site.btaBTA Signs Partnership Agreement with Pop Singer Lubo Kirov

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and pop singer Lubo Kirov signed a media partnership agreement here on Thursday. BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said that the national news agency announces its partnership with yet another major Bulgarian artist, and it does so during his latest tour.

BTA's oldest news piece about Kirov dates back to 2002. That was when the song Ako Nyakoga (If Ever) by The Super Group featuring Lyubo Kirov, Yasen Velchev, Ivan Zvezdomirov, Mitko Karnev, and Stoyan Yankulov was recorded. The oldest photo dates back to August 14, 2004, from the Bansko Jazz Festival.

“So our partnership goes back a very long time,” commented Lubo Kirov.

Last year, BTA published 77 news pieces about him. “The idea now is to provide much more systematic coverage, similar to what we have for other major Bulgarian musicians - Lili Ivanova, Veselin Marinov, Kamelia Todorova, Hilda Kazasyan, The Foundation, Signal, Stefan Valdobrev, Desi Dobreva, Ilia Lukov, Sonya Yoncheva, and the Belchev musical family," said Valchev. He noted that BTA has agreements with all opera houses in Bulgaria, with the Sofia Philharmonic, with all universities - including those offering music programmes - with Bulgarian National Radio, which featured iconic ensembles, and with BG Radio. Starting this year, BTA has launched the specialized section BG Music featuring news about Bulgarian music.

Lubo Kirov expressed gratitude for the invitation and for the partnership. "I am extremely grateful. It is an honour for me to be included in this list of top names you work with,” he said.

“I think it is great to support Bulgarian music in this way. There is a lot going on, and when people know about it, they gain a little more respect for us musicians. So thank you for this initiative, for having a special section, and for giving Bulgarian music its own space at BTA - as a topic, as an island, as a small oasis,” he added. “We rarely express gratitude for broad media support because the albums we release are not always the subject of good music reviews. There is no real music criticism. I think you are absolutely capable of doing that,” he added.

“Many Bulgarian artists need more visibility for their concerts abroad, especially among Bulgarian communities. BTA works with Bulgarian media in 29 countries, as we are currently preparing for the World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. This is an opportunity, through our programme BG World for Bulgarians abroad, to provide much more systematic information about which artists will be performing for Bulgarian audiences around the world,” said Valchev.

Lubo Kirov is presenting his new album, Futurofonia, in 13 Bulgarian cities. Due to the rain forecast, the concerts scheduled for Pleven on July 3 and Gabrovo on July 4 will take place on August 18 and 24, respectively.