Tecno brega or technobrega (technotacky) is a form of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

from northern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, 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 a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

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 state) ...

. Music of the genre is created primarily through

remixing A remix (or reorchestration) 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, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

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

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 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, education ...

, 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 put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. These advertisements are for large

reggae sound system In Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system is an important part of Jamaican culture and history. History The sound system concept first ...

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 The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

. 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 kind ...

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, songwriter, actress and TV presenter from the city of Belém. Biography Amarantos was born in the low-income neighborhood of Jurun ...

* Banda Uó * 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, Phabullo is a dizygotic twin and has an older sis ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tecno Brega Brazilian styles of music Electronic dance music genres