The Success Behind Live Session Band ‘Free Cover’: ‘People Want to be Happy’
Categoria: Musica
The Venezuelan project has gathered many artists, such as Nacho, Grupo Niche, Ilegales and Bacilos.
Por Billboard | 11/08/2026
Almost a decade ago, Alejandro “Neg” Barrera and Daniel “Chompa” Bracho — two musician friends from Venezuela — launched Free Cover, a live music project that has reeled in artists such as Bacilos, Nacho, Eddy Herrera, among others, and today boasts more than one million subscribers on its main platform, YouTube. Related Karol G’s ‘No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto’ Album: All 14 Tracks Ranked Fuerza Regida to Headline Superstar Q&A at Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 Eladio Carrión Reveals He ‘Nearly Died’ in Video Shoot With Cazzu: ‘But We’re Here & Alive’ “As consumers, we felt there wasn’t any material that was well-recorded in terms of both video and audio,” Barrera, a guitarist who spearheads the audio component at Free Cover, tells Billboard . “We couldn’t find that kind of content of seeing the artist live on YouTube, and the television format wasn’t all that entertaining. We really started to feel that gap, especially with artists from Venezuela.” The renowned project was born September 2017 in Maracaibo after Barrera and Bracho, along with other musician friends, decided to record one of their home live sessions and upload it to YouTube. At first, it gained traction locally through word of mouth, from artist to artist. “There were a few words that always stuck with me: a young woman who watched our first video told us, “You guys shine,’” Bracho recalls. Barrera adds: “The first video was a test, and as soon as we saw it, we said, ‘There’s a spark here, and this is what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives — the same formula.’ We were huge fans of our own video; there was only one, but we watched it every day. We felt like we had something very special in our hands.” That formula struck a chord, and within the year, Free Cover not only began picking up speed on social media, but it moved to Miami, where its videos are recorded at an outdoor or theater setting with a vibrant audience surrounding the artist and live band. Leandro Moran Its first viral video featured Venezuelan salsa singer and Latin Grammy nominee Ronald Borjas, performing two cover songs and three of his hits in six minutes. As of today, the video posted on July 15, 2018, has nearly 40 million views. “We present the completed proposal to the artist,” Bracho explains of the creative process. “We put together the demo, handle the pre-production by organizing the tracklist as a medley, and strive to highlight the best of each artist in under 15 minutes. We piece it all together like a puzzle; the artist then listens to it. While they can certainly send us a list of the songs they want, they are almost always delighted with our idea.” In 2022 — after Free Cover became a household name through the support of Venezuelan artists such as Felipe Peláez, Diveana, and Argenis Carruyo — the project secured its first international act with the late Dominican merengue i