Alicia Música. Photo courtesy of Alícia Rodriguez.
Alicia Música is the name of a local music and event publicity company with an international reputation. Put it this way, when Van Morrison or Jackson Browne play in Barcelona, they call Alicia to manage their promotion.
The firm has handled communication for festivals such as Sonar, Primavera Sound and Visorfest, as well as cultural installations such as the David Bowie Is exhibition that came from London to the Museu del Disseny in Barcelona last year. This might lead one to assume that Alicia is based in a high-profile office in Gràcia or Poblenou, with several full-time publicists on staff who throw company Christmas parties every year and so on...
Wrong. Alicia Música is one person: Alicia Rodriguez. Her office is her kitchen table in Santa Coloma. She sometimes hires part-time assistants but is essentially a one woman show. So how did this young journalism major transform her passion for rock and roll into a career that’s made her one of the most sought-after music publicists in Spain?
Alicia Música. Photo by Desi Estevez.
“Some of the people at the radio stations where I now promote my artists once had me as an intern or were my professors in college. Some of the bands that are now touring all over the place were once local acts that I grew up with,” Alicia says. “I started with what I knew and the contacts I had, and built on them.”
Alicia Rodriguez started out as a freelance journalist, contributing to magazines, newspapers and radio stations such as Ruta66, El Periodico, Mondosonoro and Radio4. At the same time, she started working at the PR agency Musa Comunica, promoting local bands and record labels. Six years ago, she decided to strike out on her own and formed her own one-person promotion company: Alicia Música.
“I think that in the beginning, artists responded to me because they could see that I cared about the success of their projects as much as they did,” she says. She explains that the most rewarding part of her work is growing along with bands who trust her to handle their various projects in the beginning and then decided to stick around over the years, often becoming good friends in the process. Artists such as A Contra Blues, Tori Sparks, Ramon Aragall and the Slingshots took their chances on her — who was then a lone publicity agent with passion and energy — rather than spending huge sums of money on bigger or more established representation.
As Alicia worked to grow these and other artists’ reputations, her own reputation grew along with them. It’s not unusual to see her answering work emails or reposting articles about her clients on social media via her phone while at the beach on a Sunday. Her unrelenting perseverance has paid off in the form of winning the trust of the local and national media, which means access and visibility for her clients.
Alicia insists that part of her great reputation comes from making no promises — except that she’ll work as hard as possible to promote each project. “Blowing smoke is what bad PR people do and there are a lot of bad PR people out there,” Alicia says. “You can get away with doing it once, but if you want to continue to work, you have to create realistic expectations.”
She believes that another key to her success is diversity. “A band doesn’t have to play my favorite style for me to recognize that what they do is good,” Alicia says. “I’m passionate about music and I want to serve the artists I work for, period.”
Alicia Música. Photo by Desi Estevez.
Alicia is also a writer and in 2016 released her first book of poetry, Fenix (66 RPM Edicions). “It’s a book about hope,” she says. “It’s about getting back up when you’re knocked to the ground.”
In January of this year, right in the middle of putting together a massive benefit concert at Sala Razzmatazz, Alicia lost her father to cancer. When asked what got her through a year filled with difficulties, from personal losses to an unstable political and economic environment, she says: “The music, of course. It’s my job, it’s my hobby. It’s everything.”
Somewhere in between album campaigns, Alicia still works as a freelance journalist and donates time to local causes (including Veu Animal animal refuge and the Sufragettes feminist association) and acts as PR liaison for various nonprofit events.
You can find Alicia Rodríguez on www.aliciaweb.es.