Melissa Otero
Melissa Otero Cintrón (born October 11, 1980) is an independent Puerto Rican pop/rock singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. Otero made her debut under her own label Divine Spell Music Group in 2008.
Otero has released one album and one EP to date. Her single "My First Everything" was released in 2006 and had national airplay on indie radio stations marking the beginning of her professional career as an artist. It reached #1 for two consecutive weeks on the Hot97.net Online Radio. Her debut album My Spirit was released on Christmas Day of 2008 and has sold over 500 digital copies most of which were from fans in Colombia and New York City.
Otero recently wrapped up her Free Spirit Tour which included performances in New York, Puerto Rico and throughout the Fox Valley of the State of Wisconsin during the summer of 2009.
In addition to her touring, Otero has begun working on her second album with Caelum Entertainment, CEO/producer Gaetano Lattanzi.
Early life
Melissa Otero Cintrón was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and grew up in the countryside of Yauco, Puerto Rico in the Diego Hernández neighborhood. She is the fourth child of Luis Otero, a retired mechanic, and Nellie Cintrón. When Otero was five years old, her family settled in Yauco where her parents bought a piece of land and decided to build their dream home.
After the house was complete, her father joined the National Guard and was sent to the mainland to begin boot camp while her mother struggled between work, school, and four kids. At the age of 9, Otero saw the Gloria Estefan Let It Loose Homecoming Concert. She remarked to her mother: “When I grow up, I want to do that!” and soon after, Otero’s dream of professionally pursuing music began.
As a child, Otero would create her own “home concerts” imitating Gloria Estefan and others. She struggled finding venues at which to perform live due to her choice to perform in English while she was, at the time, living in a Spanish-speaking country. She performed at many local talent shows. On several occasions she won second place to later be told by the judges that she had not been awarded first place because of her choice to perform in English.
By the time Otero was close to 14, her mother decided to help her create a professional demo. A local recording studio called The Time Machine, run by Ivan Nazario, a well respected producer in Puerto Rico, was opening in town and her mother immediately contacted them to inquire about pricing. She became their first customer but was unable to record there because the studio was not finished. They set out to San Juan, Puerto Rico and recorded at the Horizon Studios to record the covers “The Rose” by Bette Midler and “You Mean The World To Me” by Toni Braxton.
Warner Bros. Records
After recording a demo of cover songs, a customer approached Otero’s mother at the local video store in which she worked and spoke to her about their relative Hector Quiñones, who was an A&R for Warner Brothers Records. They met soon after and Mr. Quiñones immediately became interested in Otero, however he said she was “too young” and “not ready”. He gave specific instructions to both Melissa and her mother to prepare her for the music business. Their first task was to create an original song and make arrangements for Melissa to take professional vocal lessons.
While Mr. Quiñones returned to the mainland, Otero and her mother began working on an original song and searching for a vocal coach. At this time, Otero had not yet written a solid song and her mother created her first original track titled “Baby Come Back”. They returned to The Time Machine Recording Studios to begin producing with Ivan Nazario and recorded the song soon after. They sent the track to Mr. Quiñones and received the response “The song is too childish. We need to revamp the lyrics. I will send you a song I have here that is perfect for her.” The song was titled “Magic”, a heavily R&B influenced track by the producers at Warner Brothers. It was a soulful ballad in which Melissa was not ready to perform because she felt the song was “too old” for her. She did not like the style but was ready to sing it in spite of her misgivings to secure the contract with the label. She performed it over the phone and was told that she “didn’t sing it with feeling” and was still not ready to be signed.
Four years had passed and Otero was finishing high school. She had continuously taken vocal lessons and piano lessons as well as writing her own songs and worked eight hour days in her home studio. She was still waiting for Warner Brothers to make the decision in signing her to their label when Mr. Quiñones insisted she was still “not ready”. At the time, Melissa was 17 and she decided to pursue music on her own and declined further involvement with the label.
Once In A Lifetime Concert 1998
During her final months in high school, Otero and her mother began working on her first concert ever in which she titled Once In A Lifetime. By 1995, American music became very popular and performing in English was not that much of a struggle anymore. The concert had many local businesses, schools and friends involved allowing Melissa to perform at the Starz Theater in Yauco, Puerto Rico. They sold over 300 tickets and was deemed a “huge success” for no other independent artist had been able to accomplish such an event while performing in another language.
Arista Records
In 2004, Melissa teamed up with a friend who had connections in Arista Records. She had already moved to the US in 2001 and was pursuing her dream. She recorded her first original composition titled “My First Everything” along with other originals and created a demo to show at Arista.
