School of Rock Goes Global with Deals To Expand in Brazil, Spain, and Portugal

School of Rock has announced the opening of its 250th location. Located in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, it is the first of 8 schools that will open in the South Zone of Rio, part of a much larger deal promising 150 locations in South America’s largest country.

Paulo Portela, CEO of School of Rock’s master franchisee in Brazil, will open 117 schools, in addition to the 33 already contracted, for a total of 150 schools throughout Brazil over the next few years. Portela also has been awarded master franchise agreements for Spain and Portugal. The first School of Rock sites in Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona are targeted to open in 2020.

“Rio de Janeiro is central to Brazilian musical history and ‘cariocas’ love rock’n’roll,” said Portela. “The Ipanema School, along with the first Rio area school in Barra da Tijuca, show our commitment to sustaining that heritage.”

In addition to expanding overseas, School of Rock continues to expand its conversion program, which rebrands existing music education businesses and turns them into School of Rock locations. In the U.S., the company recently converted its first independent music school to a School of Rock in Lafayette, Louisiana. The next conversion will be the Brazilian independent music school EM&T in Sao Paulo, becoming the largest overall School of Rock site in the global system with approximately 800 enrolled students.

“This is an incredibly exciting time to be part of School of Rock as we work diligently to ramp up our international development strategy and reach thousands more aspiring musicians across the world,” said Rob Price, CEO of School of Rock in the announcement. “We are planning for long-term global growth fueled by a passionate community, curriculum innovation, and new strategic partnerships.” (For a profile of Rob Price and the company, click here.)

Price traveled to Brazil to finalize the deal and mark the milestone of the brand’s 250th location, as well as to observe a partnership with Rock in Rio. The School of Rock House, an experiential booth located at the event, gave the more than 1 million festival-goers the opportunity to “play Rock in Rio” as well as get to know the brand. An estimated 20,000 attended.

In addition, the Associação Para Iniciação Musical da Crianca Carente (Association of Musical Initiation for Deprived Children) will receive the largest single donation in its history from School of Rock to support music for disadvantaged youths in Brazil.