Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Best New Artist Award winner : for real ! is Mariana Vega a "New" artist ?

It was fun to watch the 15th Annual Award show ! Again, most of the winners are chronic , meaning they have won on several occasions.

The Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists, nationally and internationally.The award is given to solo artists or groups that first establish an identity to the public as a performer and release a Spanish or Portuguese language recording during the period of eligibility;

Of interest, this year's trophy was awarded to Mariana Vega.
According to the Latin Grammy definition of Best New Artist, Mariana is not a new artist.

 Mariana Vega started her music carreer in 2008, that is 6 years ago. Sonográfica, a Venezuelan music company put up her album Háblame, which was produced in 2008 by  Sebastián Krys and  Luis Romero; with this album  she obtained  Gold and Platinum Album in  Venezuela.

In 2008,  Mariana was awarded the best new artist price by  Record Report;
In 2010,  Mariana travels to  México, where she is signed by Seitrack; at this time she records her first full album titled  Mariana Vega, produced by Aureo Baqueiro.
During  2011, Mariana produced two new songs, Te Seguir  y Pregúntale por mi, which were broadcasted throughout Venezuelan radio stations.
In  2013, she made a second  álbum titled  Mi Burbuja, also produced by Baqueiro and in 2014 she produced another album titled Te Busco.

Most of the Latin Grammys Best New Artist winners have a "connection" with Warner Music Mexico, and Mariana Vega, like Jesse & Joy, Alexander Acha and Gaby Moreno , is not an exception..

                                       scans.marianavegafans.com.ve 

                                       es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Vega

Lets not forget Gabriel Abaroa's little brother, Alejandro, is and has been talent manager at Warner Music Mexico for a longtime. So who is Mr Gabriel Abaroa trying to fool.

                                     prezi.com/sv6h9y1raci2/alejandro-abaroa

Interestingly enough, Mariana is married to the executive VP and general manager of E! Entertainment Television Latin America. Influential ? I believe the answer is yes !

If Mr Abaroa wants to make it right , he should change the definition of Best new artist to:
(humor)

   "The Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes that for the artist  to win he or she needs to sign with  Warner Music Mexico. The award is given to solo artists or groups that first establish a relationship with my brother Alejandro from Warner Music Mexico  during the period of eligibility and obviously, you have to  have a grandfather or husband with influences and  it will work perfectly!"

Again, the Latin Grammy award show and Mr Gabriel Abaroa have a lot to explain !








Thursday, September 25, 2014

The 15th Annual Latin Grammy Nominees

Again and again Mr Gabriel Abaroa and the Latin Academy of Recording Arts continues to select the same people which comprises artists from major record labels.

Mr Abaroa once said that nobody knew  the names of the nominees and winners until the night of the show. Unfortunately, this is a lie. For example, prior to the Latin Grammys Mr Abaroa and Calle 13 were running around Puerto Rico filling their mouth with donations of nusical instruments. The perception is that they are nice people in  trying to help others with these donations; the reality is another, Mr Abaroa and the Latin Academy, by doing that are "promoting" Calle 13 (for a vote ?);
another  example is the trip that Mr Abaroa took to Peru in company of Jesse & Joy, the Mexican pop duo that won the 2007 Latin Grammy Award for Best New artist. Everyone know they won because their Warner Mexico Record manager is Alejandro Abaroa, brother of the President of the Academy Gabriel Abaroa. Lets not fool the public ! Most of the New artist category have been won by an artist that is or has a relationship with Warner Mexico. Do  not forget Gaby Moreno, who won last year's Best New Artist, that even though she is listed under Metamorfosis Record Label. her album distribution is through Warner Mexico. For that matter, I would not doubt that again history repeats and this year's winner is Daniela Spalla.

It is funny to see that the same artists are nominated again and again. Most of the nominees are Mexicans  and Columbians. The usual trend.

As it has been previously mentioned, the Academy is full of artists with leftists ideas. Lets see if Mr Abaroa has the guts to shut up Calle 13 like he  did in previous years (microphone off).
I love music and I have a good ear for it, and still I do not understand what the Academy of Recording Arts love about Calle 13. Multiple nominations this year. Or is it there is a "voting pool" voting for them ? Maybe is time to consider taking the Latin Grammy Award show to Cuba, Venezuela or Bolivia. Would Mr Abaroa make the same money if the Latin Grammys were in one of these countries ? Doubt it ! Another interesting fact is that the Latin Grammys has never been given in Mexico, which is the country that has won most of the Awards. I think Mexico would be perfect for an Award show, but would Mr Abaroa make the same salary ? Doubt it !

I was very surprised to see almost no participation by Brazilian artists. It seems Mr Abaroa  and the Academy has forgotten that Brazil is a huge country with very talented artists. This kind of observation has already surfaced in some internet blogs and I would not doubt that Brazilians eventually form their own Academy.
Please understand that not everything is bad about the Academy. We have :Ruben Blades,Drexler and Caetano Veloso. The rest does not make one !

