On 12th February 1982, a concert by the Madrid group Obús and the French band Starshooter at the Palau Blaugrana II in Barcelona, inaugurated the history of the promoter which, in time, would bring radical change to the then barren musical landscape of Spain. In those times Spain was starting its overdue cultural revolution following a long period of autocratic rule and isolation which had wiped it from the trail followed by all the big international artists for decades. 

Neo Sala, founder Doctor Music, native of Tremp, and student of Exact Sciences at the University of Barcelona, has been one of the leading protagonists in finally getting Spain into the club of big tours and concerts by pop-rock music superstars. 

Recognition came in 1987 when Tina Turner, entrusted the young entrepreneur and his youthful team with the organisation of her first big Spanish tour. Success lead to the international music circuit’s doors being opened to Doctor Music and Neo Sala. Soon after, the very next year, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston followed in the wake of Tina Turner, with the same success.

In the Olympic year of 1992, Dire Straits set a record for ticket sales–half a million- a record that still stands to this day.  

These days it’s probably easier to count the artists who haven’t worked with Doctor Music than to list those who have trusted in this promoter which over the course of 30 years in the business has organised more than 2000 concerts. Bruce Springsteen, U2, Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Eminem, Kings of Leon, Radiohead, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Beyoncé and The Black Eyed Peas, to name but a few, have been, and continue to be stars on the books. 

The history of music in Spain wouldn’t be complete without naming the biggest festivals held here. The four editions of the Doctor Music Festival, a pioneering concept that Neo Sala introduced into the territory, are fundamental landmarks in the history of our pop culture. Enduring in the memory of many, over fifteen years on, is a line up of such weight as that for Doctor Music Festival: David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Rage Against The Machine, Blur, Pulp, Suede, Beastie Boys, Patti Smith, Steve Winwood, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Bad Religion, David Byrne, Moby, Neneh Cherry, Pet Shop Boys, Muse, Beck, Placebo, Portishead, Underworld and Massive Attack. They represent just a few of the almost four-hundred artists to have appeared on the different stages of the legendary festival known popularly as “The Cow”. Only a fifth edition of the Doctor Music Festival would be capable of equalling that.
 
Doctor Music was the first company to bring concerts back to the Camp Nou and the Santiago Bernabéu, two venues which had resisted holding concerts for over 15 years. 2005 saw the record for the fastest selling out of a concert smashed, when U2 achieved the feat of selling out the Camp Nou (82.000 tickets) in just six hours. In 2008, with Bruce Springsteen, the Camp Nou was sold out for two consecutive dates breaking yet another record for attendance of a paid concert in Spain.
 
A little later in the same year, Doctor Music occupied three positions in the top 10, including the Number 1 spot, in the “Boxscore” takings chart of the prestigious magazine Billboard, and so becoming the first Spanish promoter, and the only one to date, to head the takings chart for concerts worldwide.
 
2008 also saw the holding of the festival Doctor Loft 05:00, a new and original concept, surprising not only in its format (26 hours straight, kicking off at 5 in the morning) but also in the mix of luminaries such as R.E.M., Iggy Pop and The Gossip as well as a state of the art clubbing venue and the world’s finest DJ’s: Deep Dish, Jeff Mills and Felix Da Housecat to name just a few. Such an innovative initiative was the culture from which DOCTORMUSIC.dj emerged. This, the most recent project from the promoter focuses on the management of DJ’s as much as the promotion and distribution of their work around the world; it also aims to conceive new events for electronic music.  

For a boy from Tremp who started out as a promoter at just 14 years of age by selling tickets to schoolmates to listen to records by the English group Yes, it’s hard to say things haven’t gone well. 

For the rest of us who enjoy live music and who today go to the best concerts by the biggest acts, just as in other cities across Europe, things couldn’t sound any better. 

This 30th Anniversary of Doctor Music is great news for us all and for culture in this country. For all of that, all of us here at Doctor Music want to celebrate this very special anniversary with live music fans this year 2012. With that in mind, we are preparing various commemorative events which very soon we’ll let you all in on. Because, you don’t reach thirty years every day.