Almost a decade ago, Alejandro “Neg” Barrera and Daniel “Chompa” Bracho — two musician friends from Venezuela — launched Free Cover, a live music project that has reeled in artists such as Bacilos, Nacho, Eddy Herrera, among others, and today boasts more than one million subscribers on its main platform, YouTube.
“As consumers, we felt there wasn’t any material that was well-recorded in terms of both video and audio,” Barrera, a guitarist who spearheads the audio component at Free Cover, tells Billboard. “We couldn’t find that kind of content of seeing the artist live on YouTube, and the television format wasn’t all that entertaining. We really started to feel that gap, especially with artists from Venezuela.”
The renowned project was born September 2017 in Maracaibo after Barrera and Bracho, along with other musician friends, decided to record one of their home live sessions and upload it to YouTube. At first, it gained traction locally through word of mouth, from artist to artist.
“There were a few words that always stuck with me: a young woman who watched our first video told us, “You guys shine,’” Bracho, pianist who oversees the project’s musical component, recalls.
Barrera adds: “The first video was a test, and as soon as we saw it, we said, ‘There’s a spark here, and this is what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives — the same formula.’ We were huge fans of our own video; there was only one, but we watched it every day. We felt like we had something very special in our hands.”
That formula struck a chord, and within the year, Free Cover not only began picking up speed on social media, but it moved to Miami, where its videos are recorded at an outdoor or theater setting with a vibrant audience surrounding the artist and live band.
Leandro Moran
Its first viral video featured Venezuelan salsa singer and Latin Grammy nominee Ronald Borjas, performing two cover songs and three of his hits in six minutes. As of today, the video posted on July 15, 2018, has nearly 40 million views.
“We present the completed proposal to the artist,” Bracho explains of the creative process. “We put together the demo, handle the pre-production by organizing the tracklist as a medley, and strive to highlight the best of each artist in under 15 minutes. We piece it all together like a puzzle; the artist then listens to it. While they can certainly send us a list of the songs they want, they are almost always delighted with our idea.”
In 2022 — after Free Cover became a household name through the support of Venezuelan artists such as Felipe Peláez, Diveana, and Argenis Carruyo — the project secured its first international act with the late Dominican merengue icon, Rubby Pérez, whose 10-minute live mix currently has almost 35 million views.
Since, international Latin acts such as Los Rabanes (Panama), Rey Ruiz (Cuba), Ilegales (Dominican Republic), and most recently, Grupo Niche (Colombia), have graced the Free Cover stage. The videos are uploaded once a month to give ample love and promotion to the artists, and are monetized through YouTube and sponsorship, as well as its presence across platforms such as Spotify, TikTok and Instagram.
“It became a snowball effect that kept getting bigger and bigger until it took over everything,” Bracho says with a proud grin.
“We want to be the top benchmark for this live performance format,” adds Barrera. “We dream of working with Olga Tañón, Elvis Crespo, Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes, Carlos Vives, Alejandro Sanz and others. We want to expand everywhere because people want to be happy.”
Free Cover is part of the “Unidos Por Los Nuestros” (formerly Unidos Por Venezuela) benefit concert taking place Aug. 16 at Miami’s Kaseya Center set to raise funds for the families and communities affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia.
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