- 3 months ago
Live Nation's Global Tour Manager, Jorge Garcia, joins CAA Agent, Mac Clark, and OCESA Director of Festivals, Leizer Guss, for a conversation on how Latin artists are touring beyond the U.S. and Latin America, and how Latin America has become a key destination for other international acts.
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00:00Shakira in Mexico in 2025 was definitely a unicorn, a lot of things probably went into
00:08combining her connection throughout her career with the Mexican people, how her personal
00:17situation made her write all of those songs, how that connected with Mexican women, Mexicans in
00:25general and and then just adding the live music component and how everything was very stable
00:31I think gave fruit to it was 12 nights at Estadio GNP Seguros but it was also another 17 dates in other cities in Mexico
00:49We have the globalization of Latin Turing presented by Live Nation
00:54We will have Anuel and DJ Khaled after this so don't don't leave after this
01:01Okay, we have a great panel. I'm so excited to be here with I'm in great company by the way
01:08Jorge Garcia global tour promoter Live Nation
01:14Laser Guzguz director of festivals at Ocesa
01:18Mac Clark agent at CAA
01:23So this will be mainly in English if you do need translation to Spanish. I know we have some of that available
01:30Um, and we do want to thank Live Nation for presenting this conversation
01:36It's a very timely conversation
01:39but I do want to start with a little icebreaker
01:44What's the concert that made you fall in love with live music and truly appreciate the production side of it?
01:53Oh wow
01:56My first job in the US when I migrated was selling those glow sticks at festivals
02:01No way
02:02So what the one time that there was a Siempre Domingo festival
02:09in Chicago and I was selling those things
02:12And I would look at the stage and Alejandra Guzman is performing
02:16And then she would end and they were setting up for I don't know Emmanuel or somebody else
02:21And seeing the fast-paced action on stage
02:25Moving stuff around and the stage manager with the clipboard and the thing
02:30I was like I was blown away
02:32I was like I want to be a part of that
02:33Whatever that is I just want to do that
02:36Okay, what about you laser?
02:38I mean my first concert was the strokes in a very small room when I was like 14
02:46I didn't really know what it entailed but I think that was the moment when I wanted to
02:51Like work in music
02:53Was there anything specific that you remember?
02:56Not too much just
02:59Well no fair what about you Mac?
03:01My first concert was supposed to be Miles Davis at Jones Beach
03:07And it was so long ago that when we got there we found out the show had been canceled
03:14And so we came my mom brought me home he died a week later, so I never got to see him
03:21So my first concert ended up being Aerosmith also at Jones Beach a few months later
03:27Yeah, and now I work with them, so it's a little weird
03:29Oh wow
03:32Okay, so I do want to start by asking
03:35I feel like we use the word global so casual nowadays that it gets you know used for almost everything global artists
03:43Latin music goes global
03:46What does the word global mean in touring and specifically the areas that you all work in?
03:54I mean after Bad Bunny it really means global
03:56Yeah
03:58Look there's there's there's markets
04:01Every artist should be thinking globally because everybody has a shot nowadays
04:06So you have our artists that are emerging in
04:10LA or emerging in Guadalajara
04:12And the barriers have been broken
04:16Now you have you know peso pluma selling out 10,000 tickets in Madrid
04:21Right and Bad Bunny selling 10 stadiums over there or two stadiums in in in Sydney, Australia
04:28I mean it really means global nowadays
04:30So global means going to another country
04:34Going to territories that you wouldn't have imagined when you were growing up
04:37Okay
04:38Yeah, I mean I think I think one of the things that we
04:41Saw although Europe has been developing as a
04:44As a touring marketplace for Latin artists for several years
04:48Is one of the interesting things that I was witnessing earlier this year with Fade
04:54Was as he was going through all these places like Stockholm and Denmark and all these smaller countries in Europe
05:01And every night he would ask where people were from and you would find out there were
05:08Chileans in Stockholm and Argentinians in Denmark and and and why they got there
05:13And they're in the history of how they ended up there in these communities that are there
05:18To Jorge's point about Australia, you know
05:22Japan has been a market that traditionally has been tough for a lot of genres not just Latin but hip-hop as well
05:28Right really rock and pop have always dominated the landscape in Asia but
05:36In Japan this year as well with Fade after I think five years
05:41We were able to get him to curate the first Latin stage at Summer Sonic which is their version of
05:49Coachella and so that was a groundbreaking moment
05:53Um and I think we continue to look
05:57At these opportunities to push boundaries and open up new global areas
06:06Yeah, I mean for I mean without discrediting what they said they work on a global level I work on a local level and
06:13And at least for for a promoter in a local market global I think means
06:20An artist that is recognized beyond like the local
06:25Market which I don't know we we book something like 15 festivals in Ocesa
06:30And when we're discussing
06:33Like who like billing or who we should book there is a special
06:38Like tab we put on global artists that we don't for local
06:43Even if the local artists sometimes sell more than the global
06:47I don't know if that makes any sense
06:49Yeah, yeah, and Jorge you mentioned
06:52Every artist should be thinking global and maybe this is something Mac you can also touch touch on
06:57But if I'm a new artist
06:59Should I be thinking global or does that come later in an artist career?
