BMG targets growth in Spain with new repertoire focus

23 November 2022 - Press release

 

BMG is pleased to announce with immediate effect a new structure for its Madrid-based operation under the dual leadership of Marcos Fairweather (recordings) and Javier Doria (music publishing).

The company will pursue growth in the Spanish language market with a renewed focus on established and proven artists.

Fairweather joins from Universal Music Spain where he was A&R Director, signing and developing artists including Spanish pop star Aitana, Colombian rockers Morat and emerging artists Sen Senra, Natalia Lacunza, and Carolina Durante. Javier Doria first joined BMG in July 2020 to lead A&R across both publishing and recordings. His successes have included a partnership with leading Spanish management and booking company 33 Producciones and the signing and creation of Chanel's 'Slomo' which scored a historic third place for Spain in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Maximilian Kolb, BMG EVP Repertoire & Marketing Continental Europe, said, "The market in Spain, particularly among established and proven artists, is currently one of the most interesting internationally. It's also one of the strongest export markets and serves as a musical crossroad to both Latin America and Continental Europe. We believe this agile new structure will allow us to offer those artists and songwriters a degree of priority and global access unavailable elsewhere."

The two A&R Directors will report to Albert Slendebroek, who also oversees BMG in Scandinavia. Said Slendebroek, "Historically Spain has been an outlier in repertoire terms for BMG. Under Marcos and Doria, BMG will now pursue the same successful strategy we apply elsewhere."

Marcos Fairweather was a musician who released music independently before joining Universal in 2015 overseeing the development of artists across genres spanning from flamenco to reggaeton, hip-hop and pop.

"I'm so excited to join the team in what is a new chapter at BMG for me," he said. "The core values of this company resonate with my views on how to best serve artists. A&R for me is first and foremost about artists and about building connections for them to develop their careers to their fullest potential."

Producer songwriter and performer turned A&R, Javier Doria, will focus on developing BMG's publishing business in Spain. He said, "BMG has built a strong position in the music publishing business since its launch in Spain. Moving forward, we want to develop new creative opportunities in the local market and introduce our songwriters to new audiences using our global network."

The new structure follows the departure in March of former managing director Pablo Rodriguez.