Alejandro Sanz Agrees to New Unorthodox Management Deal

Alejandro Sanz has a new unconventional management agreement…

The 53-year-old Spanish Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, one of the most iconic and influential artists in Latin music, is starting a new phase in his career with an unorthodox management agreement.

Alejandro Sanz

Sanz, who hasn’t had formal management in place since 2016, will now work with two separate executives, each of them focused on a different area of his career.

On the one hand, Alex Mizrahi, who heads management and promotion company OCESA-Seitrack, will now oversee Sanz’s international management and business. And Iñigo Zabala, the former president of Warner Music Iberia and Latin America, will oversee his recording career and creative output.

“There is strength in numbers,” said Sanz, explaining his decision to work with two separate entities. “I’m excited about this partnership with Álex Mizrahi and Íñigo Zabala. The three of us believe artists should develop in an ideal environment for creation, and I feel this connection between us will result in an evolved management model, where each of us brings his knowledge and experience to reach our common goals.”

With a 25-year trajectory under his belt that includes Spain’s two top-selling albums of all time, Sanz, signed to Universal Music, continues to be a touring and recording powerhouse.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone who hasn’t fallen in love, laughed or cried to an Alejandro Sanz song. The enormous power of his music goes beyond borders, ages and languages,” says Mizrahi, whose company – OCESA-Seitrack — is a subsidiary of Seitrack Management and live event giant OCESA.

On his end, Zabala’s ties to Sanz are tight; as a Warner executive, he signed Sanz to his first major record label deal over 20 years ago, and remained his friend even after Sanz moved to Universal.

“It’s an honor to collaborate again with Alejandro Sanz, whom I consider one of the best composers of all time. His influence on what is Latin music today can be felt everywhere,” said Zabala.

A four-time Grammy winner and 25-time Latin Grammy winner who was also the Latin Academy’s Person of the Year in 2017, Sanz is one of Latin music’s most celebrated and influential artists, both at a musical and political level.

Sanz was long-managed by Spanish manager Rosa Lagarrigue, but the two parted ways in 2016 in a split that ended up in a legal dispute.

Since then, Sanz has not had formal management, but had his own offices and management firm, MOW, which handles Spanish artists Nina Pastori and Pol Granch. Now, Seitrak will also have a hand in their management as well.

Micro TDH Signs Exclusive Record Deal with Warner Music Latina

Micro TDH is ready to break out…

The 22-year-old Venezuelan singer has signed an exclusive record deal with Warner Music Latina.

Micro TDH

The agreement between Warner and the Latin music newcomer will further develop the artist’s musical career, including the release of his upcoming studio album.

“Micro TDH is the new face of the Urban Latin music movement and I am sure that one day he will be recognized as one of the best Latin songwriters of all time,” said Iñigo Zabala, president of Warner Music Latin America & Iberia in a statement. “It is an incredible privilege to work with such a multifaceted and talented artist.”

Managing director Gabriela Martinez agrees, calling Micro one of the most sought-after young acts. “With his incomparable talent, charisma, unique sound, and our vision we will work hard to grow his music,” she adds.

With over two million followers on Instagram, Micro TDH is a singer-songwriter who has caught the attention of music lovers with his soulful hip-hop fusions and raw lyrics about love, heartbreak, and life lessons, overall.

He first got on the international radar with his collaboration on Piso 21’s feel-good track “Te Vi,” which peaked at No. 28 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart dated May 11, 2019. After collaborating with artists like Lenny TavarezGreeicyJustin Quiles, and Colombian hitmaker Ovy on the Drums, Micro is currently making the rounds with his Myke Towers-assisted “El Tren,” which recently entered the Latin Pop Airplay chart.

“I hope this is the beginning of something very big. We are here to make history with our music and leave a mark in the industry,” Micro, who’s nominated for best artist Andean region at the 2021 Premios Heat, expressed.

Myke Towers Signs Joint Global Distribution Deal with Warner Latina & Warner Records

Myke Towers is going global…

After a two-year courtship, and rising above offers from multiple competing labels, Warner Latina and Warner Records have jointly signed an exclusive global distribution deal with the 27-year-old Puerto Rican rising star and his independent label, Whiteworld Music.

