Diego Toro is no new name in the industry, kicking off his career as a radio promoter in Barranquilla, Colombia, to becoming a label manager for artists such as Maluma, Camilo, Silvestre Dangond, and more, to working at Sony Music for more than 18 years.
Two years ago, Toro launched his own management and marketing company called Toro Music Group based in Colombia, where he manages Karen Lizarazo, Lv5 and Benu and co-manages Chocquibtown and Alex Campos.
Joining the roster, just in time for the company’s second anniversary, is Yotuel Romero, part of the Latin Grammy-winning Cuban hip-hop group Orishas. Toro Music Group will develop Yotuel’s solo career, which includes promising collaborations and forthcoming music videos.
Below, Toro elaborates on the company’s anniversary, growing success and plans for 2021.
What was the biggest life lesson working at Sony that you walked away with?
It is very difficult to mention a single teaching in a lifetime of experiences with music, songs, artists and colleagues. But the “opportunity” that Sony gave me to demonstrate with passion, to think “outside the box,” to believe that you can break schemes, trusting music production from the heart, and being loyal to your principles and values are an inspiring route that will always pay off.
What inspired you to launch your own marketing and management company two years ago?
In a company, you live the musical stages of the artists, the releases, campaigns, and strategies according to the season. But in management, you commit even more to the lives and dreams of talents. The responsibility of management has always attracted me and I consider it to be an even greater challenge than all the ones I had in the company. In a multinational, you have the opportunity to work with many artists and you can demonstrate your skills without necessarily putting your taste or your concept in each project. In this new stage at Toro Music Group, each of the artists that we have is not an assignment, they are a decision, we believe in their talent, and therefore in their career. I dream of long relationships with the artists that we have signed and there is a great conviction to carry out plans together that develop their careers and grow the relationship with their followers until they become fans.
What does it take to launch a management/marketing company in Colombia?
To launch it you need passion and knowledge. Colombia is a place where an important space has been opened in the global music industry, which is why a few years ago it stopped being an area where you could have a hobby and it became a place where you can develop various businesses, such as composition, production, videos and audiovisuals, digital, social media, marketing, booking, etc. For this reason, there are many people influencing the career of artists, and management is often confused.
I consider it relevant to seek inspiration from other companies such as WK and Westwood, which have taken management to a much more professional level and with a deliverable that involves several areas at the same time. This must be done promptly in a territory like ours to be able to export all the talent that we have signed in Toro Music Group such as Yotuel, Karen Lizarazo, Alex Campos, Lv5, Benu and Chocquibtown, whom we co-manage with La Industria Inc. I take the opportunity to give a special thanks to Juan Diego Medina who supported this initiative from day 0.
What are some challenges you have faced when exporting your talents?
There are always challenges and there is always a place that you lacked to conquer, mainly the budget and the currency exchange. But in these two years we have already achieved a Latin Grammy nomination for Karen Lizarazo in the Cumbia Vallenato category, a nomination for Chocquibtown, a 5th Grammy award for Alex Campos in the Christian Album category in Spanish, the recent recognition as Leading Ladies of Entertainment for Goyo, and several other achievements, for which each challenge becomes a goal.
Can you manage international artists even if Toro Music Group is not based in the U.S.?
This year has taught me that despite having two floors of our offices in Bogotá and going to the office a couple of times in the last 7 months, your base can be anywhere as long as you have organization, suitable equipment, and you are aware of world time differences. However, we have plans to open Toro Music Group in the U.S. soon.Two of our artists, Yotuel Romero and Chocquibtown, are based in Miami and we have been able to work without major setbacks.
What other services does Toro Music Group offer?
Together with my partners Jose Luis Galan and Jaime Mercado, in addition to the areas that serve the company such as finance, accounting, among others, we have marketing (Andrea Lopez Gte), communications (Alexandra Jimenez Gte), booking, endorsement, design, and social media. But our area of differentiation is the Creative Entertainment Agency (Juan Torne) where we propose strategic solutions for the development of their campaigns, in which we have worked for artists such as Pedro Capó, Manuel Turizo, Fanny Lu, among others.
What’s an advantage that the global pandemic has had on the company?
The advantage is that the time has been remarkably optimized. We have many more meetings in the same time frame. The borders collapsed; now we can have meetings with someone in Mexico before a meeting in Miami, or in Spain and you can connect with the entire work team just by sending a group link.
What plans does Toro Music Group have for 2021?
We want to consolidate our artists in 2021. Great challenges are coming with Yotuel, we want to establish Chocquibtown in the United States, we plan to position Karen Lizarazo as a great exponent of Colombian music, we have the Alex Campos tour in Latin America and continue developing the careers of our boy band LV5 and Benú.
As a company, we want to strengthen our relationship with different sections of the industry, such as record and management companies with whom we can make synergies and with integrators with whom we will work to boost the large amount of talent that is produced in our country. And of course, we’ll continue to be pioneers in campaigns and creative ideas for brands with artistic and musical solutions. It has been two years of learning in this new area and together, with the team, we hope to be able to break records so that the music does not stop surprising us.
