A tsunami of success for The Spanish Wave! 22 May 2024
The Spain lead country programme packs out all six of their events at the 2024 edition of The Great Escape, watch the aftermovie here. Spain lead country at The Great Escape 2024 in data: More than 2000 fans and industry attending each of the two The Spanish Wave showcases and Mad Cool Party 350 professional delegates attending Meet The Spaniards! official reception Two panels with more than 100 international professionals PR, marketing, publicity and brand impact for all partners, institutions, agencies and artists in screens, merchandise, media interviewsArtist bookings and partner deals made
linktr.ee/thespanishwave
greatescapefestival.com
At The Great Escape in Brighton last weekend, the Spain lead country programme welcomed hundreds and hundreds of international delegates and journalists to their packed out six events happening at the internationally renowned showcase festival. This included two packed out showcases for our nine awesome upcoming artists, a hot, sweaty and heaving party co-hosted with Mad Cool Festival, 350 delegates attending the Meet The Spaniards! reception to enjoy tapas, drinks and a presentation by AIE, two panels on the Spain, Europe and Latam markets bridge and Spain Land of Festivals hosted by ten Spanish music industry experts.
Watch the veritable tsunami of The Spanish Wave's success at The Great Escape 2024 via the aftermovie: instagram.com/reel/C7PHKMzq6iG/
In terms of brand visibility, the Spain lead country campaign announced their presence confidently and colourfully across the city. In addition to 5,000 flyers handed out, Spanish Wave artist names were emblazoned the back of Great Escape volunteers' t-shirts, 200 red and yellow tote bags were gifted at the Meet The Spaniards! reception including print copies of our media partners' DIY Magazine as well as Latino Life magazine, plus a Spanish Wave fan to cool everyone down. Stopping short of renaming the Palace Pier, banners hung from the front of iconic pier bar Horatio's, and pavement decals welcomed delegates into the festival hub at Royal Leonardo Hotel.
Huge thanks to our artists and their teams who put on phenomenally exciting shows, showing exactly why they are the cream of Spanish new talent. The Spanish Wave showcases were proudly majority female and featured the sensational rnb pop star Eva Ruiz, Galicia's answer to Doja Cat, Sila Lua, the entirely fabulous alternative pop star Lala Hayden, Balearic pop wonder Ona Mafalda, raucous punk from The Gulps, moody new wave pop from Depresión Sonora, melodic power pop tunes from the legendary Mujeres and soaring dream pop from MAVICA. Not forgetting SLIX, a brand new buzzy band from Glasgow whose edgy indie punk raised the temperature to sizzling at the Mad Cool party on Thursday night. And San Sebastian super DJ Divorce From New York who kept the dancefloor moving either side of SLIX's set.
Listen to The Spanish Wave TGE playlist
About the big success for Spain lead country at The Great Escape, César Andión, Director of the Spanish Wave and project leader, had this to say:
“We are extremely happy and proud to see how Spain took Brighton by a “music armada” of incredible acts, partners and professionals. I always get goosebumps seeing music fans of all ages and countries dancing and enjoying music of unknown acts to them, not even understanding the lyrics. Which highlights something we all know, that music is increasingly global. Incredible to see the interest we create, as the fully packed panels and reception testifies. Thanks very much to all the team, The Great Escape team and all of our artists, their offices and our official partners”.
The feedback has been incredible from the Spain lead country and Spanish Wave's wonderful and valued partners. We extend the biggest, warmest thanks to AIE, Fundación SGAE, Instituto Cervantes, British Council, Live Nation España, Ticketmaster España, Radio 3, Mondo Sonoro, DIY, Sonido Muchacho, Altafonte, Houston Party, Sonidos Líquidos, Phe Festival, Mallorca Live Festival, Mercury Wheels, Planet Events, Producciones Baltimore, Mad Cool Festival, VEVO.
The press coverage is starting pour in too, have a look at a couple of highlights.
CMU
A big feature in well-respected industry publication on the Spain lead country campaign ran in their Daily newsletter and online 15/5. The feature includes a guide to all the Spanish Wave artists and an interview with César Andión.
https://completemusicupdate.com/approved-spanish-artists-at-the-great-escape/
DMY
Sila Lua is one of DMY's best artists at Great Escape and features in the main photo. Posted 20/5
"Performing as part of The Spanish Wave showcase, Sila Lua proved why she’s one of Spain’s most exciting artists right now. Stalking the stage at Dust in front of an unsuspecting crowd, the Madrid-based musician made her presence known while singing and rapping in her native tongue over industrial electronic beats. With tunes like ‘EQUILIBRIO’, it’s easy to imagine her breaking through in a similar way to Rosalia."
https://dmy.co/features/11-of-the-best-new-artists-we-saw-at-the-great-escape-2024
DIY Magazine
Double page spread on Spain at TGE, featuring interviews with Eva Ruiz and The Gulps, as well as an interview with César Andión in the May issue. The coverage ran across print, online and social media, as well as in DIY's newsletter and their industry newsletter DIY Music.
https://diymag.com/interview/get-to-know-eva-ruiz
https://diymag.com/interview/get-to-know-the-gulps
EFE
A Great Escape video report posted by international Spanish news agency 17/5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgHGi8VMotM
Latino Life
Produced a Spanish Wave special edition of their magazine, focussing on the five amazing female artists on the line-up and producing a 'Women on the verge' cover feature. The magazine hit the streets 15/5 and was distributed across Brighton and London. Online version here, coverage ran across Latino Life and our artists' socials too:
https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/women-verge-iberian-female-talent-rise
VEVO
A stupendously good video playlist compiled by VEVO Spain and pushed editorially to all their platforms, launched 14/5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFJM7IHWfQs&list=PLkqz3S84Tw-TcKk6NG6gGPAYgatgOyYfd&index=2
More about The Spanish Wave
The Spanish Wave is a project for the internationalization of Spanish talent that aims to help in the export of emerging Spanish artists and bands. We host showcases at the most important festivals and musical events in the world, with the presence of professionals from the national and international industry. We work closely with booking agencies, record labels and national and international promoters. Thanks to our partners AIE, Fundación SGAE , Instituto Cervantes, Ticketmaster, Live Nation España, Mondo Sonoro and Radio 3, The Spanish Wave promises to showcase a true tsunami of Spanish talent throughout the world in 2024.
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THE HEADLINES
Do most artists peak with their first album? (see Analysis)
Court battle over unpaid royalties could have implications for the industry in the streaming era (see News)
Luminate released its 2025 year-end music report (see Reports)
Impala sets out crucial questions on UMG/Downtown, AI, sovereignty and more for EU & music sector (see Comment)
Spotify’s new co-CEOs highlight what’s ahead for the company (see Digital)
Music publishers sued by X in growing licensing battle (see News)
Call on EU to clamp down on unauthorised ticket reselling (see News)
Lucian Grainge outlines UMG's 2026 plans in staff memo (see News)
Skye Newman wins Radio 1's Sound of 2026 (see News)
Spotify now lets you share what you’re streaming in real time with friends (see Digital)
Streamed and retail entertainment sales grew four times faster than UK economy in 2025 (see News)
UMG announces collaboration with NVIDIA to pioneer responsible AI for music discovery, creation, and engagement (see News)
2026 music industry predictions (see Features)
New wave of global British breakthrough talent helps UK recorded music grow for 11th consecutive year (see News)
