By José Gandue @Gandour
Photo by Simona Malaika @simonamalaika
We have experienced some very active days for the music business in the Colombian capital. Thanks to the Bogotá Music Market (Bomm) and the conferences Resonance Regarding the digital market, a significant number of experts have visited the city and have noticed an intense movement in the local scene. Through these kinds of conventions, Colombia exports musical offerings, and that's a good thing.. But, and I say this without malice, the current musical landscape is starting from the wrong end. The proposed structure, however well-intentioned it may seem, creates a cynical expectation: We hope that other countries will solve our problem of cultural promotion.
Until we build the conditions for the growth and strengthening of a domestic market that truly expands throughout the country, sending artists on tours abroad will cater more to the spiritual needs of the bands than to the real economic issues of the music scene. As mothers say, we need to sort out the basics before thinking about champagne and caviar. We must create and strengthen what in other countries is called an artistic performance circuit, because, At the moment, we are only reaching a minimal percentage of the population and a small part of our geographical area. To expand our culture and strengthen a smokeless industry like the one we should have by now. We also want to export projects that, on average, don't exceed 20 presentations per year, since these local proposals They cannot easily find venues in their own country to hold their events, nor the resources to carry them out..
The vast majority of towns and small cities in the country have a poor cultural agenda. In many of these towns, concerts (of any kind) only take place during sporadic seasons of fairs and festivals. In Colombia, there are nearly 200 municipalities with populations between 10,000 and 32,000, and more than 120 cities that exceed that latter figure. Almost all of these urban centers have a venue (cultural center, community hall, theater) belonging to the mayor's office or another government institution, where for most of the year nothing happens or where the occasional social gathering takes place. Not only are they terribly boring urban centers, but They are wasting the political, social, and economic opportunities to increase the cultural levels and activities of their population.
It's incredible that we don't consider the issue of artistic development when we talk about the problems of violence, economic crisis, and social inequality in this country. Colombia has great potential in this area, as we've already mentioned, but we don't hear many politicians talking about setting this vast cultural machinery in motion. to reduce unemployment, create new sources of income and strengthen local SMEs in each region. All of this would contribute to forging genuine paths to prosperity and peace. Exports create excellent cultural ambassadors, but we must build a much-needed domestic market as soon as possible. It creates true role models and examples to follow within our borders.
One fact to consider: In recent years, Argentina's cultural industry has contributed 3.1% of its total GDP, roughly half the amount generated by the construction sector and ten times the amount generated by the fishing industry. In 2014, it generated approximately US$10 billion. And all of that was achieved largely by giving the domestic market a better foundation and more opportunities. A good part of that was due to music. An example to follow, isn't it?
Can you imagine if the Colombian government and the various private sector economic development institutions really get their act together so that increasingly more inhabitants participate in the creation and consumption of their own cultural productsCan you imagine, at least, if the mayors of hundreds of municipalities created the conditions for their public spaces? can be systematically occupied by new local entrepreneurs to regularly bring shows to their towns, and give priority to local talent to be known in their region? That's making bread and butter., Let's start with the basics so that in a few years we can truly talk about a cultural industry in a country that boasts of being an artistic benchmark on the continent, but which does not include the majority of the population in the enjoyment of the arts., This is a fatal mistake, not only socially but also economically.
