"Si Tu No Existieras" is a

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin po ...

song by

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

n recording artist

Ricardo Arjona Edgar Ricardo Arjona Algadeoro (born 19 January 1964), known as Ricardo Arjona (), is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter. Arjona is one of the most successful and best-selling Latin American artists of all time, with more than 80 million records so ...

, released on 27 November 2012 as the fifth single from his thirteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Independiente'' (2011). The song was written by Arjona, who produced it with longtime collaborators Dan Warner and Lee Levin under their production name Los Gringos. Additional recording work was handled by Peter Wallace, Matt Rollings, Carlos "Cabral" Junior and Isaías García, and background vocals were provided by Roger Hudson. At release, "Si Tu No Existieras" charted at number 14 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Mexican Airplay chart. An accompanying music video for the song was released in November 2012. It was directed by Tamir Lotán, was edited by Nicolás Merkin, and is composed of live clips taken during Arjona's performances, as part of his

Metamorfosis World Tour The Metamorfosis World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Guatemalan singer–songwriter Ricardo Arjona in support of his thirteenth studio album, '' Independiente''. Beginning in January 2012, it was Arjona's first tour since leaving Warne ...

. It is the second video by Arjona that consists of live performances while on tour.

Background

Weeks before the release of ''Independiente'', Arjona issued a letter raising the issue of his past relationships with recording companies. He revealed the circumstances of his first contract: "a producer, friend of mine, told them

he record label He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

that if they did not sign me in, they won't sign two artists he had

t that time T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

. Arjona further explained that he received the "minimum royalty percentage" from his most successful albums. ''Independiente'' is Arjona's first independent release through his own label, Metamorfosis, a company he created to refocus his career. The company is controlled by Arjona and several friends (including photographer-director Ricardo Calderón,

Universal Music México Universal Music Group México S.A. de C.V., often referred to as just UMG México, is a Mexican subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1963. It was founded as Dusa Discos Universales in 1963, it underwent several name changes over the ...

executive Humberto Calderon, and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

's Miriam Sommerz), and is based in Miami and Mexico City.(7 July 2011)
[Ricardo Arjona will release his new album under his own independent label">"Ricardo Arjona sacará un nuevo disco bajo su propio sello independiente" [Ricardo Arjona will release his new album under his own independent label
/nowiki>] (in Spanish). ''San Diego Red''. Retrieved 30 October 2011. Arjona commented that his independence represented compromise more than freedom, stating that "Inside the word 'Independent', even when it sounds like extreme freedom, there's a large amount of compromise and the responsibility of being able to administrate, in the best way possible, such independence". ''

'' stated that, although other groups have released independent albums following contracts with major labels, Arjona is the most important Latin pop artist to do so.

Composition

"Si Tu No Existieras" is a

song written and produced by Arjona, alongside longtime collaborators Dan Warner and Lee Levin under their production name Los Gringos. Roger Hudson provided additional background vocals for the song, and Matt Rollings, Carlos "Cabral" Junior and Isaías García served as

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

s, along with Warner and Levin. Rollings also provided the piano, Levin played the drums, and Warner the

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, with the help of Craig Nelson. A group of nine personnel led by Pamela Sixfin provided the violins; James Grosjean and Monisa Angell played the violas; and Anthony LaMarchina, along with Julia Tanner, the cellos. Xarah handled additional work with Pro Tools.

Promotion

Music video

The music video for "Si Tu No Existieras" was released on 27 November 2012. The video is composed of live clips taken during Arjona's performances, as part of his

. The video was directed by Tamir Lotán and was edited by Nicolás Merkin. This was the second time Arjona released a music video recorded from his live performances while on tour, after the music video for " Te Quiero", released in June 2012. The video starts by showing behind-the-scenes shots of Arjona, his team, and his fans while the song begins to play. Then, images from his live performances are interpolated with the face of a woman singing the lyrics, as well as doing several things related to those lyrics.

Live performances

"Si Tu No Existieras" was in the set list for a televised program in 2011. The special included guest singers such as Gaby Moreno, Ricky Muñoz (from Mexican band Intocable) and Paquita la del Barrio. Broadcast by Televisa, the program was made to showcase the new fourteen songs included on ''Independiente''. Ricky Muñoz commented that he was "happy to do things for Ricardo rjona and elaborated that they met each other "some time ago" and that it was "a very special situation." The show was later broadcast on 5 November 2011 by Canal de las Estrellas.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Si Tu No Existieras" – 4:02

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from ''Independiente'' liner notes.''Independiente'' (booklet).

. Mexico City: ''Metamorfosis'', a division of Warner Music Mexico S.A. de C.V. 2011. 825646649396. *

–

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, lyrics,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Roger Hudson – Background vocals, chorus *Dan Warner –

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, guitars, additional keyboards, programming,

*Lee Levin –

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion, recording engineer *Matt Rollings – Piano, recording engineer *Chris McDonald – Chord arrangement, conductor *David Thoener – Mixing engineer *Dan Rudin – Recording engineer *Carlos "Cabral" Junior – Recording engineer *Isaías Garcia – Recording engineer *Pamela Sixfin – Violin *Connie Ellisor – Violin *David Angell – Violin *Mary Katherine VanOsdale – Violin *Karen Winkelmann – Violin *Carolyn Bailey – Violin *Ern Hall – Violin *Zeneba Bowers – Violin *Cornelia Heard – Violin *James Grosjean – Viola *Monisa Angell – Viola *Elizabeth Lamb – Viola *Anthony LaMarchina – Cello *Julia Tanner – Cello *Craig Nelson – Bass *Xarah – Pro Tools

Charts

References

{{Ricardo Arjona 2011 songs 2012 singles Ricardo Arjona songs Songs written by Ricardo Arjona Spanish-language songs Warner Music Group singles