Well, again what can we expect from an Academy in which his President has a salary of over $700,000USD. He does not want new innovative artists singing and presenting. He wants the oldies who he can manipulate and continue to exploit for his super salary.

Frustration is building among Academy members who thought they will be nominated .
Ask the Member of the Academy executive board who needed a beer ! I have to laugh to some extent !!!

And the winners are  ???  : ask the "voting pool".......

Saturday, September 13, 2014

The 15th Latin Grammy Award Upcoming Nominations : another fairy tale?

Certainly, the nominations to the 15th Annual Latin Grammy Award show are around the corner.
What can we expect from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences ( LARAS) voting process ?  Would the voting process be a fair one, or are they going to fall into the same bull shit as previous years ?
For sure, Mr . Gabriel Abaroa, President of the Academy most likely knows who are the nominees and probably the winners.
Lets not forget Mr Abaroa's dealings within the Academy and the music industry are somewhat obscure; Lets not forget he owns Wireless Latin Entertainment (WILAEN) , a private company that deals with music download.

http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ConvertTiffToPDF?storagePath=COR%5C2010%5C0107%5C65090100.tif&documentNumber=P02000000068

Even though his name appears in the above State of Florida Corporation database, subsequent amendment show his name was deleted. This occurred after he was exposed !
Lets not forget that most, if not all of the artists presenting and performing in the Latin Grammys were featured in his WILAEN page.

Lets not forget that for the 15th Annual Show, members of the Academy , in order to make the Awards "fair and truthworthy", should have listen to over 11,000 songs;  Time to work, sleep and do the usual necessities are not possible when you have to listen to all those songs in order to give an honest vote.

For sure, the pre-Latin Grammy shows , will include the "usual suspects"....among others are Bisbal and Devita, and obviously Mr. Abaroa would not "dare" to leave out mediocre Juanes.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/espanol/2014/09/10/juanes-de-vita-y-bisbal-cantaran-en-las-latin-grammy-acoustic-sessions/

I see LARAS as an organization with lack of enthusiasm. The only time there is some activity is the time  preceding the Latin Grammy Award show. Most of the members of the Academy does not care about the voting process. That is why Mr Abaroa never publish the voting statistics. It would be interesting to see: what percent of all the  Members vote, geographic voting (countries) and voting by individual categories.

It is time to think about innovative, alternative ways to improve  the voting process. Maybe the Academy should have a website where the Members can listen to a portion of a song blindly. Meaning that the song will not have the names of the artists, composers, producers. In this fashion,
voting will be an honest way to judge a song without the influence of friendship, kickbacks or favors.
Kickbacks, favors, exchange of votes, and voting pools are common denominators within the Academy.

It is time to make progress and advance. Lets remember that LARAS still has a long way to go.

Mr Abaroa wake up !!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The 15th Annual Latin Grammy Award Show: what happens before the show.

Again, we are soon approaching the 15th Annual Latin Grammy Awards to be held in "Sin City", Las Vegas, Nevada.

Everyone probably asks themselves what in reality happens before the Award show. Artists and songwriters start composing the previous year, so they can submit the songs to the Award show; Interestingly, most artists start promoting their work in one way or another; songs are submitted to the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (LARAS), which  recruits 100 of its members to evaluate the songs; the songs are evaluated for placement into different categories, which may not be the ones intended initially by the composer; basically, the committees will have the authority to include the songs in whichever category they think is best. Best for who? It may not be good for music, but for some competing artists,because it is easier to be nominated or win in a category with less songs; again, the committees,in part are formed by Members of the Academy who belong to specific record labels or companies. This is bad because these people will benefit their own artists by including or excluding certain songs in a determined category.

After the committees meet and determine "everything", then, the ballots are sent to the Members of the Academy; By now, Mr Gabriel Abaroa is in the process of negotiating with the major record labels which artists are going to participate. For this matter, he meets with the different record labels; as I have already mentioned, most of the artists presenting or performing in the Award show are the same year after year.
Finally, after the first voting round is over, then a second round (the nominees) is sent to the Members for a final vote. A note of interest is that the voting ballots have the voting Member's name and identification number; this is conflicting, because in my experience, no voting ballot should have the name of the person or an ID number. I say so because the Academy should have no right in knowing the voting preference of a Member.The Academy by knowing the voting trend of a Member can target that Member if the Member does not conform to the Academy voting trend; certainly, this is not an example of transparency.

Another interesting fact is that Mr. Abaroa has said multiple times that nobody knows who the winners are until the day that the envelope is opened during the night of the Awards; I think Mr. Abaroa is trying to fool everyone, but in reality it is simple. How is it possible that  95% of the Members that present or perform at the Award show are winners. They have to know in advance who the winners are!
Another important aspect before the Show is that Mr. Abaroa gives multiple press releases.
One of the most relevant ones is that "an artist cannot buy a Latin Grammy.and whoever says that is a thief", says Abaroa. (http://www.eluniversal.com/arte-y-entretenimiento/121114/gabriel-abaroa-jr-los-premios-grammy-no-se-compran) I tend to agree with Mr. Abaroa. An artist can not buy a Latin Grammy because the Awards are given on a yearly basis; on the other hand I think the question to Mr. Abaroa should have been, can you  "rent" or "lease" a Latin Grammy? And the answer is  "yes".

