Creating music videos for Rosalía, Dua Lipa, and Katy Perry from Barcelona

Working alongside with pop stars like Rosalía, Dua Lipa, C Tangana, or Katy Perry could be a dream for many readers. Others may prefer chatting with Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker from Tame Impala or even the Mercedes car manufacturer team members. 

This is CANADA's daily routine. Located in Barcelona's Poblenou neighborhood, this production company creates music videos and advertisements for some of the best-known brands in the world, some with over hundreds of millions of views.

Founded in 2008, the company has since opened offices in London and Los Angeles, with a highly inter-connected world offering new frontiers and possibilities.

"In our case, the internet and how everything is so global right now was all key to be able to do a music video here with friends, and then that music video to be watched worldwide through the internet," Alba Barneda, head of production, told Catalan News during an interview in the company's headquarters.

"Sometimes, something goes viral, so then you have an international audience," she added.

For them, working with friends was key to their growth, but American group Scissor Sisters, known for hits such as 'I Don't Feel Like Dancing' and 'Take Your Mama', marked a new era in their careers.

"They had the budget for a music video," Barneda said. CANADA was "used to working with €3,000, €6,000, or even without any budget. And [Scissor Sisters] had €30k. That was a lot of money for us to do a music video," she explained.

The big audience the video for 'Invisible Light' brought was a big step for the group to start doing music videos that would have many people watching.

CANADA is now well known for producing music videos for renowned, awarded pop stars. Creativity, talent, people, and dialogue are needed to do so.

"Sometimes, the artist has a clear idea of what she or he wants, sometimes not," Lope Serrano, co-founder and creative director, told this media outlet.

The artist "sometimes comes with a document full of references, or sometimes it is 'I want to be on a boat,' and from there, you have to manage and come up with an idea," he added.

In the production industry, it is quite routine to be pitching to an artist, a label, or a representative while competing against other companies. So, "the idea is that you have to be fast, you have to be ready to have an answer in, let's say three, four, five, six [days], maximum a week, from the call," Serrano said.

Having some guidelines of what you are supposed to pitch makes the work much easier, as a "blank page is dangerous," Lope Serrano said.

"Having a blank page means: 'you can come up with whatever you want,' and this 'whatever you want' is never whatever the other part wants. If there is an idea, it is more likely that you will please the artist. Having restrictions, maybe it sounds like a paradox, but it makes things easier in terms of coming up with an idea."

The problem comes if the artist starts by saying, "whatever you want, you are the genius," for Lope Serrano, this is a "bad start."

But even if the creative process is more complicated than usual, the main thing is to have a good song, treatment, and idea. This way, the job is much easier, but even if they carefully plan a shoot, problems tend to come up.

Looking back, Lope Serrano and Alba Barneda both agree shooting a music video for Tame Impala to be a unique experience.

"The night before starting the shooting, the main actor had to go to the hospital after surfing at Barceloneta beach, and I remember very clearly the team here had no idea what to do," Alba Barneda, head of production, said.

For them, however, "there is always a solution." In that case, it was a better one than the first option they had, as they hired another actor who had also been cast.

"It was really great having him on the shooting," she said, so the "conclusion is that the cast was a disaster," Lope Serrano added.

Problems are part of the profession, as "in each project, there are moments that you think, what the hell are we doing? This is not going to happen. This is definitely a mistake; we are going to die," Serrano said.

Doing music videos "is not a safety zone; it needs to be a risky activity," the co-founder of CANADA told this media outlet.

Alba Barneda agrees with this idea, "every video has its difficult moment; sometimes you do not have sources, or even the video does not go on air because the band decided not to."

"It is normal to have an 'ouch' moment during a shooting," she added.

One of the saddest moments when doing music videos is when the video is not published.

"There is a lot of work involved," Barneda said. 

"The only reason you are doing this is that you want to show it to people and if you cannot show it, it's sad and frustrating because we are not doing this for money; it's not a business. It is something all the team is involved in because we want to show. I think it's the worst thing that can happen for a music video," she added.

However, other times, these music videos get a lot of attention and are even nominated for international awards, such as the Grammy Awards or Latin Grammys, as was the case for one of CANADA's recent projects.

Rosalía's TikTok Live Performance was recorded with the Catalan singer singing her third album 'Motomami,' and it was all recorded only using iPhones.

"It was like a new adventure," Barneda said, as the team from the production company had to work side-by-side with Rosalía's team to make sure the live sound and the shooting were perfect.

And while CANADA is known for its music videos, the company has also worked on dozens of advertising campaigns, including beverages, cars, and even the 2024 Olympic Games.