She met with A&R Dan Johnson and listened to the track. He fell in love with her music and was trying to get her signed to the label. He thought Otero had “real old school talent” and wanted to show it to his superiors and secure the deal. He told her to keep writing originals and prepare enough for an album while he would work things out at the label. A few months shortly after their meeting, Arista Records was bought by Sony BMG and Dan Johnson was laid off.
My First Everything EP
After years of trying to secure a contract with a major record label, Otero decided to release her first single on her own. Doing extensive research, she found CD Baby, an independent digital distribution company which was booming at the time. Simultaneously, her brother-in-law’s friend was an entertainment lawyer and submitted the track to Atlantic Records. After a few months waiting for a response, Atlantic Records said they liked the track but it was not something they were looking for to add on to their roster at the time.
Shortly after submitting her track for distribution, Melissa met through another artist online the radio host Michael McCartney of The Time Machine Radio in Hawaii. Mr. McCartney is an independent radio host that allows independent artists to submit their tracks for airplay. He liked Melissa’s song and added it to his roster shortly after.
At the same time, another online radio station was booming from Portland, Oregon and requested Melissa’s music to add to their roster. Her song My First Everything became a number 1 track for two consecutive weeks on the Hot97.net spins making that Melissa’s official first #1 single.
Depression and Christianity
During the summer of 2006, Melissa had released her single “My First Everything” but was struggling with depression. She did however continue writing and began her journey through her toughest time in her life to date.
In 2007, Otero had still been in her depression and one evening, Otero finally gave in and decided to allow Christ in her to heal her. She was never deemed a religious person and often thought of herself as an agnostic. She asked God to reveal himself to her and to help her get out of her depression. After that evening, Otero began going to church and her depression began subsiding.
My Spirit
Finally after months of being in seclusion and turning to Christianity, Otero felt she was ready to continue her dream and release an album. She started recording her new songs in Mexico City, MX as well as in New York. The response from producers were astounding. She was finally told she sang with feelings and was an incredible artist. She now thanks God for allowing her to go through such an ordeal in order to make her a better person, artist and songwriter.
She recorded her songs “Free”, “10:40pm” and “Not Lost Anymore”. The reviews for these songs were positive ones and “10:40pm” became an instant favorite. It was a deep Rock/Pop ballad and was being requested as a single.
In August 2008, Otero teamed up with independent film maker Randy Jones to create her first music video for the song “10:40pm”. They filmed in Astoria, Queens and sent it to many television stations. NBC Universal caught an interest in it and Otero signed an agreement to allow NBC to air it on an independent showcase for film makers.
On Christmas Day of 2008, Otero released her debut album My Spirit. It included some of her old tracks that was in her My First Everything EP as well as new. Soon after, radio stations from all over the world were requesting a copy to add to their spins and “My Spirit” began it’s journey to international success.
It was on rotation in Hawaii through Michael McCartney of The Time Machine again, then in Colombia on the Radio Nacional de Colombia morning hits, some independent stations in Puerto Rico and in Europe, Michael Ruel from France requested My Spirit to syndicate in Germany, France and other parts of Europe.
Colombia was responding very well to Melissa’s music especially her tracks “Libre”, “Mi Primer Amor” and “10:40pm”. A tour was being requested and journalist Carlos Villota Santacruz made her music available to her fans on the Colombian radio website. There over 500 fans downloaded Otero’s music and her popularity rose within the Colombian community.
In the summer of 2009, Otero began her first tour Free Spirit Tour in Wisconsin with the help of Karate America and the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. She performed in several venues and was a popular artist with in the Fox Valley region. After Wisconsin, Otero headed over to Puerto Rico to perform in front of over 500 people at the Festival de la Juventud in Hormigueros. The mayor of the town was very pleased with Melissa’s style and invited her back. Her last performance is at Fontana’s in New York City on September 2, 2009.
Discography
Extended Play (EP) studio albums
- My First Everything (2006)
Full Length (LP) studio albums
- My Spirit (2008)
New Album
Currently Melissa is working on her second album with Caelum Entertainment CEO and producer Gaetano Lattanzi. A release date has not been set.
Memoirs of My Spirit
Otero has stated in a few interviews that she has been working on a book for the past three years about her life during her turmoil titled Memoirs of My Spirit. She stated that the book itself also describes how her album My Spirit was created and how she wrote the songs according to her life. No publishing date has been established.
References
PR Log Press Release