Another important aspect of this article is that Mr Abaroa states :"La cantidad de artistas que hoy en día se quejan o hablan mal del Grammy nos dignifica porque quiere decir que algo de valor debemos de tener como para que la gente hable tanto, ya sea a favor o en contra", comenta el mexicano, quien está vinculado a la Academia desde 2003. 
Certainly, Gabriel has a good sense of humor. He has to realize that when somebody badmouths the Latin Grammy's it is for a reason; so far the Latin Grammy's has plenty of reasons to be criticized! A clear example is when he is asked about a preference for Mexican artists (Mr. Abaroa is Mexican): "Yo he tenido reuniones con artistas y grupos regionales mexicanos que me reclaman airadamente que por qué los echo a un lado; es decir, todo el mundo tiene su propia interpretación. No existen esas teorías avasalladoras".
Well again Mr. Abaroa, you are wrong: " Sin embargo, un gráfico elaborado por la agencia AP muestra que México es el país que más premios ha ganado desde el año 2000, específicamente 117, que representa 29,77%, un poco por encima de Brasil, otro gran mercado, con 29,52%. " 

Another example is about how "pure" the Awards are. El músico y productor compara el labor de la Academia, conformada por 3.000 miembros, con lo que hace el Pulitzer en el periodismo. "No somos un grupo de cinco personas de traje a los que nos gusta la música, escuchando todas las propuestas del mundo y decidiendo cuál nos gusta... Es el reconocimiento entre colegas, que es algo muy noble e interesante", comenta.
Yes Mr. Abaroa you just said it: the Academy has 3000 Members and only a few, for the past several years are the winners. Is it because of the voting process, or because of voting has to do with kickbacks, friendship, voting exchanges, or the "voting pool"? Gabriel, do not fool yourself, the Members of the Academy do not listen to all the songs submitted!
Moreover, when talking about the "losers", Mr Abaroa says : " Entonces lo que obsequio siempre es un calendario donde pongo la foto de mi madre e incluyo unos dardos para que los avienten directamente a ella sin necesidad de pasar a través de mí". Even though Mr. Abaroa makes this comment trying to be "funny", I think that such a comment degrades his personality as a gentleman and a son.

An issue that I have criticized in previous posts is that there are too many songs submitted for competition, and that Members of the Academy do not have the time nor the energy  to listen to all the songs in order to properly evaluate and give a fair and honest vote. Recent post by Mr. Abaroa agrees with my previous criticism. 

THE VOTING PROCESS STARTS!

In a few more days the Latin Recording Academy voting members will receive their ballots to exercise their right to vote.

There are, still, many issues and assumptions surrounding the Latin GRAMMY voting experience. For example, every year I receive the same suggestion: Why don’t you provide the voters with access to listen each and every one of the first round entries that are registered?

The answer is either complicated (legalities, technical issues, fairness in the quality and speed of access) or very simple: Can we really listen during the first round to more than 9,000 entries before voting?

So, what’s the best way to vote?

Perhaps a good way to start is by focusing in categories such as those where our professional activity makes us real masters and true connoisseurs. We will easily recognize those works that stand out due to their quality, level of excellence and why not, for being innovators in an industry that is begging for new sounds, new lyrics, new rhythms and music.

A second way is to read as much literature as possible (available in the internet) about specific recordings and we will have the points of view of music critics around the world. This will give us a hint on what to seek using legal instruments that provide on line access to specific songs, albums or videos.

Last but not least, asking to our colleagues to share their ”discoveries” is a great way to learn about new productions and new artists who may be the next superstars. Once we have received all of the above feedback then we should do our best (reaching the impossible) to listen to our targeted selections. Then we will be ready to exercise the vote in the first round.


http://www.latingrammy.com/en/the-latin-grammy-corner

With these comments, Mr. Abaroa has made it "crystal clear", that the voting process is not fair. Simple, the Members of the Academy can not listen to each and every song submitted! I will put emphasis on the last paragraph where he mentions  "asking to our colleagues to share their discoveries..... I have learned that this behavior is forbidden by Mr. Abaroa, because it seems people are looking to get votes....

Another example of how to get votes by a Member of the Academy is as follows: a producer and manager of a Latin  band from Los Angeles becomes a member of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts Executive Board. Certainly, by becoming a member of an influential board, this producer may have access to information that is not available to a "regular member" ( for example, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and postal addresses); not only that but by just "figuring" as part of the Executive Board, he will be perceived as an influential person, and Members may vote for his "product" just based on that. Interestingly, that same Latin Band won a Latin Grammy.

I believe that The Latin Academy of Recording Arts should have frequent meetings with their Members to clarify multiple negative issues affecting the organization.


An important question I ask myself and every Member of the Academy should ask is : are the Latin Grammy's about quality or quantity?