Ainhoa París Puras was born in 1999 in Madrid, Spain, a city she loves, though at times it can be overwhelming. She identifies as part of Generation Z and describes herself as organized, passionate, and persistent. Like many people in this industry, she is multi-employed: she works for various clients, both as a booker and as a communicator.
What do you do for work?
Right now, I'm involved in several projects at the same time. I'm working at a booking agency called Sólido Show, helping with contracts and communications; managing the social media for Bella Festival and a band, and handling more communication tasks at Lume!, an agency dedicated to that field. I do all this in Madrid. Some of the tasks I do online, though generally, I spend the entire day at the office.
What is a workday like for you?
In the mornings, I'm at the booking agency making sure all the contracts and payments are in order, as well as handling communications, whether they are newsletters or social media. In the afternoons, I follow up on press news about the artists we promote at the communication agency. I ensure that the media channels have published the news about their respective releases. I also plan and manage the social media for Bella Festival and a Spanish pop-rock band, Mastodonte.
Besides that, I have my own project with my friend Jorge whom I met in the master's program, and we have a music media outlet that so far we've only run on social media (Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn), where we do reviews of music releases and comment on music news. In case you want to check it out, we're called The Pop Wave because we are indeed lovers (and a bit geeky at times) of pop culture and everything around it.
When did you start getting involved in the music industry and why?
I started getting involved in the music industry in 2022 when I began a master's degree about it. That summer, I was looking into master's programs and courses to figure out what to do with my life because, you know, the post-university crisis is real. I didn't have a job because I couldn't find anything related to my undergraduate studies, and that's when I found a master's degree in the music industry, something quite new that I was completely unaware of. As soon as I started researching the topic, I was passionate about it and immediately knew I had to study this industry and work in it.
What were your studies and how did you choose them?
First, I studied Audiovisual Communication at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (I don't recommend it, haha). I think that if I had really known what university was like at 17 when I chose what to study, I wouldn't have done it. It's a very theoretical degree for how practical it could be. I learned but I think vocational training would have been more useful. Now I don't regret it because thanks to studying that degree, I was able to enter the music master's degree and steer my professional career towards this industry, focusing on communication, which is what I like.
What was your first practical experience in the industry?
The master's degree I did was very practical. I was lucky. We worked with emerging artists and helped them develop their projects over the eight or nine months of the master's program. From contacting producers to releasing a single, being the product managers of the project to produce a music video, to creating a marketing strategy for the release or preparing a live performance. We also organized a festival held in May at Sala Independance (in Madrid) where the four artists performed. It was all very practical, very useful, and very based in reality.
Have you ever noticed any differences because you're a woman?
So far I can say that I've been lucky not to notice it, or at least not excessively. It is true that you always come across guys who are a bit "unga unga" [Spanish expression that means "caveman"] with more closed-minded attitudes who, when you express your opinion, belittle you or give less importance to your contributions just because they see you as a young woman but for now nothing alarming. This is about the work environment because, outside of it, I don't know any woman who hasn't experienced some form of harassment from men.
Who are your favorite singers and the songs that have impacted you the most?
My favorite artists are Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Miley Cyrus. The people who have always surprised and inspired me, both in my day-to-day life and musically, have always been and still are women. Specifically, about these three I mentioned, I love how they perform, the power they have in their voices, and their messages. I think it's not just about having good music, but creating a solid message and image to accompany your music, and these three artists have always moved and impacted me a lot. My favorite songs would be "Freedom" by Beyoncé, featuring Kendrick Lamar, and "Mother’s Daughter" by Miley Cyrus.
How would you describe the Spanish music industry?
A tough industry to break into on a professional level, as everyone knows each other and it operates heavily on connections (like many other industries), and an industry where it seems more and more that disposable, marketable singles are valued over well-crafted albums with a solid concept and coherent sound like classics such as "Purple Rain" by Prince, "Lemonade" by Beyoncé, "ANTI" by Rihanna, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," or even "El Mal Querer" by Rosalía. I don't blame the industry itself: in the end, it's a slave to our fast consumption methods. We no longer pay attention to music; we listen for two seconds and move on to another as if it were a TikTok.
What are your future projects?
For now, I'd like to keep my communication roles in the companies I'm with and hopefully, our project with my friend Jorge, the music review and news account, will also grow. We'd love to attend concerts, discover new artists, and then talk about them and give our opinion so that people can also get to know them and give them exposure.
Do you have any suggestions for those who wish to do your job?
I don't know if this is for those who want to do my job but in general I'd tell everyone to be consistent with what they like, to be organized and persistent. In the end, if you're persistent (without overdoing it, you know what I mean), I think you have more chances of achieving certain goals or being heard.
Can you recommend a Spanish song to our readers?
From the national scene, I'm completely obsessed with Belén Aguilera. The way she tells her truth and connects with her lyrics is totally magical. I recommend the song Cristal.
You can follow Ainhoa here and The Pop Wave here and you can listen to her suggestion in the playlist below: