Features
‘Made By Music Fans For Music Fans’: Festival Co-Director Alberto Guijarro On 20 Years Of Primavera Sound
Courtesy of Primavera Sound – Alberto Guijarro
One of the directors of Primavera Sound alongside Gabriel Ruiz, Pablo Soler and Alfonso Lanza.
Primavera Sound, one of Spain’s biggest festivals, turns 20 this year. The anniversary is celebrated with various spin-offs in Spain, Portugal and LA, where the first U.S. edition of Primavera Sound is set to premiere Sept. 19-20.
Pollstar reached out to Albert Guijarro, one of Primavera Sound’s co-directors, to talk about the festival’s history, present and future.
Pollstar: What was the first Primavera Sound like? Where did it take place and what was the vision?
Alberto Guijarro: The first edition was in 2001 in the Poble Español, a small walled town that reproduces the different architectures of Spain, a tourist attraction. Although the people of Barcelona consider it tacky, it perfectly fulfilled one of the main premises we were looking for in that it was comfortable, it was in the city and it could be reached by public transport.
We wanted to differentiate ourselves from camping festivals and we were looking for an urban profile where you could walk around without getting muddy, and eat with cutlery on the terrace of a restaurant.
Regarding musical styles at the first edition, our reference was the electronic club music scene and the alternative indie scene, two scenes in which we were totally immersed as we had been programming this at our club Apolo/Nitsa for years.
The first edition was a single day with three stages and an attendance of around 8,000 people, an incredibly expensive venture!
Sergio Albert – Erykah Badu
The singer preformed at Primavera Sound in Barcelona last year, May 30.
What were milestones along the way that took the event to the next level?
Despite the losses at the first edition for the second edition we set ourselves up as a company, we built a stronger program and had two days of festival, at which Pulp, Spiritualized, Tindersticks and Aphex Twin performed.
By 2004, we had managed to make the festival economically sustainable and we quickly outgrew the venue as the festival was growing exponentially with an attendance of 20,000 people per day that led to the change of venue in 2005 to the Parc del Forum, where it still takes place today.
From then on the growth has been gradual both in terms of capacity, number of stages, number of artists, etc.
When was the conference Primavera Pro added? How important has the conference bit become over the years?
Primavera Pro started in 2009 and came about in a very natural way when we perceived that many professionals in the music sector were using the festival as a place to make the most of meetings and to network.
From there, we began to build what Primavera Pro is today – with conferences, workshops and professional activities that promote networking and business.
At the same time, it has its own stages where together with music export offices from different countries we program artists with international appeal and give them the opportunity to play in front of over 3,000 accredited professionals. It is currently an important link for boosting business and relations between Europe and Latin America.
What makes Primavera Sound unique in your eyes?
There are two premises that have marked Primavera Sound. One is being an urban festival located in a friendly, attractive city, with good weather and with an attractive cultural and gastronomic offer that makes Barcelona the ideal place to combine hours of music at the festival and time to enjoy the city.
The second and most important reason is its musical programming that has always been done rigorously and passionately, evermore committed to musical diversity, taking on board new trends without forgetting the long-standing cult artists who have been and are iconic.
Primavera Sound is a festival made by music fans for music fans, and that is palpable in the atmosphere when you are in the Parc del Forum.
Sergio Albert – JPEGMAFIA
Feeling the crowd at Primavera Sound, where he performed on June 1, 2019.
What are challenges a festival promoter faces in 2020?
The increase in the artist fees is one of the biggest concerns of a festival, as over the last few years there has been an annual increase of 20%. You cannot reflect this increase in the price of the ticket each year, as it would make it unsustainable for the festivalgoers.
This means that you have to look for other sources of income such as sponsorship or working on the facilities and experience of the festival and doing research into new musical trends.
There are other very important aspects that we should not forget and which we are constantly working on, such as the safety of the festivalgoers, especially with regards to possible cases of sexual harassment and the environmental impact of the festival.
Are any of those challenges specific to Spain, be it regulatory challenges, or challenges faced in the current struggle of the Catalan people fighting for independence?
We do not have different security challenges from any other European festival. The independence conflict in Catalonia is purely political and is peaceful.
The images that have been seen on TV are confrontations between police and protesters; it was never about confrontation been between people with opposing ideologies. The streets are calm and everybody is going about their business as usual.
What are opportunities a festival promoter has in 2020? Is it hard to secure talent in 2020, when many artists have global deals in place that may prevent them from performing at certain events? How do deal with this situation?
Obviously, tours organized by big music corporations are a problem for independent festivals as they reduce their access to many artists. It is not an easy fight and that makes it even more important for us to have a strong brand and to be one step ahead in terms of programming setting us apart from all the other festivals.
