Spanish Scandal Embroils Million-Selling Artist

Singer Sought Inside Information On SGAE Investigation From Intelligence Sources

Originally written for Billboard Magazine, September 2011

El Rey De Pollo Frito – “The King Of Fried Chicken” – is not a title that Ramoncín is particularly happy with. The 55-year old Spanish pop star has only himself to blame, however, having written and recorded a song with that name in 1978.

But now the unflattering moniker is surely the furthest thing from his mind. That’s because the veteran artist – awarded a Diamond Disc for his one-million plus record sales in 2006 – has been accused of involvement in Spain’s ongoing SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores) collection society scandal. It is alleged in the Spanish media that he attempted to extract inside information on the investigation through a contact in the country’s equivalent of the CIA.

As previously reported (Billboard, July 2), Eduardo “Teddy” Bautista, a Spanish 60s soul legend and, until recently, the chairman of the SGAE, along with José Luis Rodriguéz Neri, the Director General of its digital subsidiary, SDAE, were arrested on June 29. They and seven more were accused of corruption, which the prosecution claims was endemic within the organization. Neri has been singled out as the mastermind.

He is being tried for a range of crimes, including fraud and misappropriation of funds, which, it is claimed, were illegally diverted to front companies. The prosecution also alleges he ran up huge personal bills on company credit cards.

Ramoncín – real name José Ramón Julio Martínez Márquez – had been part of the SGAE and SDAE management team for 20 years, until 2007. He then became an advisor to the digital affiliate. As the arrests were made and accusations started to fly, he publicly tried to distance himself from the organization and the misdeeds of some of its officers, even saying in an interview with Publico magazine: “I regret having stuck up for the collection of cowards that is the SGAE.”

And stick up for it he had. Ramoncín gained a degree of notoriety with the Spanish public as a vociferous champion of the canon digital, a highly unpopular blanket tax, collected by the SGAE on huge variety of devices – from USB drives (40 cents), MP3 players ($4), to high-volume photocopiers ($306). The tax even applied to the computer this article was written on, adding around $16 to its price – due to it containing a hard drive.

But despite his public condemnations, Ramoncín seems to have continued to be privately loyal to at least one of his former colleges  ­– José Luis Rodriguéz Neri. Descriptions and partial transcripts of phone calls made between the pair, discussing the police investigation of the SGAE, appeared in the quality daily paper ABC on September 23 and have been widely reported elsewhere in the Spanish media.

These conversations, which took place before the arrests, alternate between alarm that the investigation will take place, outrage at what the two consider to be its political motives and speculation at who might lead it. At one point they even appear to speak in code.

Incredibly, Ramoncín also remarks that he will be dining with a friend from the CNI, the Spanish National Intelligence Center. “Then I’ll know more than anybody,” he boasts. Whether he ever had that conversation is not known, but what seems clear is that he played at least some part in the intrigue, and was prepared to use dubious methods to aid his situation. It is also obvious from the conversations that both men were completely unnerved by the prospect of being investigated.

A motive for Ramoncín going that extra mile for Neri was reported in business magazine El Economista on September 26. “I found myself in a delicate situation,” he explained to the SGAE investigators. The delicacy of the situation involved money, as it seems the singer’s had all but run out. In desperation, he turned to his colleague Neri to supply him with the funds needed to save him from ruin, according to the Spanish periodical. 

The rationale for the canon digital was to recoup some of the revenues lost through piracy, by levying an additional charge on anything that might be used in the pursuit of illegal copying and distribution.

Ironically, it is alleged that a proportion of the revenues collected via the canon have ended up in the pockets of Neri and his co-accused, instead of going to the artists, producers and others that usually benefit from royalties. With Neri also using company credit cards to fund an extravagant lifestyle involving a clutch of luxury homes, opulent foreign travel, jewelry purchases and “domestic expenses”.

As of July this year, the canon tax has been rescinded. Bautista and Neri face a possible 10-year stretch if found guilty, and public and industry ire towards the former has resulted in the canning of a documentary on his considerable artistic contribution to Spanish music with his band, Los Canarios. Meanwhile, a planned Greatest Hits double CD seems destined for the remainder bin.

Looking on from his throne in the courtroom, the King Of Fried Chicken must be wondering what his legacy will amount to at the end of this investigation.

Amazon.es finally arrives

Originally written for Billboard Magazine  - October 2011

"Now you can make your purchases in Spanish," reads the splash page, signaling that after years of having to buy music from foreign Amazon stores - and in the case of physical media, paying extra shipping charges - on Wednesday 18^th September Amazon.es arrived for Spanish music fans - sixteen years after the first purchase from Amazon.com was shipped to the country from the U.S. via the .com

With 450,000 CDs available, the company is hoping to have a big impact on Spanish music market, currently dominated by large retailers such as department stores FNAC and El Corte Inglés.

Downloads are not currently available from the Spanish portal, and when pressed on their possible debut, Vice President for Europe Greg Greeley would not be drawn on whether they would, or name a date, telling Spanish daily El País that it was policy “not to reveal our future plans.”

The arrival of Amazon.es could not have come at a better time, according to Antonio Guisasola, president of Promusicae, the country's recorded music industry trade group. In an e-mailed response he told Billboard that the arrival of such an “emblematic online brand” brought with it a “little oxygen” to a music industry beset by plummeting sales, worrying rates of piracy, and a political administration whose response to the industry’s problems is decidedly “lukewarm”.

Guisola cites the development of another channel to market, increased price competition, and a widening of the market as reasons for cautious optimism. He also hopes that a powerful international player in Spain will toughen the government’s attitude towards illegal downloads.

Spaniards certainly now have more choice with a dedicated portal, where prices are a little cheaper than in stores, bargain hunters being able to pick up this week's number one album - “Hacia lo salvaje” by Amaral for €10.79, versus a discounted €11.99 in leading media outlet FNAC.

Asked about widening its market share from a standing start, VP Europe Greeley’s stated position is that although Amazon is a late starter in Spain, it would expand much more rapidly than in earlier territories as the company already had a strong commercial route map, drawn from its experience in other European countries.

Capturing market share may be an Amazonian priority, but however you cut the cake, it is getting considerably smaller, year on year. In fact, music sales in Spain fell by around 55 per cent between 2005 and 2010 – a rate of decline well above the global average. In 2010 alone, the market fell by an estimated 22 per cent, as reported by Billboard on Jan 31 this year, to €167 million (U.S. $228 million).

Promusicae itself said in late July that the trade value of Spanish recorded-music sales was down 18.7% in 1H11. And it’s not just that physical recordings are losing out. The value of Internet-download sales was down 19.7% year-on-year, and mobile download sales fell more than 50%.

As for the presence of Amazon.es being an incentive for improving the piracy situation, where according to Nielson’s November 2010 report 45% of active internet users use services that distribute music illegally, only time - and perhaps a change of political climate after the November elections - will tell.