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Cubadisco 2012, a good cultural bet

Autor: Oni Acosta Llerena | Fuente: CUBARTE | 28 de Mayo 2012

As every May, Cubadisco is news again in hundreds of media in and out of Cuba. And there are reasons for it: the biggest agglutinating event of the Cuban discography is re-strengthened and profiled as a vital space to make us think or at least contribute, more than one reason to dedicate more time and also more material resources to it.

Cubadisco appeared as a necessary and punctual idea of Ciro Benemelis who, with vision and effort, managed in the nineties, to bring to life the dream of providing the Cuban discography with coherence, stimulated by a contest-type event, and therefore, to start the competition mechanism, which was surrounded by certain taboo at the moment along with mysteries and questions. And there are several epochal factors that must be reflected here, as the fact of the opening of the Cuban sound heritage to  foreign record labels which, given the gradual changes introduced in the Cuban culture, arrived—or landed—in the old way, providing the new commercial—and why not?—cultural relationships of the new times, with a competitive approach and macro-marketing. And, in the end, I consider that they brought more contributions and dynamism than setbacks; they left us lessons that we have not been able to put into practice even today. But that should be the topic for another article.

Going back to Cubadisco, it is worth recalling that its direct predecessor was the EGREM Award, which for years ruled with shine and elegance, and which answered to the fact that EGREM was our only record house for more than thirty years. But the arrival of new record companies to Cuba, and their posterior settlement brought about the rebirth of the Cuban discography map, and the concretion,  in situ, of appropriate alliances of that type something that, unfortunately, had its splendor for just a few editions.

I stop in this point because I think that it´s been more than a lost battle, despite the demand of many people. I am referring to the loss of the fair nature of Cubadisco, which faded gradually. From spaces like the Pabellón Cuba, Pabexpo, the Conventions Palace and the Morro Cabaña Complex, there are just memories and words left; times when the record companies showed their products to the public or to executives are part of the past, and I just wondered. Even the fact that the Cuban public could buy the always attractive most popular Cuban CDs or the collections that the disc houses could offer, dimmed slowly like a candle effect. Reasons? I speculate that maybe it has been influenced by the fact that there are many producing companies. Since Unicornio record label doesn´t exist anymore—for the misfortune and disgrace of culture—maybe because other companies do not have the necessary license to sell their products directly to the public; maybe because the offer of formats and musical elements parallel to the album are not so popular in Cuba; and finally, I imagine and continue to speculate, that it is because the purchasing in these albums is in CUC. Why does this happen with the album unlike the book, I ask? Doesn´t the Cuban polygraph industry import raw materials that are purchased in CUC, and afterwards doesn´t it also sell the products in CUCs as well, in many cases?

I think it is no justification, and I also think that the Cuban disc industry has lacked vision, initiative, maturity. I even think that the same industry let the exhibit nature proposed by the Cubadisco—with its limitation that are proper and within the Cuban commercial relationships—die.

Our disc industry has lacked alliances, attractive promotion mechanisms that supported and kept the only fair of its type in Cuba standing, and they let the historic and cultural responsibility scape, to make it a referent out of our reach, at continental level. Therefore, the Cubadisco has the greatness of not letting itself die, and to find tangible solutions and mechanisms that allow its survival in an anti-competition disc world as it is in our country, and to compensate for the lack of the exhibition and commercial phenomenon, thus achieving important cultural alliances and strategies that consolidate it and make it an authentic event; what was conceived for competition, for showing, awarding and even selling the discography work as a whole, doesn´t count on the support of the most interested ones, any longer, as hard as it is to say so.

The Cuban country music, the Rumba and other purely Cuban cultural expressions, have been acknowledged by the Cubadisco as cores of their annual calls and, through theoretic events, master classes, concerts and more, they are already part of the contribution and legacy of which we are witnesses: unfortunately, there is no record of the great unrepeatable “jam sessions” that have taken place for years as part of the Cubadisco such as the visits of Martirio, Diego el Cigala, La Oreja de Van Gogh, just to mention part of them.

Some media should also provide more support to this event, not only every Mayo. Which program in  our TV talk seriously talk CDs? Except for a few programs like Sitio del Arte, Otros Tiempos and some spaces hosted by this author, are the few oasis for the public to have notions of how the national discography is doing. Radio is more covering and there are more spaces for analysis and comments on discs which is really lucky.

This Cubadisco 2012 which is named the Island of the Thousand Strings, pays homage to hundreds of performers and composers who, from the guitar, the laud and the tres (three-stringed guitar), in my opinion have retraced scores and myths, many times from the most incredible anonymity, and without seeking anything in return, as it is the case of Ñico Rojas, Guyún and others. Another good cultural bet of the Cubadisco, without a doubt.

Translation: Yusimí Rodríguez (Cubarte)