The music industry has experienced an avalanche of changes in recent decades, and with these changes came the revolution of musical genres, the fusion of rhythms, their diffusion and the reach of audiences; they redefined the industry, from the local to the global.
In that sense, the role of producers, mastering engineers, and audio engineers has never been more important, and they have now come out of anonymity to take a more active role in promoting music.
Names like Eliseo Tapia Olivares do not go unnoticed within the industry; During the Tu Música Urbano 2022 Awards, organized by Telemundo, the Mexican producer accompanied Alex Zurdo to see the fruits of that effort with the award for Best Christian Artist, which the Puerto Rican rapper won.
More than 18 years in the industry support the work of Eliseo Tapia, specifically within Christian music, a sector of enormous influence in the world industry. “In the United States it is one more genre, without labels. That gets it on the radio and makes brands want to partner with Christian artists,” he says.
However, in Latin America, the Christian music scene is still developing; “Digitization has opened up opportunities, but there is still a long way to go,” he adds. “Times are changing, I was in Puerto Rico at the 2022 Tu Música Urbano Awards, and for the first time they gave space for a Christian music performance on telecast, this is something historic,” says the Oaxacan producer about Alex Zurdo’s performance, Indiomar and Amara to perform ‘In spite of me’, from the album UNO (2021), produced by Tapia.
In addition to working as a producer for international projects such as Marcos Witt (winner of 5 Latin Grammys) or Marcos Vidal (with whom he won a Latin Grammy in 2016 for Best Christian Album in Spanish for 25 Years), he has also worked as a promoter for events, road manager, tour manager and manager; He is currently considered one of the most influential executives of Christian music in Spanish.
“For years Christian music in Latin America moved as an informal culture, almost invisible. Millions of people were listening to it without being available in normal record stores, it was only available in Christian bookstores or in churches”, he recalls. “Distribution was limited, but the music had great potential. For example, even with this limitation, in 1999 Marcos Witt filled the Azteca Stadium, demonstrating the great scope and potential that music had since then.
However, Christian music has been in the industry for a long time. Generated in gospel, spiritual or evangelist music, it had its first boom during the 1930s, reaching great popularity in the US thanks to the Protestant churches of the 18th century. Although it mainly portrayed biblical passages sung by choirs of up to 30 people with a very particular style, over time the message spread across all genres, making today’s Christian music a scene rich in talent and versatility.
“The Christian music industry has exploded, and is now even bigger and generates more revenue than jazz. I would define it as music that heals and beyond religion, inspires to have a life with good values. Contrary to what was seen before, it also contributes to the global industry in high-quality composition and production, setting a high standard for the industry”, says Tapia, who has also worked with Redimi2, Kike Pavon, Funky, Christine D Clario, Majo and Dan, Barak, Biper and the group Rojo, with which he was nominated for Best Producer at the 2019 Dove Awards.
“Currently there are artists with established careers and an audience outside of Christianity who have converted to Christianity and have used that platform to share messages of faith and hope. For example, Ricardo Montaner and Juan Luis Guerra. Both have opened important spaces in the global industry for Christian music”, highlights Tapia.
“We are producing very good music, with a lot of rhythm and that at the same time accompanies people in times of pain; you can make good music without saying bad words or denigrating women”. Cases like those of Fermín IV (former member of Control Machete) or Vico C, are just some of the first names that resonated within urban music for transforming their lyrics with Christian messages. “Part of the prejudice that the public has about Christian music is that they think it’s about someone singing some ballad with a guitar or piano, now it has diversified and we have beats and rhythms just as catchy as the industry in general,” says the producer.
Proof of this is precisely UNO, his recent and most ambitious project, formed by Alex Zurdo, Funky and Redimi2. In it, he seeks to mark a turning point within the urban music scene, calling the attention of influential personalities of the guild such as Yandel. “I think that the success of UNO has to do with the comprehensive way in which it was managed, starting with the composition of the songs, marketing strategy, visual communication, high-quality music and video production.”
The song that gives the album its title has already reached more than 10 million views on the Redimi2 YouTube account; Other songs, such as “In spite of me”, have more than 32 million views on the same platform.
Some of the video clips were directed by Antonio Roma, recognized for his work with artists from the level of Piso 21, Cristian Nodal, Los Tigres del Norte, Marco Antonio Solis and Danna Paola. “The creative ideas that Antonio Roma’s team brought to the project were something rarely seen in the Christian industry, and I think that’s part of the reason for the album’s huge success. I feel very honored to have been a part of that.”
In response to the great success achieved with his work, Eliseo Tapia has committed himself not only to enriching the Christian music industry in Mexico, professionalizing the quality of productions, but also to revolutionizing the musical paradigm through lyrics with a hopeful message. that helps the public to reactivate human and spiritual ties.
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