Feid, one of the biggest artists in the música urbana movement today, participated in the panel From Clubs to Stadiums Featuring Feid. Presented by Live Nation, the conversation — which also featured his manager, Luis Villamizar, and Hans Schafer, SVP of global touring for Live Nation — took place on Monday (Oct. 14) during Billboard Latin Music Week 2024.
Moderated by Alejandro Marin — a radio DJ, writer, podcaster and music analyst — together they offered perspectives on the Colombian star’s rise to the top. Here are the best quotes:
“For me, the most special thing is to work as if it were the first day, with the same enthusiasm; I don’t like to just wait,” said Feid. “There are many of us who are part of the team. It has been a daily process, dreaming about everything we are achieving. I strive every day to be better than yesterday in every possible aspect. I live intensely in the present, and this helps us stay alert.”
He mentioned that he started as a composer from his home and how his team gradually grew. “At the beginning, we were one, two, three, four — and now we are 140! We focus on organizing all aspects, improving concerts, music production and emphasizing the importance of the live show,” he said. The musician also talked about a trip to Europe, where he performed in front of only six people in nightclubs, and how he never got discouraged despite difficulties. “There is a very interesting theory that says that, although sometimes something may be tedious, we always celebrate our triumphs,” said Feid.
“When we opened for Karol at the Bichota Tour in Bogotá and Cali, we broke records in Colombia, but when we started on the West Coast, we had to learn how to manage an audience that had no idea who we were,” Feid continued. “In one way or another, that broadened our view of how tours are managed in the United States and Europe, and how to navigate those worlds.”
“There is a secret magic in our team, including the executives and everyone involved in every aspect: recording, lighting, screens and sound,” said manager Villamizar.
Schafer mentioned what he considers Feid’s most important qualities: “Being patient, hardworking, having a lot of empathy, optimism, being a person who accepts failure, not as a bad thing, but as a way to change, to adjust. The setlist was not perfect; it needed to be adjusted. I always believe that money follows success. The things that move you, motivate you, inspire you. Money is not going to solve everything. Like turning this stone into a diamond.”
Over the past 35 years, Latin Music Week has become the one, steady foundation of Latin music in this country, becoming the single most important — and biggest — gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world. Initially named Latin Music Seminar, sponsored by Billboard, the event traces back to 1990, where it kicked off as a one-day event in Miami featuring a two-artist showcase and awards show.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
