El Canto Del Loco

Big congratulations are in order for El Canto Del Loco, on account of 2008′s hit album “Personas” going triple platinum.
As you’ll know from previous articles up here on the website, Spain has suffered particularly badly from music piracy over recent years – none more so than last year – and it’s no mean feat in such times to come away with a triple platinum award for an album.
The picture shows Dani Martin, David Otero and Chema Ruiz being presented with their awards by current MotoGP championship leader and ECDL fan Jorge Lorenzo.

According to a report in Billboard – the entertainment business magazine, Spain continues to be the only territory in the world’s Top 10 music markets that is also in the Top 10 of major music piracy offenders – and things are getting worse, not better. This is the conclusion of labels’ body Promusicae, following yesterday’s publication of the report “Recording Industry in Numbers: 2009,” by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Based on figures available up to April 30, 2009 the report reveals that 81% of Spanish Internet users under 24 download copyrighted content via P2P files.
While physical music sales dropped by more than 30% in the first four months of 2009 compared to the same period last year, digital sales in Spain remain “ridiculous,” says Spain’s IFPI affiliate. Promusicae says the year-on-year physical fall for April is even steeper at 50%, based on preliminary estimates. Only 11% of Spanish music sales correspond to Internet or mobile phone downloads, compared to the international average of 21%. Promusicae says “this means the percentage of digital sales in Spain is still ridiculous” compared to other European countries.

In a statement, Promusicae says the IFPI report stresses that Spain does not occupy, internationally, the privileged place that corresponds to its top 10 placing “because the level of piracy is among the highest in the western world.” Spain is the ninth biggest international market, and for many years in the late ’90s and at the beginning of this decade, it held the eighth spot. The 85-member Promusicae says the situation is getting worse.
IFPI notes that Spanish retail CD and legal download music sales in 2008 were €225.2 million ($313.8 million), a drop of 7.8% compared to 2007. This made 2008 the seventh year in a row with falling sales, with a combined 56% fall compared to 2001.

Promusicae notes that a lack of a big-selling albums this year – unlike the first four months of 2008 when El Canto del Loco’s “Personas” (Sony Music) dominated the charts – is partly to blame for the growing crisis.
But it also adds that physical piracy, with sales from pavements or bars, “maintains a certain implantation in Spain,” whereas in many other countries it has been challenged. The IFPI report says “10% of the population over 16 has bought these [pirated] records at some point.”

Source: Billboard

Although we’ve been able to watch the video for ECDL’s latest single “La Suerte De Mi Vida” for a little while now on Youtube, it’s worth noting that it’s now available to buy from the iTunes Music Store.
Why buy? Well it’s simple really. The iTMS version is properly downloadable and ownable of course, and it’s a lovely big high resolution version as opposed to the clunky, grotty Youtube one. Totally worth the relatively cheap price.

You can download it here… (iTunes link)

El Canto Del Loco have announced the release of the third single from the album Personas, “La Suerte De Mi Vida” (which translates approximately as “The Luck Of My Life”). This follows the previous huge successes of both “Eres Tonto” and “Peter Pan”.
The video was shot in both New York and Madrid and features actors Álex González and Beatriz Montañez, as well as the band; and was produced by Watergun films.
You can watch the promo clip online either here on the band’s website ‘player’ or here on their Youtube channel.

The news of the single was released by the band today on the official site and in a mailshot, along with date confirmations regarding the 2009 “Hasta Luego” Tour.

I suppose the main question here is if you already own Personas, is it worth buying De Personas A Personas?
The answer depends very much on how big a fan you are. Released in early December 2008, De Personas A Personas is a special limited edition “box” that expands on the content and in many ways references the delivery and history of Personas itself as well as adding bonus material.

For a start, as well as the original 13 tracks on Personas; De Personas A Personas delivers an extra 6, including the bouncy “Quiero Ser”, the punky “H.D.P.”, a 2008 version of “Foto en Blanco y Negro” and – perhaps best of all – David Otero’s terrific “Madrid”.
Then there’s the self-referential stuff on an accompanying DVD; central to which is the 15 minute film De Cerca which follows ECDL through 2008 from the release and promotion of the album, to the concerts and signings, and the departure of Jandro. It has some excellent live footage, showing off the band’s innovative and spectacular lightshow really well. There’s also a short film on the nudey photoshoot by Rubén Martín and another shortie on the band’s friends and families; somewhat poignant following the death of Dani’s sister.
Beyond that you also get a set of three alternative promos for Eres Tonto, the promo for Peter Pan, and a little ‘making of Peter Pan video’ clip too.

The packaging is pretty much impeccable: all bound up in a thick card booklet of about 30x30cm, with many pages of band and technical notes, artworks based on the photoshoot and further photographic variations and compositions from it too. There’s also a nifty little blank diary inside for the owner to use, though I imagine most of these are destined to remain intact.

All in all a beautiful piece of work, lovingly produced with some great fan goodies in it – and at anywhere between €35 and €40 usually on eBay, very good value indeed.
As far as I’m concerned it’s a definite hit, and in no way a superfluous addition to Personas itself… Excellent.

Just a fairly random post, this one… I check the UK iTunes Music Store pretty much daily to see if they’ve added any new ECDL material (and I’ve left feedback asking for *all* albums, including the entire ‘En Directo’ series, plus the En Directo videos and all promo videos – why not also leave feedback asking for similar; let’s see if we can get a load better representation of the band up there! – You should find an option labelled “Provide iTunes Feedback” under the main “iTunes” dropdown menu in your iTunes menu bar…) and I happened to click on the ‘Top Songs’ link for the band, and this is what you get…

(*Click to enlarge…)

Perhaps unsurprisingly Peter Pan occupies the top spot (this rating is for the song download, not the video as far as I’m aware) and Eres Tonto comes in at number 2 and also at number 16 (via the single). Beyond that it’s a fairly solid list of all the popular tracks you might expect, with the albums Personas and Zapatillas particularly well represented, and with only one live track (from iTunes only ‘En Directo’ album – Sala Caracol) in the entire top 30.