Nelson Albareda, a Cuban-American business executive and GRAMMY® & Latin GRAMMY® Award winning producer, has over 25 years of diverse experience across media, live entertainment, marketing, content, sports, and real estate.

Albareda got an early start in business at the age of 14 in 1990, where he became passionate about business and entrepreneurship. He had a successful career as a young professional, quickly moving up the ranks across multiple companies and diverse industries, including in the advertising, spirits, entertainment, and media sectors. Initially starting at RMM Records (Universal Music) and eventually ending up at Univision Radio where he was responsible for creating the company’s non-traditional revenue initiatives across the organisation.

In 2002, Albareda saw an opportunity in the events, entertainment, and marketing space, which is where he had early success as an entrepreneur. Most notably in 2008, Albareda established Eventus Marketing, which grew to serve and partner with a wide range of marquee clients such as Sony Music, Univision Communications, New York Yankees, Kimberly-Clark, Walmart, McDonald’s, Keurig Dr Pepper, HBO, Walt Disney Entertainment, Sirius XM, and Latin GRAMMY’s among many others. In 2013, Eventus had become the largest multicultural marketing company in the US, which is when Albareda sold the company to Advantage Solutions via a roll-up strategy led by private equity group Apax Partners.

In 2017, Albareda established Loud And Live, where he currently serves as CEO. The company has quickly grown to be a dominant player across its areas of focus, including music, entertainment, sports, content development, and marketing.

With its rapid growth, Loud And Live has quickly become a powerhouse in the entertainment and content space. Producing and promoting US and International tours for a roster of artists that includes Juan Luis Guerra, Carlos Vives, Roberto Carlos, Ricardo Montaner, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Ricardo Arjona, Ruben Blades, Franco De Vita, Silvestre Dangond, Farruko, JBalvin, Camilo, Laura Pausini, Marco Antonio Solis, Camila, Sin Bandera, Fito Paez, Mau y Ricky, Eva Luna, Reik, Pedro Capo, Prince Royce, Vicente Garcia, and Carlos Rivera.

In 2021, Albareda led the expansion of Loud And Live’s content development division with the launch of Loud And Live Studios, adding a Latin GRAMMY win in 2021, for the production of Juan Luis Guerra’s Entre Mar y Palmeras, a musical special that premiered on HBO. In addition, Loud And Live continues bridging top brands and artists such as McDonald’s, Walmart ,and Amazon, alongside Nicky Jam, Manuel Turizo, Lunay, Carlos Rivera, Natalia Jimenez, Mariah Angeliq, and Cazzu, to create unique consumer and branded experiences.

In addition to his endeavors at Loud And Live, Albareda, has a real-estate portfolio and management company focused on commercial and multi-family properties in South Florida.

Albareda also has a long history of serving his community. In 2010, he was appointed by the US Congress to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Commission to provide a report to President Obama on the creation of the National Museum of the American Latino in Washington DC. Currently, Albareda serves as a director on the US Cuba Democracy PAC, a Cuban American group that advocates democracy in Cuba. Miami-based promoter Loud and Live has announced details of the inaugural Country Bay Music Festival in conjunction with its South Florida-focused live events division, EngageLive!

Staged on the grounds of Miami Marine Stadium, the festival will take place from 11-12 November with headliners Thomas Rhett, Sam Hunt, Chris Young, Lee Brice and Lainey Wilson.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of this premier country music festival in Miami, bringing together the best of country music across the vibrant and energetic backdrop of this magical city,” says Loud and Live CEO Nelson Albareda. “Our goal is to create a memorable experience for music fans and our partner sponsors alike, and ultimately to establish Miami as a destination for country music enthusiasts from around the world.”

Country Bay Music Festival also promises to showcase performances from Randy Houser, Chris Lane, LOCASH and Elle King, as well as up-and-coming artists such as Restless Road, Blanco Brown, Josh Ross, Hailey Whitters, and David J, plus country-Latin duo Kat & Alex and Neon Union.

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Q &A for FAME Magazine

 
1. What sets the Country Bay Music Festival apart from
other country music festivals?

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Simply put, the city and the venue. Miami is has officially become a global entertainment
destination. From major music events like Rolling Loud and Ultra Music Festival, to global sporting events like
Formula 1 and the next World Cup, Miami’s vibrant & energetic backdrop makes it a magical city to host world-
class events. The venue, Miami Marine Stadium, has a long and unique history of hosting musical events, including iconic Country
music shows, among others Jimmy Buffet & Kenny Rogers. With the incredible lineup of the top Country music artists and a picturesque waterfront venue that has a long history of country music, this music festival will be like no other.

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2. As a Cuban-American, how did you become involved in
promoting a huge country music festival in Miami?

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We saw it as a big opportunity in the markets, both within the music genre and geographically. South Florida (Miami) is a highly demanded entertainment destination which currently doesn’t have any Country music festivals. If you couple that with the fact that Country music has a big and loyal following amongst Hispanics, it was a no brainer.
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3. Can you talk about the role that Loud And Live and
EngageLive! have played in bringing this festival to life?

Sure, Loud And Live (And EngageLive!, its Miami-focused live events company) have a long history of developing, managing and producing live events in South Florida. From House of Horror, which is a staple Miami Haunted Carnival experience going back almost 20 years, to taking over the management of the Coconut Grove Arts Festivals which has been around for nearly 60 years, to the Wodapalooza Fitness festival which draws over 30,000 spectators from around the US and abroad, to the recently launched SoFlo Boat Show, we are in the lifestyle events business. When you combine our lifestyle event experience and drive the synergies with our capabilities as one of the top
15 entertainment promoters in the world according to Billboard, you see these opportunities and bring them to
life naturally and with conviction.

4. Do you have plans to expand the festival beyond Miami
in the future?

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For now, we’re focused on establishing the Miami festival as one of the premiere annual Country Music festivals in the
US. However, we’re always looking to replicate our success in other markets, so time will tell on our expansion plans
beyond Miami.

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5. Can you speak to the economic impact that hosting a festival like this can have on the local community?
For a premium 2-day festival of this nature, you can expect a significant impact to the local economy. Our expectations is to host about 20K-25K attendees per day, so roughly 45K throughout the weekend. If you account that 20%-30% of that fanbase is from outside South Florida, you can expect a significant impact across local restaurants, hotels and bars.

6. How has your previous experience in marketing and
advertising influenced your approach to promoting your
events?
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It’s definitely been a strategic advantage for us as our geneses is marketing, so we’re marketers turned promoters. We leverage our knowledge and capabilities to market and promote our own events, analyzing data, insights & metrics, constantly monitoring, optimizing and pivoting our promotional campaigns for maximum efficiency and impact.

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7. Can you share with us more info about the records that
were broken at your recent Juan Luis Guerra concert in
South Florida? 

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Yes, we’re fortunate enough to be able to work with one of the most iconic and respected artists in the industry, Juan Luis Guerra. In conjunction with his team, including his manager Amarilys German, we recently broke the record for highest grossing concert for a Latin artist in FLA Live’s 30 year history.

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8. Tell us a little bit about your venture with Move
Concerts?

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Phil Rodriguez (CEO of Move Concerts), a friend and mentor, is truly a pioneer in the live entertainment industry, and we continue to learn from him every day. Our partnership with him and Move Concerts has been invaluable because of our complementary business focus,
having created a compelling value proposition from a geographical expansion perspective and resulting in a broader offering and value proposition to the artists we respectively work with. We will continue to an expand on our collaborative partnership, including our most recently announced co-promotional US-tour with the iconic Argentine rock band, Los Fabulosos Cadillac.