07:03I mean, I think you're you have to put it in your brain
07:07Right if you're an artist
07:10Your your your potential could be that big
07:13So you just continue to make your art
07:16You know
07:17Perfect your craft
07:19The opportunities are going to be there
07:21Create the right connections
07:24And maybe you can get global which 10 years ago
07:28It wasn't really a possibility that that you could feel right that you can
07:32Aspire to maybe a dream
07:34Now it's not just a dream if you could put the right strategy behind you could probably get there
07:40Mac do you want to add anything?
07:41I mean I think a big part of it is there are artists that are
07:48You know stadium level artists in the united states in central and south america as they're beginning to develop
07:55These other markets
07:56We collectively have to work to convince them as to why they should be taking five steps back
08:05To take two steps forward, right?
08:07And that it is really
08:09A three five ten year plan to be able to break these markets
08:14You know when you think of the comment Jorge just made about what live nation's done with bad bunny in australia
08:20The idea that a latin artist could go and sell two stadiums in australia
08:25Really until 18 months ago
08:28Was not even a sure thing, right?
08:31And even selling one was not a sure thing
08:34But it took many years of laying the groundwork
08:37You know and there having been other artists that have gone there in smaller capacities
08:42So you have to go to these markets you have to invest in them
08:45You have to make a lot less money in a lot of circumstances
08:49You lose money, right?
08:51And great partners in in live nation
08:55Will help to make it possible for these artists to go
08:58And develop in these markets
09:01You know because financially it obviously
09:03In today's world the cost of touring is through the roof
09:06It's no different in in europe
09:08Okay
09:09Uh for many years
09:11Artists you know if they wanted to believe be a global artist
09:15U.s was like the number one place to tour and it probably still still is
09:20But there are other new markets europe asia that bad bunny is doing
09:25But even latin america has become a key destination for artists
09:30Why is that important today?
09:32That latin america has now this global
09:36You know
09:37Platform
09:38Well more and more you're going to see
09:41That there's more infrastructure
09:43In in the in the land american countries central america is going through a
09:47redevelopment right there the the stadiums
09:52There there's going to be new venues built
09:55For example, we just took live nation just took over
09:58The luna park arena in buenos aires
10:02There's a whole renovation being planned
10:06And that kind of
10:09Development is going to happen more and more in
10:11The markets that make sense
10:12El salvador, guatemala, peru, chile
10:19What happened in latin america obviously you work in mexico that's your base
10:22Why do you think it took kind of long for it to catch up?
10:28I mean, I think it's a two-way street
10:30I think
10:33I think latin america at least specifically mexico has always had the best fans in the world
10:39I think it was just a matter of of maturing a
10:43Live music business like having the artists pay more attention to latin america
10:48Having infrastructure like like jorge mentioned
10:52And and i think that the pandemic sped things up and and and just made everything bigger larger faster
11:02okay
11:02um and i think
11:04A lot of people here would appreciate if we
11:08Break down
11:09How an artist can enter these markets right and how do you promote that because it's not a one size fits all
11:16Latin music is so diverse
11:19How do you have help these global audiences understand that diversity that is latin music
11:28I think a i mean it's it's each artist has its own story each genre
11:34I think latin is not a sound and i think i've i've heard that in live nation before
11:39Even if if it's if there are some similarities
11:44I mean the the difference between even peso pluma and bad bunny
11:49Are are are huge no
11:52So i think you just have to consume and explore each genre or each artist as
11:58As its own and discover its world and
12:02Enjoy its art
12:03Yeah, okay
12:04Mac how has that shift impacted and and you both also can can chime in but how has that?
12:13New markets becoming available
12:16Shifted the impact or impact the way you plan a tour route today
12:22I mean, I would say that
12:25Mexico has become the most important market
12:29I think from a streaming perspective and from a sales perspective of building an artist
12:36It speaks to the u.s.
12:38But it also
12:40Pushes down into central and latin america and I think
12:43If you can achieve success in mexico you're going to see a much broader success both throughout the u.s
12:50And certainly into latin america
12:52So it really is a place that we focus on
12:57Probably primarily as where we think about a starting place
13:02And where we'll see traction and it will give us guidance on
13:07How big we can go in certain other places
13:10The other part of it is that that we were just touching on is not every genre
13:15Works in every market for example
13:17You know reggaeton and and regional mexican have a very tough time in brazil because it's not the local language, right?