Myke Towers

The deal was spearheaded by Warner Music Latina president Iñigo Zabala, who brought Towers to the attention of Warner Records global heads at a time when music in Spanish is a global force, a fact highlighted by Towers’ remarkable success as an independent artist.

In the past 12 months alone, Towers, whose full name is Michael Anthony Torres Monge, has placed seven songs on the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, two songs on Billboard’s Global Ex U.S. chart, six songs on the Spotify 200 chart (more than any other Latin act) and is currently No. 8 on YouTube’s Global artist chart while his video of “Bandido” with Juhn is No. 2 on the service’s Global chart this week.

No wonder that while Towers sings in Spanish, Warner sees him as a completely global act. “He is one of our most important signings of the past year,” Warner Records Co-Chairman & COO Tom Corson says bluntly.

That import has already been tested, most impactfully in “Me gusta,” the Anitta track released last September where Warner paired Towers with the Brazilian star and Cardi B.

As it turns out, Towers has been on Warner Latin’s sights since 2017, when he first started releasing music. But the label’s approach began in earnest in 2019, after he collaborated with Warner Music Latina group Piso 21.

“We formally contacted him in April 2019, when he released his single ‘Si Se Da,’” says Zabala, president of Warner Music Latin America & Iberia. “At that point, it was clear he was a very, very special artist. We always presented to them [Towers’ management] that we were the better partner to help them globalize Myke’s music. It’s been a long conversation, but it’s been very successful.”

Towers has risen quickly to fame at a time when Latin music is exploding in popularity at a global scale and consumption is at an all-time high. But it took him a beat to become coveted.

In 2018, after an initial stint with another indie, Towers approached Orlando “Jova” Cepeda and José “Tito” Reyes, partners in Whiteworld, a label, production and management company in Puerto Rico. “We gave him a hand and he decided to stay with us,” says Cepeda. “He was vastly underestimated; quiet, humble, the opposite of the genre. But we saw the originality in him.”

Towers was a rapper who shunned the more facile lyrics of reggaetón, opting for more heartfelt storytelling in his beginnings in 2016. But he also had a more melodic, commercial side to him, and quickly became highly sought-after for collaborations by big stars like Thalía and Becky G a couple of years later.

Whiteworld released Towers’ music through GLAD Empire, an indie distributor that’s known for achieving huge hits, like Anuel AA’s debut album. As Towers began to chart higher – by 2019, his “Si se da” peaked at No. 11 on the Hot Latin Songs chart — outside notice in him rose.

“But Warner were the only ones who initially had that interest,” says Reyes. In 2019, he says, Héctor Rivera, Warner Latina’s VP of A&R, showed up at Whiteworld’s studios in Puerto Rico.

“I told him, ‘Brother, truly, we’re not looking for anyone. But I’m paying attention because you’re here,’” recalls Reyes.  “Honestly, if they hadn’t come to see us that day at the studio, maybe we wouldn’t have made the deal.”

By then, many other people wanted a deal with Towers, but Warner won out. “Warner gave us respect,” says Cepeda. “They understood the project. I told Iñigo that if they wanted to sign Myke, it had to be global.”

Corson and Warner Records Co-Chairman & CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck both reached out to Towers and his team, signaling their commitment.

“Iñigo took the lead, but once the ball is rolling we’re working closely,” says Corson. “In this climate, with global playlisting, and genres meaning less and less, and records crossing over, language being less of a barrier, you have to be in each other’s business. It used to be much more one way: what could the U.S./Anglo labels export? Now, you’d be foolish to take that attitude and you would lose a lot of business if you weren’t in constant communication with your teams.”

As big as Towers has already become, “there’s still a major part of the globe who doesn’t know who he is,” says Bay-Schuck. “That’s where we’re going to come in and find the right ways to seed his music, collaborate with the right English speaking artists so Myke Towers becomes the same household name here that he is in the rest of the world. We’re  intentionally curating our roster […] and that means you can’t have a roster with 10 of the same things in it. I think Myke saw a massive opportunity to really be one of one and have the belief we were going to treat him like the priority he is.”

Max Lousada, Global CEO of Recorded Music, Warner Music Group added: “Myke is a distinctive songwriter, powerful performer, and incredible artist […] He’s at the forefront of a new generation of global talent that’s transcending languages, crossing boundaries, and disrupting genres. His possibilities are limitless.”