Jordi Finazzi appointed Managing Director of PRISA Musica

Jordi Finazzi Pallares has been appointed Managing Director of PRISA Música with a responsibility for promoting growth and extending the lead in the music business enjoyed by the leading media and communications group in Spanish and Portuguese. He will be working in collaboration with all the Group's business units and markets.

He will be overseeing all PRISA's music content in all formats in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. He will also be directly responsible for the management of Sogecable Música (40 TV and 40 Latino) and Gran Vía Musical, a management and booking company (RLM SA), the concerts and events promoter (Planet Events SA), merchandising (Merchandising On Stage SL) and publishing (NOVA and LYRICS).

Finazzi will also drive Grupo PRISA's music strategy, liaising with all business units (PRISA Noticias, PRISA TV, PRISA Radio) and the corporate headquarters on all operations related to cross-corporate music initiatives.

Jordi Finazzi (Girona, 1965), holds a degree in Management and Business Administration from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, in Industrial Engineering from the Polytechnic University, an Executive MBA from the Instituto de Empresa-IE Business School and has specialized in Finance Management at  the University of San Francisco.

Until his appointment, Finazzi was the Regional Director of music content for PRISA Radio for Central and South America, a post he combined with that of managing music content at Caracol Radio in Colombia.

He began his professional career in 1989 at Radio Girona - SER where he was a presenter, maintenance technician and advertising producer before being appointed coordinator of 40 Principales. He was director of COPE and Cadena 100 in Figueres, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Reus and Tarragona and music director of Ona Musica, belonging to Grupo Ona Catalana. In March 2000 he was appointed Chairman of the Latin Radio Directory in Paris, a PRISA Radio company and, in September 2002, he was named General Manager for PRISA Radio in Central America.

Meanwhile, Luis Merino, after a brilliant career in the world of radio, especially in music, is leaving PRISA Radio and has decided to embark upon exciting new professional challenges from June 1. He'll be working for the communications and music consulting company "IDEAS CLAVES", which he recently set up. From this new position he will continue to work with PRISA Radio as a strategic advisor and will be responsible for the development of specific projects in the music sector.

During a long and varied career, Luis Merino has been director of 40 Principales, Director of PRISA Radio's music channels, CEO of Gran Via Musical and Plural Entertainment and Director of the Leisure and Entertainment unit at Grupo PRISA. The success of the company's music operations  would have been impossible without the professional input of Luis Merino over the last twenty years.

Born in Zaragoza in 1954, he joined Cadena SER in 1975 at Radio Valencia. In 1989 he moved to Madrid where he launched a number of projects such as the development of the brand "40 Principales", the creation of new concepts such as the concerts "Basicos 40", the morning radio show "Anda Ya" the affinity card "tarjeta40", the creation of "40 TV", "40 Latino," the magazine "Revista 40", the first Spanish music radio website  "cadena40.es" and most recently "40 The Musical."

In 2006 he organized the events to commemorate the 40th anniversary of 40 Principales, the largest music event in Spain during a year that culminated in the first edition of the 40 Principales Music Awards.

From his different posts Merino has led the international expansion of Prisa's music division, with the development of the 40 Principales brand in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Guatemala. And in recent years he has contributed to the project of adapting music and radio to new digital media, promoting the relaunch of "los40.com" and the launching of new portals for all PRISA Radio brands on the Internet.

Since 2008 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Latin Grammy Awards.