Prisa music arm spins into Mexico
Division will focus on seeking out local talent
Gran Via Musical Mexico marks the first direct presence in a Latin American country for the subsid. Before the year is out, GVM will open offices in Argentina and Puerto Rico, topper Ignacio Iglesias said.
GVM operations in Spain encompass music recording, editorial, distribution and event and festival promotion. It also controls 75% of recording outfit Muxxic Latina, a Miami-based joint venture with Universal Music Group.
Homegrown efforts
The Mexico division will focus initially on seeking out local talent, as well as promoting GVM's roster of talent in Spain and Miami.
GVM Mexico also will look to spark synergies with Prisa's publishing house Santillana and radio net Radiopolis, a joint venture with Televisa.
GVM Mexico will be housed in Santillana Mexico City's offices and will use its support staff. To start, it will have a dedicated crew of just three, including Yvonne de la Torre, tapped as local label manager for Muxxic Latina.
"Despite the piracy problem, Mexico is the most important market in the region, along with Brazil," Iglesias said, and the timing is right for the group. "We planned from the beginning to expand parallel to the development of (Prisa's) media holdings.
"For global labels like Sony or EMI, Latin America probably represents a very small percentage of their sales," he added. "But for us, it is our principal market."
(Emiliano de Pablos contributed to this report.)
