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At the Dawn of Brazil's Largest Music Label

At the Dawn of Brazil's Largest Music Label

Orquestra e Coro Som Livre Uma Canção a Mais (1974)

Rio de Janeiro-based TV Globo is the world's second-largest commercial television broadcaster, second only to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). It engages over 200 million viewers daily both in Brazil and internationally and is also one of the largest soap opera producers in the world. In the 1970s, one of the network's most successful productions was called O Semideus (The Demigod). The show, all about a conspiracy in a wealthy family business, got written and produced in no time. It was actually a quick substitute for another series that the Brazilian military dictatorship's censors hadn't greenlit at the time. The soundtrack to O Semideus was launched through Som Livre, a subsidiary music label specially created to focus on the distribution of telenovela soundtracks. As was common practice at the time, the label had its own orchestra, the Orquestra e Coro Som Livre. Today's song, “Uma Canção a Mais” (Another Song), is one of the standout pieces in the orchestra's collection and is part of Som Livre's early catalog. Fast forward 50 years and the label is recognized as Brazil's largest music label. It represents a diverse array of local talents across different genres and also manages the distribution of renowned artists like the Rolling Stones and Elton John in Brazil.

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