13:25So that market is still in development whereas argentina
13:31Really lives up to the size and hype of the urban artist right and it and it does well in that marketplace as does colombia
13:40Some of the other markets are still coming along
13:43But we all look at mexico to be
13:46Really the guiding light as to how successful
13:50Someone can be and it'll help us set the parameters on
13:55What size venue should we go in you know should we be in a theater should we be in arena?
14:01What's the data telling us coming out of mexico?
14:04It really sets the tone. I think it's it's the most important market there is for the music right now
14:08And when did that happen that it became the most important market pardon?
14:13When did it happen when did you notice that I mean I think
14:17Probably over the last five years as the streaming platforms have
14:23Begun to share more data as we've been able to pull more data off of youtube over off of
14:28Socials like instagram and spotify right that started to give us
14:33This wait a second it's all happening here and this is a massive
14:38Population there's probably you know more festivals in mexico like per capita than anywhere else in the world
14:47and
14:48You know
14:49When you think about osessa as the second largest third largest promoter in the world
14:56Within one country that gives you an idea of how important that marketplace is
15:05At least here in the us and I would love to know laser your perspective of it
15:09But it does feel like there is an oversaturation of concerts towards here in the us
15:16There's so much traffic with arenas and stadiums
15:21um
15:22Why do you guys think that is and laser is that the same thing that's happening in mexico where it's just almost oversaturated?
15:30Yes, I mean it probably took a little longer to either show or for us to feel it
15:36But we're definitely in in an oversaturated market
15:40It shows it's probably something like six months or even less
15:47It's recent but it's it's it's it's it's there
15:51Hey as to why I think
15:54I think it's as simple as as people have a limited amount of income and they just have to choose where they use their their money and
16:01And and
16:03I think again coming out of the pandemic there was this
16:06Angst of like I want to leave I want to enjoy I want to go out I want to have fun as
16:13the years go by and people
16:16Don't die they they they they get choose they
16:21Yeah, they get to choose what to do with their money
16:23Right, but but I I think the
16:26The the visibility of the oversaturation is is just happening now, but
16:34Before a lot of this
16:37Let's call it Mexican music
16:40Jumped from the small clubs the small independent clubs into the theaters and the arenas and the ambient theaters and the stadiums
16:48There was already a saturation which is we just weren't paying attention because they were so spread out in in smaller clubs and independent clubs
16:56You wouldn't see it now you see it because
16:59Now you see you know
17:00For example Peso Pluma and Fuerza R茅gida playing Dallas last year on the same night and both sold out by the way
17:08Do you think that also contributed why there's so many new markets as well?
17:13Why because now artists are also seeing that there is this traffic and saturation so now they're seeing that there's more opportunity in other markets
17:21So the fans are there their fans are there in in ohio and idaho and
17:27everywhere you just got to continue to explore
17:30At what level we take this this
17:33Artists to those markets, but the fans are there so that's why
17:37There's gonna be more shows because the fans are there
17:40Well shakira speaking of more shows shakira just broke a record at jenepe seguros
17:46A with 12 dates
17:50That's the first time that's ever happens. You know me equivoco
17:53What does that say about the market in mexico?
17:56And can you take me behind the scenes of what you were even thinking?
18:01Yeah, so I mean shakira in in mexico in 2025 was definitely a
18:07unicorn
18:08A
18:08I don't I a lot of things probably went into combining
18:12Her connection throughout her career with the mexican people how
18:18Can like her her personal situation make made her write all of those songs how that connected with mexican
18:26women mexicans in general
18:29And and then just adding the live music component and how everything was very stable
18:33I think gave
18:35Fruit to to it was 12 nights at at estadio jenepe seguros
18:40But it was also another 17 dates in other cities in mexico
18:46Never had a had an artist
18:49Even I would dare to say even like one third of that
18:53So so yeah, it was it was special it was just
18:57There was this this comment in mexico for a while that every day it rains and every day there's a shakira show
19:04It felt that way it feels like that
19:09So yeah, I mean it just it was it was magical
19:14I don't I don't
19:16For it to happen again. I think a lot of things would have to combine again
19:20And and I think the artist would have to
19:22Pay attention to mexico as much as she did in in a year
19:26Okay
19:27And I also think it's important to talk about
19:30If this global touring that we're seeing can also help local artists and that local market where it's not just
19:39Artists coming in but we're also seeing development in that specific market
19:44A hundred percent a hundred percent would you you have talent everywhere?
19:51It just needs to be either discovered developed
19:55Worked on but you have talent everywhere
19:57Okay
19:58And it's not just I think that's important to now to know that but
20:03It's not just latin artists who are going to tour latin america. I think kendrick
20:08Now is doing mexico, but there's other non-latin international artists wanting to go
20:15Was that something always there or?
