Rio Music Conference’s Sao Paulo Session (December 7)
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While on the one hand Rio Music Conference (RMC) is a 14 day annual electronic music event that’s somewhat of a hybrid of ADE and Miami’s WMC, on the other hand it’s a uniquely Brazilian multi-headed entity, which spins off between five different ‘Regional Gatherings’ between October and February.
Taking place in ‘Brazil’s main cities and regions’ (Curitiba, Manaus, Sao Paulo, Nordeste and Centro-Oeste) each mini-conference combines business themed panels and workshops followed by partying and festivals, with networking and bringing together Brazil’s highly fragmented club scene closer their central focus.
“The target (of the Regional Gatherings) is to plunge into the local scenes, to face the challenges of each area and absorb its uniqueness,” the online ‘About RMC’ page explains. “To address the technological, artistic production, marketing and vocational issues of the electronic music and entertainment industries in Latin America.”
RMC co-founder Pedro Nonato chatted to Skrufff this week about the logistics and specifics behind this weekend’s Sao Paulo edition (December 5-7)
Skrufff: What’s the plan/ vision for your Sao Paulo event? What is its purpose?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): “Sao Paulo is a huge city, with massive creative power, therefore taking the regional event there will help a lot of people to connect, learn and discuss about the dance music business. The purpose of the regional editions is to go everywhere in this big country of ours and listen to what people have to say – we’ve already learned so much already from starting these conferences.
Skrufff: What do you hope delegates will get from attending?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): I hope everyone gets to learn and discuss whatever is interesting in their area, also have fun at the parties, get to know the clubs, but most of all it is important that many people that work in the same market get to know each other personally for the first time in these events – this helps the networking, and bigger things often develop as a result of these connections.”
Skrufff: Why still call it Rio Music Conference when it’s in Sao Paulo?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): “Because Rio Music Conference is our brand, we are all working under the Rio Music Conference umbrella, the main edition that happens during Carnaval. The thing is, we had to take Rio Music Conference (or, as we call it, RMC) to the other parts of this huge country we have, therefore we decided to create these the so-called ‘Regional Editions’. To drive people apart from the Rio stigma, we use the name “RMC São Paulo” or “RMC Manaus” for these regional conferences.”
Skrufff: What are some of the key character differences between Sao Paulo people and Rio? (Is there any truth in the clichés that Sao Paulo people work harder and are relatively repressed whereas Rio people are sexier but spend all their lives lazing at the beach?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): “Well, Sao Paulo is a place for work and business, so much like other metropolises like New York, Tokyo or London. Rio, on the other hand, is a metropolis in paradise. There’s no arguing with that! People work as hard as they do in Sao Paulo, they just wake up earlier to run at the beach and get a quick swim in Ipanema or Barra before the day really begins.”
Skrufff: Given that Sao Paulo has no beaches, what alternative entertainment can the city offer RMC delegates?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): “Well it is a dance music conference, so clubs like D-Edge, Lions, Yacht, Disco and Clash presenting great DJs are great options for the crowd. Also Sao Paulo has amazing gastronomic and cultural delights, it’s more of that urban tourist thing.”
Skrufff: How much has the rise of EDM changed things for RMC (in what way): how’s the Brazilian scene right now?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): “Unlike the USA there hasn’t been much of a fuss about EDM in Brazil. Yes, big festivals are happening more often and paying more for superstar DJs to come, but not that much. And at the same time the entertainment market is growing without these big names, focusing more on deep and gangsta house than on commercial electro.
And the underground scene is only getting bigger! So maybe we have been growing more our own small club scene than the festivals and big DJs. We have more national material (DJs, producers, agencies, brands) than ever, and despite our local DJs not being celebrated by the crowd as much as the big names that come from abroad are, I think that’s changing and maybe it’s the most relevant trend to come.”
Skrufff: Anything else to add?
RMC (Pedro Nonato): “Yes! The main edition of the Rio Music Conference will be held from February 19th to March 4th 2014, and we will be waiting everyone for some good parties in Rio de Janeiro!”
Skrufff chief Jonty Skrufff chats to Camilo Rocha discussing ‘10 reasons why Berlin is Europe’s Capital of Electronic Music’ and moderates ‘Breaking out of Brazil- How to Build your DJ Reputation Outside Brasil’ on Saturday December 7 from 7pm local time (panelists include Renato Cohen, Dudu Marote, DJ Meme, Mauricio Soares and Paulo Tessuto).
https://www.facebook.com/riomusicconference
Seb Mortimer (Skrufff)
