site.btaBTA Signs Open-Ended Partnership Deal With Rock Band Signal

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) signed an open-ended partnership agreement with Signal at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on Tuesday.

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev presented Signal vocalist Yordan Karadzhov with an agency archive photograph taken on June 9, 1980, during Signal’s recital at the Golden Orpheus International Pop Song Festival.

“What’s interesting is that the earliest news we can find about you in the BTA archive dates back to the 1990s. It seems Bulgaria’s national news agency didn’t cover your style of music much back then,” Valchev said.

He added that over the past 10 years, BTA’s archives have included 217 items about Signal, three of them in English. Before the LIK editorial office was set up, BTA typically ran six to 14 stories a year, but after it was established in 2022, the totals rose to 30 in 2022, 57 in 2023, 33 in 2024, and 30 in 2025.

“Now the aim is to ensure that, on average, we publish information about your concerts, new songs, and other band-related events once a week,” Valchev said.

“The agreement we are signing includes provisions on something important, especially in our field: copyright. We will have the right to publish the photos you provide, as well as video clips from your concerts, and, most importantly, they will be free for all media to use. We will also publish some of the news in English to promote Signal abroad,” Valchev said.

“I’ve been to BTA hundreds of times. Thank you for everything you’ve prepared for Signal, it delighted and touched me. Over the years, we’ve received and continue to receive similar gestures, but nothing like what you gave me,” Karadzhov said.

“As for a tour, you know we’re living through very difficult times, and most people aren’t in the mood for music. But on June 1, Signal will mark its 48th anniversary. All these years, we’ve tried to support the rhythm and spirit of our society. From the very beginning to this day, we’ve understood that our music has left a deep mark on our fans. They keep following us. That’s why it’s no coincidence that we’re meeting today to sign an agreement for mutual support,” Karadzhov said.

Speaking about Signal’s upcoming concert at Lumiere Cinema on February 14, Karadzhov said: “We’ve lined up a set of longtime fan favourites, and we’ll also premiere a few songs live for the first time.”

Valchev suggested that in 2028 BTA should publish an issue of LIK magazine dedicated to Signal’s 50th anniversary.

He noted that this was another agreement with Bulgarian music performers, following similar deals with Lili Ivanova, The Foundation, Hilda Kazasyan, Stefan Valdobrev, Sonya Yoncheva, Desi Dobreva, Iliya Lukov, and the Singing Artists project. BTA also has such agreements with Bulgaria’s opera houses, the Sofia Philharmonic, and the State Music and Ballet Centre in Sofia.

BTA is a media partner of nearly 30 music festivals and of all higher-education institutions offering music programmes, notably the National Academy of Music Prof. Pancho Vladigerov. The agency also partners with the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts Prof. Asen Diamandiev in Plovdiv, as well as several other universities with music programmes.

BTA also has agreements with the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School in Sofia and the Dobrin Petkov National School of Music and Dance Art.