Spanish Music Album
Kansas Eiffel
While the flood of kids music designed to teach kids a foreign language has thankfully slowed down somewhat (the results were usually very dry, musically-speaking), what's left over is generally of higher quality. I wanted to highlight ever so briefly some recent Spanish-language (or mostly Spanish-language) albums for kids. I've even thrown in a Portuguese-language album for good measure. Whether any of these would sneak into my 2015 list of ten great Spanish-language kids music albums, I'd need to spend a little more time thinking about, but all of these five albums are worth listening to in one way or another.
The highest-profile of the five albums here is probably 123 Andres' Arriba Abajo, which picked up the 2016 Latin Grammy. Based in Washington DC, Colombian-born Andrs Salguero has carved a niche by playing Spanish-language music that features more sounds of Central and South America than just Mexico. This album features 10 songs sung entirely in Spanish, then the same 10 songs with English lyrics. The lyrics are targeted at a preschool age (see "Cosquillas," or "Tickles"), so they are simple and direct, while the music is definitely more sophisticated. (I particularly enjoyed "El danzon y al cha cha cha" and "Vuela, vuela" for the music.) You can stream the album here and elsewhere. I'm not sure kids would learn Spanish just by listening, but there have been far, far worse attempts at these sorts of album -- this is far more tuneful.
Los Angeles-based Sandra Sandia took a long time between albums. The late 2015 album Alegria! arrived about 7 years after its predecessor. The inspiration for the project was some drum loops produced by a musician called DJ Salada, all with a Brazilian flavor. The vast majority of the lyrics are in Spanish, and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) translations are nowhere to be found. But as a pure listening experience, that may help. And with songs about cats, snakes, whales, and, erm, flying saucers ("Platillo Volador"), the album is clearly targeted at kids. With a more modern South American sound, this album might serve as a useful counterpoint to the more traditional sound of 123 Andres.
The most adventurous album (subject-wise, but also musically) of the bunch may be Moona Luna's early 2016 album PANORAMA. It loosely tells the story of a family bus trip through South America, which means it has the time for songs about traveling (the title track), walking around cities at dusk ("Atardecer (Sunset)"), or just being with family ("Llevame (Take Me with You)"). Moona Luna's mastermind Sandra Velasquez has crafted some memorable melodies and, like all of these albums, a nicely-layered production. And while Moona Luna's first songs were much more rigid in featuring Spanish-language verses and then direct-translation English-language verses (or vice versa), these latest songs are more flexible. It means that you could take just about any song out of the context of the album, and still want to listen to it amidst a bunch of English-language kids music with more of a pop-rock flair. (Stream it here and elsewhere.) It's my favorite album of the bunch, but if it's yours depends on what you and your family are trying to get out of listening to Spanish-language albums.
Productores de Msica de Espaa (English: Spanish Music Producers, shortened as Promusicae) is the national organisation responsible for the music charts of Spain. It is a trade association that represents more than 90% of the Spanish recorded music industry.[1] It is the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) group for Spain. Promusicae is based in Madrid, Spain at Calle Mara de Molina, 39.[2]
Promusicae began in 1958 as a representative of the IFPI in Spain under the name of the Spanish Group of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Grupo Espaol de la Federacin Internacional de la Industria Fonogrfica), although not officially an association, since Spanish law during the Franco regime did not recognize the right of association until 1977. In 1978, it was registered as an association under the name Spanish Phonographic Association (Asociacin Fonogrfica Espaola) (AFE). In 1982, with the emergence and popularization of the music video, the AFE changed its name to Phonographic and Videographic Association of Spain (Asociacin Fonogrfica y Videogrfica de Espaa) (AFYVE). Finally, in 2004, AFYVE partners adopted the name, Spanish Music Producers (Productores de Msica de Espaa), abbreviated Promusicae, which is also a play on words with the Latin expression "pro musicae", which means "for / in favor of the music". The new name was instituted on 1 January 2005.[3]
The charts are calculated once every week on Sundays. They are based on retail music sales within Spain for the week from the preceding Saturday to the Friday prior to calculation. The new charts are usually uploaded to the Promusicae website on Sunday night Spanish continental time. As of January 2015, the Top 100 songs are based on streaming and both download and physical sales.[4]
Certifications have existed in Spain since the mid-1970s. During this period, both singles and albums had to sell 100,000 copies to qualify for a Gold disk, the only certification awarded at the time.[5]
Until 1 November 2005, the certification levels for music albums in Spain were 50,000 copies for Gold and 100,000 for Platinum.[6] The levels were change to 20,000 for Gold and 40,000 for Platinum in November 2011[7] and are still the same, as of June 2022[update].[8]
In January 2008, due to a decline in Physical singles, Promusicae added to the charts of the physical singles two separate Top 20 charts, one for "Digital downloads" and the other for "Original Tones" (similar to Ringtones). The change was reflected to the certifications as well, and allowed each single title to receive two separate types of certification awards.[13] The two certification formats were combined in January 2009, reflecting, again, the charts becoming a single chart. At the same time, the physical singles chart and certifications were discontinued, and the certification-levels were raised to 20,000 for Gold and 40,000 for Platinum from the previous 10,000/20,000.[14]
Streaming certifications were instituted in November 2013 at Gold for 4,000,000 streams and Platinum for 8,000,000.[21] and run until January 2015, when they were merged with the digital downloads certification, at the same time raising the equivalent certification levels to 5,000,000 and 10,000,000.[22] From 2018, the streaming equivalent levels are no longer listed.[23]
As a member of International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), one of Promusicae's main purposes is to lobby for tougher intellectual property laws to stop music copyright violations.[1]
Promusicae has monitored P2P networks gathering data about its users downloading music. In April 2005, Promusicae claimed that they were monitoring the Kazaa P2P network and they had sent "messages" containing warnings and legal threats to more than 10,000 users.[24] In early 2008, Promusicae started a judicial process against Telefnica, the biggest Spanish Internet service provider, demanding that personal data of Kazaa users they monitored should be handed over to Promusicae, so they can start suing them. The Promusicae v. Telefnica case continued until the European Court of Justice ruled that Telefnica did not have an obligation to hand user data over to Promusicae.[25]
In June 2008, Promusicae sued Pablo Soto, developer of Manolito P2P, Blubster, and Piolet. Promusicae claimed that Pablo Soto was engaging in unfair competition and demanded 13 million euros in damages.[26][27]
A MARTNEZ, HOST: A new generation is discovering flamenco through artists like Rosalia. Now there's a new musician entering the game. Maria Jose Llergo spoke with NPR's Lilly Quiroz about her debut album, "Ultrabellezza."(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUPERPODER")MARIA JOSE LLERGO: (Singing in Spanish).LILLY QUIROZ, BYLINE: Maria Jose Llergo tells us a lot about her life story in one particular song - and I'll translate the title here - "Super Powerful."LLERGO: When I wrote "Superpoder," I was thinking about my family, thinking about the separation of our family, always fighting against everything.QUIROZ: She started gaining this strength since birth. She had to go from hospital to hospital until the age of 16.LLERGO: When I was a child, I was always ill. I couldn't grow up. My hormones were, like, crazy, and I needed to be in the hospital once, twice a month. And it was so hard for me and my parents.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUPERPODER")LLERGO: (Singing in Spanish).QUIROZ: Llergo is probably from Pozoblanco, Spain, a small town in Andalusia. There, her grandfather was the first person to teach her about singing.LLERGO: He's my favorite philosopher, my maestro.QUIROZ: Growing up in the countryside under his watch, she also learned to appreciate nature. She alludes to this throughout her album.LLERGO: While he was taking care of the garden, I was there listening to him when he was singing. For me, it's very beautiful to have been with the music in my first years of being a child, a baby, because I was always playing with my voice.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "APRENDIENDO A VOLAR")LLERGO: (Singing in Spanish).QUIROZ: Though nature is her biggest inspiration, the other is...LLERGO: Society. Where I live is my big inspiration, too, because flamenco is classic music of Andalusia, the south of Spain. The value of flamenco is bigger than the Torre Eiffel (laughter). For me, we can learn about our past, learning about the lyrics.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUEDA, RUEDA")LLERGO: (Singing in Spanish).QUIROZ: Felix Contreras is co-host of the NPR podcast Alt.Latino. He says Llergo's experimentation of flamenco music won't be embraced by a lot of purists. After all, she's challenging a rich, deep history.FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: I equate it to what's going on with the blues here in the United States - right? - because it kind of comes from the same place of pain and marginalization. And yet it's been developed into this internationally recognized sound that to mess with it, you're crossing the line sometimes with people. And I love the fact that she's completely ignoring genres and rules and boundaries and creating her own thing. That's what's exciting to me.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUEDA, RUEDA")LLERGO: (Singing in Spanish).QUIROZ: Though flamenco is a big part of Spanish identity today, it hasn't always been that way. Flamenco is thought to have largely originated with the Romani people, a group that was ostracized and even persecuted throughout history. Llergo doesn't have any Romani heritage, but she says she's honored to carry on the culture.LLERGO: I am only an admirer of flamenco. And I really appreciate this music, so I learn flamenco. I listen to the old people.QUIROZ: What do you feel about flamenco going into mainstream music?LLERGO: It's fine to spread the wings of flamenco music. It's my favorite music. I want to listen it around the world. My flamenco has roots but wings, too.QUIROZ: And on the topic of following in the footsteps of Rosalia, Llergo says...LLERGO: I am myself. I am not the next Rosalia. I am the first Maria Jose Llergo.QUIROZ: Lilly Quiroz, NPR News.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUEDA, RUEDA")LLERGO: (Singing in Spanish).
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