“We live totally oblivious to Spotify,” states Pep Frías, president of Bestiar Netlabel, a metropolitan online record label born in 2010 with the aim of bringing together and promoting rock music proposals far from the usual circuits. The members are Jordi Rodriguez, Pep Soria, Xavi Masip, and Frías, four music lovers, some of them professional musicians, who sixteen years ago wanted to group some of their favorite bands from Barcelona and its surroundings into a catalog.
Unlike large music platforms, these four rock enthusiasts defend the netlabel format, a download system that gained fame in 2005 and refers to labels that distribute music only in digital format. Specifically, Bestiar operates through a website protected by Creative Commons licenses, where any of the references can be listened to in full, downloaded, and used, as long as it is not for commercial purposes and their authorship is recognized.
Currently, the catalog has 245 publications. There are musicians from Barcelona, the metropolitan area, and even Russians and Argentinians. Contact is made either by the label members or the artists. “One of the most loyal groups we have is the Zaragoza band Lana Lee,” details the president.
They have also published music by artists like Javier Colis or Vamos a Morir, groups they are very proud of because they listened to them when they were young. “Their music wasn't available in digital format, and now not even in physical, because many companies have closed. I digitized the first album of Vamos a Morir,” says Frías with enthusiasm.
Programmers of the Centre Cultural la Bòbila
In addition to the label, for more than ten years Bestiar Netlabel has been in charge of programming the summer concerts held on the rooftop of the Centre Cultura la Bòbila in l'Hospitalet, which champion live music and give visibility to both emerging bands and consolidated projects from the music scene. “The place is magical,” comments Frías. In fact, last Saturday, July 4, they held a session that brought together dozens of fans on the rooftop to listen to Ginesthai, a jazz-rock fusion band from Sant Joan Despí that publishes its music on Bestiar Netlabel. The band offered a repertoire that combined jazz-rock fusion with influences from progressive music, their most characteristic hallmark.
Frías announces that the next performance, yet to be announced, will be in September, featuring Kinder Bwana, the band of which the president is a member.
Right now, organizing concerts is the collective's main activity, as netlabels are on the decline. In fact, this often makes the four members of the label, who dedicate themselves voluntarily, wonder if it's worth continuing with the project. Despite the difficulties, they point out that they gather a loyal audience that keeps them going. "In general, people access the platforms they want, but there are still those who value what we do because we open the doors to a specific scene and because of the contact they have with similar bands," reflects the member of the entity.
Thus, what was born as a label to make visible a diverse musical herd (that's why they are called Bestiar Netlabel) could be in its final phase. Before that happens, don't miss the opportunity to browse their website and listen to rock groups like Maamut, a band of Argentinians established in Barcelona, OVVO or Blat Bord (the voice and guitar are by Frías).
