President of Cerro Music Group, Andres Salce, takes on the lack of services available to artists in the Latin space — in A&R, label, distribution, management, booking, touring, and artist development. Now ‘filling the void,’ Cerro Music is seeing continuous growth since partnering with FUGA.
The following recaps an interview with Andres Salce as part of Downtown Music’s series, The Music Industry Lives Here. Downtown Music is a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.
We consider ourselves an ally to the artists. Even though we act as their label, they’re more our partner than label service.
Cerro Music Group is an independent, boutique 360 company. Andres Salce, explains, “We handle artists in the Latin space — working with them in A&R, label, distribution, management, booking, touring, and artist development.”
Regarding the ‘solution-based approach’ Cerro brings to its artists, Salce says, “That’s one of our biggest assets that we’re very proud of — teaching artists how to become an expert in the music industry. The more knowledge we give them, the better artists they can be — the better business person they can be.”
In the 90s, long before Cerro Music was born, Salce worked as a record promoter for an independent label. “Then I had to work for every major, all the way to 2009.”
In its early days, Cerro Music Group operated as a consulting company for touring. “The Live Nations and the AEGs of the world were not staffed in the Latin Department. Touring has always been big, but never national.”
According to Salce, every major venue was accepting artists coming into their city, but they didn’t have a Latin expert. “At that time, Cerro filled that void.”
As the company and the rest of the music world transitioned to the digital world, Cerro Music Group ‘went full-time with touring and consulting, and took on artist development with new releases.”
“At that time, Latin artists didn’t have any knowledge of how to develop their new releases. So, we kept evolving. We started acting as an agent or a liaison for the artists to bring them to an independent distributor.”
However, Cerro soon identified a glitch in the existing system for artist management at independent distributors.
“After we brought these artists to a distributor, we wound up doing the marketing — we wound up being responsible for their release. So we began looking for a simpler and more direct way to give independent artists that new team for them to move forward.”
“Where did those artists go? The whole industry suddenly changed, and the artists had no team to help them get to where they wanted.”
According to Salce, “There was no independent label in that space that was servicing their [Latin musicians’] needs.”
“Latin music has always been here. We’ve always sold millions of albums. We didn’t have the same platforms to make the same global noise. Latin music has always brought the numbers, but didn’t have the data to back it up.”
According to Salce, local artists from small countries like the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico were releasing Latin hits that failed to transcend onto the global radar. That’s because Latin music was ‘measured differently.’ “We didn’t have the type of stats that we have available today. We didn’t have visualization with social media.”
Salce says that the digital era has created a dynamic where everything exists at the same level. “Music is music now.”
Today, Cerro Music identifies potential artist relationships based on two factors: musicians that need a ‘new home’ and exploring talent in an in-house studio.
“We’ve been [looking for] artists in two ways. One is a relationship we built with an artist for years in the music industry, maybe acting as a promoter or being on tour with them. Now, they need our help with developing and growing the digital space.”
“The other way is through a team of A&R producers that bring in talent. We have a studio that we feel a need for — and new artists are always looking for it. They can record and show the music.”
Salce explains that their partnership with FUGA came at the right time and completely upscaled Cerro Music Group’s growth trajectory.
“FUGA is very effective in providing us with analytics. [They’ve] given us a portal to look for ways to advance our music and the tools to maneuver ourselves to the same level as any major.”
“With FUGA, we can now fully comply with every need an artist has — from studio, A&R, to label to distribution. Then we do everything else with marketing, artists, development, booking, and touring.”
“Since we [partnered] with FUGA, we’ve seen continuous growth. FUGA is the missing piece that has allowed us to provide everything to artists fully. Whether it’s catalog, adding more artists, or releases .”
Salce believes Cerro Music Group’s remarkable growth trajectory has allowed it to take the front lines with every label and corporation in the industry.
“We see ourselves playing an important role in the industry.”
About The Music Industry Lives Here: Downtown Music’s interview series allows powerful conversations with the voices shaping the music industry. To gain weekly access to exclusive interviews with music executives, artists, record label owners, and influential figures who drive the rhythm of the industry, join here.
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