This band first successfully tried their way through the TV contest “The X Factor”, which gave them a contracted with Sony Music and a first LP, “Il Ballo Della Vita” (2018), which that year became the fifth best-seller in his country with 150,000 copies. Outside, however, his concerts were limited to venues of about 200 people.
For him release of his new album, “Teatro d’ira: Vol. I” (2021), redoubled the bet. They were crowned at the San Remo Festival with “Zitti e buoni” and, from there, they obtained the pass Eurovision, which exponentially multiplied its worldwide visibility.
“We went without particular expectations. What interested us was to bring our product, what we are, to a stage that was not even bigger but that had a different visibility, because it included other countries, something that was impossible for us”, explains Damiano David , group leader.
That allowed them to re-record together with the very same Iggy Pop “I Wanna Be Your Slave”, one of the songs on the album that had been number 1 in countries like Finland and “top 5” in the United Kingdom, in addition to becoming a gateway to the US, generating an explosion of consumption which was reflected in the network conversations.
“We are very happy with how it went and very happy that a little thanks to what has happened to us, Eurovision has regained people’s appreciation a little. I can’t think of a bigger competition not only in Europe, but in the world David added.
Currently only on Spotify his song “Beggin'” exceeds 1,000 million listenersa figure that is multiplied by five if we take into account the progress of its comprehensive repertoire on all digital platforms.
“The turning point in the mentality change of the music industry with Eurovision was the success of Maneskin”, agrees José María Barbat, president of Sony Music Spain, before “a brutal digital tour that nobody expected at a global level”.
According to his analysis, it is explained by the confluence of two reasons: San Remo worked as an endorsement of good proposals (Italy’s consistency in Eurovision demonstrates this, almost always among the first places) and it served to drag a good mass of spectators to the festival continental.
“To that is added that it had a lot to do with the group characteristics, a generational leap compared to other proposals. Before, other things were presented, which was the great problem of Spain, always thinking of a more adult audience cut. No one would have dared to think years ago that a band of glam rock in Italian I would have won in this context,” he says.
The paradigm shift was confirmed with them, but it had begun to take shape before. It happened with the Swedish winners “Euphoria” by Loreen and “Heroes” by Mans Zelmerlow, who jumped out of the Eurovision ghetto to the radio formula of other countries thanks to some big record labels.
“But that ‘eurodance’, almost all of it from northern Europe, has a very short journey,” Barbat considers.
Eurovision chances came to the fore again with Mahmood in 2019, again a former “The X Factor” contestant and winner of San Remo (second in Eurovision). “Soldi”, an unusual proposal that looked at the urban environment, became with him the most listened to song in the history of the festival on Spotify.
That title was snatched from him two years later and with 300 million views after conquering the Americans with another song from that edition, “Arcade”, the cathartic ballad by Dutchman Duncan Laurence. No other Eurovision hit had made it onto the official US list since 1997.
The reason was TikTok, where it had gone viral. It was not the only phenomenon associated with the Chinese platform, which saw the hashtag #Eurovision2021 accumulate more than 1,400 million views, so it is not surprising that this year it has become an official partner of the festival.
“For us, the European market is a priority. This association with Eurovision is one more example of our sustained commitment to bring entertainment to all corners of the region”, explains the Marketing Director of TikTok for Western and Southern Europe, Jana Ulaite.
Thanks to this alliance, TikTok has been able to offer its users exclusive content and show them everything that happens behind the scenes, during the first rehearsals of the participants and even at the first gala.
What’s more, among the artists in this edition there is a name that achieved fame precisely as a “tiktoker” before being a candidate for Eurovisionthe British Sam Ryder, who is one of the favorites to win.
“TikTok is a place where discover and rediscover artistas and trends and I think it will continue like this in the future. Therefore, it would not be unusual to see new artists or creators participating in the festival in the future,” predicts Ulaite.
The change of profile in Eurovision is perceived in candidacies such as that of the Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra, which with its fusion of folk, hip hop and electronica are a recent signing of Sony Music Germany.
“In the last 5 years, the proposals increasingly vindicate the local music scene, risking with genres and scenographies that normally would have been valued as not very Eurovision”, highlights Barbat, for whom “this diversification of the offer and that the audience responds to it It’s the trigger that the multis needed to see the festival as a great global showcase”.
The new paradigm It has even been seen at Benidorm Fest, the newborn Spanish pre-selection, which welcomed rappers, alternative pop artists and even electronic folk.
For the president of Sony Music Spain, “you have to learn from what happened with Rigoberta Bandini, from everything you can achieve even if you don’t get elected”. In her opinion, she “was the real winner”, because in addition to “Ay Mama” (22 million listeners), the rest of her catalog was infected with that virality.
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