The collaboration between festivals that maintain this independence is also a way to combat this problem. Also, they cannot cover everything, there are many interesting up and coming artists on different musical scene
Sharon Lopez – Princess Nokia on the Lotus Stage at Primavera Sound
The crowd is lit.
How important is the backing of Yucaipa in that regard?
Yucaipa’s backing gives us security and confidence while opening a range of expansion possibilities as well as giving us the possibility of creating a network of festivals in collaboration with those who maintain their own personality, which is different from the festivals created by large music corporations.
What was the thinking behind the deal with Yucaipa and how does it help with all your future plans?
The deal with Yucaipa has been a boost for Primavera Sound as a company to have the strength and assurance to undertake new projects within the world of music that complements the Barcelona festival.
Some of these projects have already begun, such as Primavera Sound Radio, Vampire studio and Vampire film that work as an agency for brands that want to approach the world of music by offering them 360º in their activations as sponsors of musical events.
Promoters and agents are making deals so far in advance these days, and also want to be the first out with their lineups, that it creates a pretty stressful working environment/high pressure. How does the team of Primavera Sound navigate through today’s live entertainment jungle?
That’s how it is and that’s why Primavera Sound has a strong booking team that works all year round not only for the Barcelona festival but also for the festivals in Oporto and L.A. as well as for tours in Spain.
Maintaining a high level of hiring artists helps us create more synergies with artists and agencies while at the same time making us more competitive.
What are your plans for the U.S. edition of Primavera Sound in the first year? What kind of capacity are you looking at in year one?
It is a bold move for a European-based music company to dare to venture into American and even less into the heart of music that L.A. is today. That is why we were motivated to break into the world capital of music, as an open and diverse city we saw that our proposal could fit in perfectly.
We have also seen that year after year we have more American attendees and that encouraged us to start this adventure. At this first edition we hope to attract 25,000 people per day, and we hope to increase this in the coming years.
Xavi Torrent/WireImage – Rosalía performs at Primavera Sound 2019
The gig took place on June 1, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.
Have the plans for the London event been put on hold? Are you still pursuing a London edition of Primavera Sound?
London is another emblematic city of music and has been an inspiration for us for years, it is a challenge that we have pending and very much in mind. Who knows if we will end up doing a festival there in the future.
Anything you would like to reveal about the 20th anniversary editions, be it in Barcelona, LA or the warm up Primavera Weekender?
Like at every anniversary there will be surprises, what is an anniversary without surprises?
How important are local/national artists to the lineup of Primavera Sound? How would you describe the newcomer scene in Barcelona, and are there enough opportunities/venues/festivals for Spanish bands to build a live career in Spain?
Being part of the local and national scene is paramount for us and is part of our DNA so it wouldn’t make sense not to consider artists from Barcelona and Spain in our programming.
In recent years, a scene of urban music, trap, flamenco and reggaeton has been growing on the outskirts of large cities, bringing fresh air into music and making it totally exportable to the rest of the planet as we have seen with Rosalia, Bad Gyal and C. Tangana.
All of this movement has joined the alternative indie pop rock scene and electronic club music that was already well established on the Spanish and Latin American markets where there is a stable circuit of concert venues and a multitude of festivals all around the country.
Paco Amate – Primavera Sound 2019
The festival site Parc del Forum is located right on the coast
Your company Primavera Sound S.L. also promotes concerts outside of the main event and all year long. Can you talk about that side of the business a bit?
Parc del Forum belongs to the city council of Barcelona and Primavera Sound rents it every year. Primavera Sound as a company has recently opened Abaixadors 10, a club with regular musical and cultural programming that is also home to Radio Primavera Sound from which many of its live programs are broadcast.
Some of the partners have been involved with the Apolo venue for over 25 years, it is where Primavera Sound was started and it has a daily schedule of concerts and club sessions with a program of international DJs.
The sustainability of events is an important topic: what would you highlight about Primavera Sound in that regard?
We have been working on the issue of environmental sustainability for over 10 years and it is a fundamental issue for us to improve year after year to reduce our carbon and waste footprint.
For this we have an environmental technician supported by different companies specialized in energy use or waste reduction. Every year we are audited by the company A Greener Festival, and this year obtained the festival certification “Highly Commended” for our work in environmental sustainability.
We have managed to recycle more than 82% of the waste generated and we are working to improve on boosting the use of clean and renewable energy as well as on reducing energy expenditure through the use of LED lighting for example.
Moreover, and due to our commitment to gender balance in our lineups since the last edition and the work in the area of sustainability, for the second year running we will be collaborating with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals campaign.