20:18I mean I think we you know
20:21With the weekend who's you know who's been rolling out a global stadium tour right
20:26When we wanted to tell the story of how to launch that that was the show that we did in brazil
20:32And he could have done five nights there. I think we all wanted him to do five nights
20:38And he was like i'm gonna do one
20:40And he's you know he picked brazil specifically right for him culturally the message
20:47Being able to emanate from latin america to launch a global tour
20:53That's that's a first for an artist of that size
20:58So I think it it shows the importance
21:01Of how people are viewing it right it's always been a big rock
21:06Rock community in in south america so you know whether it's
21:11red hot chili peppers or blink 182 you know more recently
21:16You know you see what coldplay has done right so so I think
21:20It's been really important to see how the latin artists have begun to build
21:26In these markets that have been dominated by other genres in the past and that is really starting to take hold now
21:32Um
21:35I definitely want to understand
21:38Long-term planning and
21:41Developing an artist in touring because we do see some cases not all
21:47Where
21:48peso pluma his breakout year he had
21:52Massive tours he went to europe and that was his first year
21:57So how does that contribute to artist development is that?
22:04Obviously, it's not a case for every artist that's just starting so what does that say about artist development?
22:12Yeah, I mean peso is
22:15I think you know one of a kind
22:18Once in a generation type of artist right who
22:21Not only touched people musically but touch them culturally who he was who he is
22:29Who his you know what his persona is?
22:32I think is just as important as the music that he's making and those two things combined
22:38Created this mass explosion for him right and so there was a huge acceleration for him
22:45from theaters into arenas
22:47That being said you still have to be very very thoughtful
22:53About the markets that you're playing in
22:55How you're pricing tickets you have to allow your fans to catch up to the speed of growth right so it's very difficult to
23:05One year prior have your tickets be forty dollars the following year have them be
23:10One hundred and fifty dollars and lose some people in between so you have to continue
23:16To make the growth accessible to people right because as
23:21He was growing as fast as he was you're still bringing people in right you're still having to show
23:28the coachellas of the world
23:30Why someone like him
23:33Can come in and be the first of his kind to perform in the slot that he did he he was the highest
23:40Mexican latin artist to debut in a slot that size at coachella and he didn't sing one song in english
23:49Similarly we had
23:52Him perform at rolling loud which is a straight ahead urban festival
23:58Which has always been completely you know
24:02English speaking and so there was a risk on both sides of one convincing
24:08Rolling loud
24:10To do it and two convincing him that he was going to go in there and do his performance
24:16Which includes violins which includes
24:20Bass which includes guitars and all these things that you would never see it rolling loud, right?
24:27But he has that cultural attache that really
24:31No other artist has and he was able to walk in there and you've got 50 000 people chanting his name
24:37And again, he didn't do one song in english
24:39Right now he had features come out
24:42From the hip-hop community
24:44But he is a groundbreaking artist and you continue to do things and take risks like rolling loud
24:50Because it continues to open up the marketplace to bring other people in
24:54Who normally wouldn't have gone to a concert so we're continually looking at those opportunities
25:01He's a complex con that's another thing
25:05To bring people in right and understand who the artist is so we're constantly looking at these
25:10strategic places
25:12To help build them
25:14These are very particular cases
25:16Someone like
25:17Besopluma
25:18But still
25:19The focus is always trying to do artist development and taking steps
25:25I would say because we have something happening right now in this moment
25:29Which is young miko similarly an artist you know who's we've had perform on
25:36governor's ball and lollapalooza this year which are generally again straight ahead anglo festivals
25:42Is she's out supporting billy eilish right now
25:46And one of the things that we talked about before that was she was like
25:52Is this what I should do
25:54And I was like you have an album coming out you have
25:58To break the anglo market
26:01Look at what you know supporting taylor swift did for sabrina carpenter and gracie abrams
26:06So the idea behind finding strategic opportunities is not
26:13Specific in that way is that we're looking at those ways to break people
26:18Constantly and finding the right opportunities for for her it happened to be
26:23Supporting billy which
26:25You know everybody would want to do so so that's happening right now
26:28That's a great moment, you know for her as well
26:31Great well, we have 20 seconds left
26:35But I did want to ask just a final question any touring trends or data
26:40That's recently made you pivot in a project
26:45Yeah, you go on sale you sell out
26:48You roll the second night and or or move it to a bigger show or continue to add until you get to you know 10
26:57stadiums in madrid or carol g4 stadiums in madrid
27:01Yeah, don't say in mexico
27:05It was it was five and then three and then it wasn't 12 in a row like it wasn't 12
27:15Okay, well, thank you so much. Um, this went by so fast
27:20Thank you
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