Roberta Medina about charging for rock at Rock in Rio: 'Rockers make noise, but the first day that sells out is pop'

Roberta Medina talks about criticism and expansion of Rock in Rio
With each Rock in Rio line-up announcement, questions like "where's the rock?" or "has it become Pop in Rio?" have a confirmed presence on social media.
"Rockers say that. Pop people don't complain", says Roberta Medina, vice-president of Rock World, the festival's organizing company. thousands of people", analyzed the VP during an interview with the Brazilian press at the festival's edition in Lisbon.
Around 330 thousand people attended the event over the four days of shows. On stage, pop and rock stars gathered crowds, including attractions such as Sepultura and Linkin Park.
The businesswoman reinforced that the festival loves the genre and metal - an audience that she confesses she was afraid of when she was 12 years old, at the Maracanã edition in 1991 -, but that the line-up depends on the market and the availability of artists. "We're rock, we're pop. And we here even adopted 'all in Rio'. Because that's it, it's everything. It always has been. If we look at 1985, it was always about all styles. It was never just rock", he recalls.
Calema lota Rock in Rio Lisboa
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Growth plans
Over the four days of Rock in Rio Lisboa, Roberta Medina circulated around the event to understand what was going right or wrong at the event. The festival is for the second year in a new space, Parque Tejo, created in 2023 to host World Youth Day.
The businesswoman made a positive assessment, highlighting that the main complaints from the previous edition (queues in bathrooms and bars caused by the increased time spent by the public at the event even after the end of the musical program) were resolved with the doubling of structures.
"The changes we made, to move some structure, to expand the venue more space, they are bringing good results. We still have a challenge, which is the fact that people stop on the street [which connects one stage to the other]. We have already expanded a lot because of Palco Mundo, but they stop there with the slope and it looks like it is full. 2026
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Medina also spoke about the festival's expansion plans. "We will grow by bringing the European market to Portugal", says the businesswoman, denying that Rock in Rio will go to other countries.
The idea is to strengthen existing events using the current trend of "musical tourism", in which people plan trips focusing on music festivals and cultural programming.
"The effort to make an edition in another country is very big, because Rock in Rio is a very different business model. With the infrastructure it offers, it works a lot with the advertising market."
"So, our decision for now is to make the world meet in these two poles that we have [Portugal and Brazil]. We are expanding the international strategy of both markets so that the world comes to us."
There are no miracles
Pedro Sampaio distributed fans to the audience at Rock In Rio Lisboa.
Marília Neves/g1
Medina also spoke about strengthening the careers of artists who appear on the event's stages.
She stated that, despite bringing smaller singers to secondary stages, Rock in Rio is not an event for "new talents". "When you go to the big stages, it has to be the ones that are renowned, otherwise it's also a big risk", he says.
"The festival enhances work well done. But it's not coming to play at Rock in Rio that will solve anyone's life."
WHAT HAPPENED AT RO:K IN RIO LISBON 2026:
Pedro Sampaio performs a cathartic show with 'Cavalinho', Melody and contagious ballet at Rock in Rio Lisboa
Alok tells how he resolved a dilemma about a feat with Jennifer Lopez
Andreas Kisser talks about Sepultura's farewell tour: 'It's taken a lot of people away home'
Joyce Alane comments on the demand for 'new Gils and Caetanos' in national music: 'They were them'
Ana Castela, Marina Sena, Gabriel o Pensador: What the Portuguese are listening to Brazilian music

Source: G1