As in many nations, historically the commercial music industry in Venezuela has tended to favor often more profitable imported music at the expense of local musics. The period from the first years of this century until the severe economic decline was akin to a social experiment in several forms of state intervention to stimulate national music. Although little known outside of the country’s borders, the various programs to aid the promotion of local music in those two decades are exceptional in Latin America and offer a worthy example for consideration by musicians and governments elsewhere.

            More than 400 new community radio stations were inaugurated in only a few years with a focus on underprivileged areas. Participants were almost all volunteers, and the funding was both public (national, state and municipal levels) and private (limited commercials from local businesses.) Each station was different, reflecting whoever got involved in their own communities. The community broadcasts represented a significant counter-balance to corporate media devotion to foreign artists. A national record studio and label, CENDIS, the National Center of the Disc (originally referring to CDs) began producing basically unknown musicians and groups for free: after qualifying auditions, groups received free studio time, label art, and originally a couple hundred copies of CDs. CENDIS claims to have released 465 albums by 2025. It is up to the artists to try and promote themselves and get some exposure on commercial radio, web-based channels and streaming, which of course is not an easy task.

            Different nations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have attempted to level the playing field for national artists who must compete with the multinational corporate music industry by guaranteeing them a certain percentage of airtime on the radio. Almost all of these laws, for all their good intentions, failed for lack of follow through. Venezuela passed such a law in the 2002, the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, known by the acronym RESORTE.  It required that half of what stations play have some connection with Venezuela in two out of five criteria: performers; composers; style of music; lyric content; or “Venezuelan values” — the last category being basically a pass. Prior to the bill’s enactment hearing a Venezuelan song on cable or antennae broadcast radio was the exception to the rule. This time, however, the government, did follow through and warned stations they needed to increase the Venezuelan content of their playlists. Consider this: the morning the RESORTE law took effect, the manager of one of the largest popular music stations in Caracas announced to his employees that they literally had no Venezuelan music in the studio! Staff were told to go home, scrounge up anything non-foreign and bring it back to the station after lunch. It was just such disdain for, and ignorance of Venezuela’s own music that this law attempted to redress, and the results soon became apparent. As audiences heard more Venezuelan music they began to request it in stores as never before. Store owners responded to the new demand and sections devoted to Venezuelan music expanded significantly.

            Taken together these cultural initiatives helped to raise the profile of national music, but they still suffered from lack of coherent and consistent support. The same dynamics of consolidation and increasingly low pay from streaming and other services has impacted the music landscape worldwide, and Venezuela is no exception. And needless to say, since the mid-2010s musicians and other artists has suffered greatly from the destruction of the nation’s economy: many community radio stations have closed and purchasing power is at an historic low. But Venezuelans both at home and abroad remain resourceful and supportive of their artists.