Franco de Vita: 'Albums shouln't be torn apart'

Franco de Vita

For Franco de Vita, a man who has spent the past 25 years performing, composing and recording music, albums are sacred.

They’re works of art, products of much love and hard work.

So it’s not surprising to find the Venezuelan singer-songwriter and pianist today with mixed feelings over the adverse effects that the Internet has had on the global recording music industry in recent years.

After all, he - like nearly all singers everywhere - has been directly hit by the radical changes in the music business with the force of a Tomahawk missile.

“The current situation is dreadful. . . nowadays musicians aren’t appreciated like before,” opined the Sony Music artist during a telephone interview on Wednesday.

“I believe we must all keep seeing albums as artworks and as a whole, and we can’t keep dicing them all up in the way it is done today by downloading one or two songs from a record on the Web,” he added.

De Vita was in Puerto Rico last week for a show at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Hato Rey as part of his “Simplemente la Verdad Tour 2009.”

Although he acknowledges that the music industry’s swift and dramatic shift to online music distribution and downloading has helped its marketing departments, De Vita believes it’s a crime for artists to have their albums dissected  by only downloading a track or two from them, especially in today’s global economic meltdown.

“The Internet has helped a new generation of artists to promote their work internationally through MySpace and Youtube. Fifteen years ago you could not fathom that you would be able to do this today. In those days, multinational recording labels were in charge of an artist’s promotional life, but not anymore . . . and that’s good for indie and up-and-coming artists, “ he pointed out.

“But the music industry is suffering big time and it’s going through one of its most difficult times in its history because labels are hardly investing in publicity any more. And the current chaotic economic situation doesn’t help,” he added.

For over two decades, De Vita has been a fixture on the island’s music scene, performing nearly every year to sold-out audiences that can’t get enough of his infectious blend of socially-conscious and adult-oriented Latin pop with romantic rock tunes.

Since bursting onto the international circuit in 1984, he has toured world stages and released over 15 albums, including “Al Norte del Sur (1988),” “Fuera de este mundo (1996), “Nada es Igual (1999)” and “Stop (2004).”

He’s best known for the hits “Aquí estás otra vez,” “Te amo” and “Un buen perdedor,” among many others.

In 2007, De Vita guested on a single with reggaetón duo Wisin and Yandel on “Oye dónde está el amor,” which borrowed the chorus from his tune “Dónde está el amor.”

De Vita’s newest 2008 release “Simplemente la Verdad” bets on a more sophisticated and contemporary sound, with a rich mix of pop rock fused with a handful of folk Latin American rhythms.

“We always try to stay a step ahead of the globe’s musical trends, and that’s why we added new musicians and have made new refreshing renditions of old classics,” explained enthusiastically De Vita, with the same illusion and passion of a little kid who’s going to ride a bike for the first time.

And this kind of infectious energy is what his local fan base can expect tonight during his show, where he plans to present a full array of his hits plus new songs and new takes of popular tunes.

“There’re songs that you can’t touch, say like ‘Te amo’ or ‘Que me importas tú.’ The public likes me to sing them like I have always done because it likes the original version too much,” he said.

“But we can always stretch out a solo to keep it fresh,” he added.

Although he wouldn’t reveal who or how many guest artists will grab a mic with him onstage, De Vita acknowledged he’ll have “a little bit of everything.” Fans shouldn’t be surprised if Wisin and Yandel are part of the invited acts.

De Vita’s intense feeling toward music is evident in his last words on the current state of the music industry.

“Music is our life and the public needs to keep supporting it to keep it alive.”