Sony Spain's Cámara Is In Revivalist Mood

One of Spain's most respected music industry operators, José María Cámara, has unveiled a three-pronged plan with the dual aim of improving the standing of his new label, Sony Music Entertainment Spain, and sparking a music industry revival aimed at keeping Spain among the world's top 10 markets.

Cámara, who took over as president of Sony Spain Sept. 2, tells Billboard, "Within three or four years, I want to make Sony the leader in domestic repertoire, convert the label into a major source of Spanish music to export to the world, and expand the amount of international Sony product marketed in Spain."

Cámara was speaking on his return to Spain after a seven-month stint in New York heading RCA's Elvis Presley anniversary campaign as BMG's international senior VP of strategic projects (Billboard, Sept. 14). During his earlier 20-year spell heading BMG-Ariola Spain, he established the label as a local product leader, with such artists as Joaquín Sabina, Joan Manuel Serrat, Ana Belén, Victor Manuel, Pedro Guerra, Manolo García, Ska-P, and Niña Pastori.

He now faces the tasks of helping the industry climb out of a sales slump caused by rampant piracy and helping end what insiders view as the creative doldrums in which the industry is stranded, following the CD-driven success of Operación Triunfo, which has seen a series of karaoke-style singers from the TV show dominate the Spanish charts since last December.

"The Spanish industry is facing a number of challenges, [and] I consider it my duty to play an integral part in its transformation," Cámara says. "My first goal is to convert Sony Spain into a creative and management reference point, concentrating on the development of local artists—which has always been my vocation."

Cámara, 54, says he is proud of his work on the Presley project, although he admits: "I was not an Elvis fan when I started—coming as I do from the Beatles generation—but now the guy completely absorbs me."

Apart from developing domestic product, Cámara says he wants Spain to become a key market for product from Sony France and Sony Italy. "The situation is extraordinary in France, where Sony has a 25% market share and several million-selling artists. Italy has a similar situation. [But] the usual Sony international product that sells in Spain is Sony U.S., Sony U.K., and Sony Latino. That has to expand, first with product from France and Italy.

"I want to revive the Spanish market," Cámara continues, "to help it maintain its ninth position in [International Federation of the Phonographic Industry] IFPI world rankings and also to see Sony Spain as a major source of Spanish repertoire for the world. Our first priority is [vocalist] Monica Naranjo, who has just finished an English-language album." First-half figures for 2002 from labels body and IFPI affiliate AFYVE gave Sony Spain a 12.6% market share, behind Universal with 19.7% and Warner with 15.3%.

Wryly conceding that he does not see himself as the "savior of the Spanish industry," Cámara nevertheless insists that "all the catastrophic talk out of Spain [about piracy and a creative slump] doesn't have any effect on me. On the contrary, it acts as a stimulant, and I see the so-called crisis as a challenge."