We have been fortunate to be able to present Juan Ortiz de Zaldumbide at the MGM Festival Meet up. Juan from That Music Agency has booked Danish bands for Rock Al Parque in Colombia. Juan joins the panel where you’ll meet five international festivals and get insights on festival details, strategy as bookers and what they are looking for when booking artists.
Meet Juan Ortiz de Zaldumbide, owner of That Music Agency (Sweden)
Can you tell us a bit about your work? And your focus and musical profile?
I don’t run a festival myself, but I work with festivals, events, and music conferences, where my role centers on curating and creating connections. My aim is to provide platforms that help Nordic, European, and Latin American artists reach new audiences and develop their projects in different markets. My musical focus is diverse and adapts to the audience I’m targeting. I work with metal, punk, cumbia, electronic, hip hop, rock, popular, indie… As long as I like it and I see potential, I put my energy into it. Regardless of the genre, my approach to curation is based on connecting the right acts with the right audiences, which is where the real matchmaking happens.
What is your background and how long have you been working with Rock Al Paque?
For 13 years, I was an artist manager at M3 Music, company I co-founded, was a partner and worked managing Colombian artists with big international potential. During that time, I achieved amazing stuff beyond imagination, and had the opportunity to travel a lot, which allowed me to build a solid network with festivals, promoters, and industry professionals across different regions, which is now a key asset in my current work as the owner of That Music Agency.
With Rock Al Parque, for instance, which is the biggest open-air free-entrance festival in Latin America, I have booked multiple acts since 2011 while I was still living in Bogotá. And now I continue to do so but from Europe. I have recently booked (so far only Danish) bands like Konvent and Afsky for Rock Al Parque, providing a platform for these lesser known acts abroad to impact a new market with the festival as their launching point to a broader audience for their future development in the region.
Best show you’ve ever seen hands down? And why was that?
I’ve had so many incredible concert experiences over the years. Here are a few highlights:
– Seeing Black Sabbath—the greatest band of all time—in my hometown of Bogotá, and then again for their final show at Copenhell in Denmark. (Sadly, I never got to see them with Bill Ward…)
– Watching The Black Angels at their own Austin Psych Fest in 2014 was unforgettable. It was loud, psychedelic, dark…
– I’ve seen Slayer six times across four different countries, and each time was amazing. Slayer is like therapy. Well, better than therapy. It’s that ‘FUCKING SLAYERRRR!’ feeling.
– Sleep at Den Grå Hal in Christiania — a match made in hell!
– Underworld? Hands down the best party on earth!
– And a final shoutout to Danish favorite shows: Afsky completely blew me away, and Undergang was horrendous and brutal. I loved it!
https://rockalparque.gov.co/2024
Meet Juan at MGM Festival Meet Up 2024 at Institut For X.
Saturday the 16th. november at 1-3pm.
Sign up and details at: https://mono.dk/deltag-i-mgm-festival-meet-up-og-mod-fem-festivaler/
MGM Festival Meet Up is created in cooperation with and supported by MXD – Music Export Denmark and Tuborgfondet.