Tecno brega or technobrega (technotacky) is a form of
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
from
northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, particularly
Belém
Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...
,
Pará
Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...
.
Music of the genre is created primarily through
remixing
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
and reworking songs from
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
and music from the eighties.
While there is a large amount of famous music used in tecno brega, the majority of it is original material (80%).
Several
DJs and music producers from the tecno brega movement were featured in the
peer-to-peer filesharing documentary ''
Good Copy Bad Copy
''Good Copy Bad Copy'' (subtitled Good Copy Bad Copy: A documentary about the current state of copyright and culture) is a 2007 documentary film about copyright and culture in the context of Internet, peer-to-peer file sharing and other technologic ...
''.
[ Good Copy Bad Copy](_blank)
Production and distribution
The music is created by producers in makeshift studios, whether in bedrooms or other unused spaces. Rather than being sold in a traditional
CD format, techno brega is characterized by new distribution methods. Rather than selling a CD in a store, tecno brega CDs are sold for a minimal price (averaging US$1.50)
by
street vendors
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationa ...
, who often make the actual CDs themselves.
Often producing their music with little concern for
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
, the music is "born free".
The street vendor is then in charge of making more copies and using the CDs as
advertisements
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically us ...
.
These advertisements are for large
reggae sound system
In Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, sound engineers and MCs playing music such as ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub reggae, dancehall and ragga. Sound systems are an important part of Jamaican culture and his ...
s style parties, very similar to a
rave
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
. It is at these concerts that producers will make money, whether by entrance fees or by selling CDs produced that night from live music.
Sound system parties
The sound systems themselves become a competitive point, encouraging producers to have the most up to date
electronic equipment
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...
. They may attract as many as 12,000–15, 000 people to a show. With typical attendance, they may sell an average of 77 CDs and 53
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
s after a performance.
At these shows a performer may also do "shout outs" to friends, family, or neighborhoods, making the CDs more valuable to the audience.
Shout outs can also be bought by pre-purchasing a CD of the concert prior to the beginning of the show.
A performance can earn the performer on average
R$2,200 (approx. US$1250 as of March 2012) a show.
Notable artists
*
Gaby Amarantos
Gabriela Amaral dos Santos (born 1 August 1978), known professionally as Gaby Amarantos, is a Brazilian singer from the city of Belém.
Biography
Amarantos was born in the low-income neighborhood of Jurunas in Belém, in the state of Pará, ...
*
Banda Uó
Banda Uó was a Brazilian tecnobrega band composed of Davi Sabbag, Mateus Carrilho, and Candy Mel. The band was formed in 2010 in Goiânia. The group was initially composed of Davi Sabbag, Mateus Carrilho and Flora Maria. They released their fir ...
*
DJ Cremoso
*
Gang do Eletro
*
Pabllo Vittar
Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva (born 1 November 1993), known professionally as Pabllo Vittar (), is a Brazilian drag queen and singer.
Life and career 1993–2016: Early life
Born in São Luís, Maranhão, São Luís, Phabullo is a fraternal twi ...
See also
*
Brega pop
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tecno Brega
Brazilian styles of music
Electronic dance music genres