Mexican music.
Original
Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/arts/music/13kun.html?pagewanted=3&ref=music
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