APR Entertainment Is Putting St. Louis on the Map Within the Latin Music Industry | St. Louis Economic Development Partnership

Creating Memories. Uniting Communities. Empowering Culture

APR Entertainment, an ever-growing entertainment business in St. Louis,  is on a mission to make St. Louis the hub of multicultural entertainment in the Midwest. Founded by Angel Recci in 2019, the company is on a fast-track to success. The company’s main goal is to attract and retain people in St. Louis through music events, such as concerts and festivals. Their focus is on Latin and multicultural music entertainment, with community-building as their guiding light.

Recci was inspired to create APR Entertainment when he noticed the lack of top-class Latino entertainment happening in St. Louis, especially when compared to other Metro areas. He knew that St. Louis had the infrastructure, the people, the atmosphere and plenty of music history, but it was missing a bridge to connect people to their roots. Recci noticed that Hispanics and Latinos were willing to travel to cities including Kansas City, Nashville, Chicago and even Florida for their favorite artists and concerts. So, he decided to bring those great artists home to them. From opportunity to execution, Recci worked diligently to make his dream a reality.

Recci credits his cultural heritage as a Puerto Rican as the source of his passion in his business. The energy and passion that he brings to his work adds color to everything he does. His goal is to reflect that in the day-to-day of APR Entertainment.

“I love my Latino roots, and I am so incredibly excited about the latest Census figures showing that the Latino community in St. Louis grew by 14% in the last year” Recci said.

Of course, starting his business did not come without some challenges. The biggest challenge for Recci was proving his business idea to organizations. The misconception was that his business was just a party business. In reality, APR Entertainment is a mechanism to create opportunities to give St. Louis the exposure needed to increase tourism from the Hispanic/Latino population while contributing to the region’s urban development in order to make a difference in our region. Their goal is to put St. Louis on the map within the Latin music industry.  They do this by focusing on being a top-class company that produces the best Latin entertainment in this market.

The second big challenge APR Entertainment faced was skepticism. Since there weren’t any companies doing what Recci does before he arrived on the scene, there was some doubt about whether it could be a sustainable business model in St. Louis. He overcame the doubt through education and consistently delivering top-tier Latin music entertainment in St. Louis.

“The Hispanic population in St. Louis represents a significant value to the economy of this region; we just have to bring my community together to show such value, therefore, with proper investment in the Latin music entertainment, St. Louis could reach its full economic potential faster as we become a diverse and vibrant community overall.” Recci said.

Recci is guided by a love for St. Louis and credits the opportunities he’s found in St. Louis as what has made him the person he is today. He came to St. Louis 15 years ago after being recruited to play baseball. He got hooked on the city after he saw how much opportunity the city held within.

“St. Louis has given me so much, and I’m so grateful, APR Entertainment is my way of giving back,” Recci said. “St. Louis has so much potential to keep growing and with that will come many more opportunities. All you need is to take initiative and capitalize on those opportunities, and you will see really good results. There’s no reason for us to envy any other cities.”