Where are you based?
Crowded, noisy, sunny, busy São Paulo, Brazil
Where do you work? What do you do?
I am the CEO/president of Tratore Distribution, a local digital aggregator and physical distributor. We are the only local aggregator in Brazil to deliver music to Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, Tidal, etc We also still distribute physical product (vinyl and CD) to stores. Currently we have over 10,000 Brazilian artists in our catalog.
What are you listening to?
I just came back from PMX, the Palestine Music Expo in Ramallah and I was preparing a playlist of the stuff I heard there so, yeah, lots of new Palestinian music, listen here. Apart from the stuff that arrives at my desk everyday, I have been revisiting some old classics like Stevie Wonder and Bowie, and found some new respect for some old timers such as Burt Bacharach and Charles Mingus. And very happy that King Crimson is FINALLY on the digital platforms.
Regarding newer stuff, of the stuff that is NOT Tratore, Boogarins is always a pleasure, the new Lamb is pretty good, Anna Meredith always surprises me.
How do you find new music?
I still buy paper magazines, like MOJO, read blogs, listen to a few podcasts ( like NPR All Songs Considered and Sound Opinions and Hit Parade) get pointers from friends at Facebook, my friends at Tratore know all bands in the universe and always give me ideas (for example, I first heard Rosalia at someone else’s desk). Then I add all this to a playlist I have called scrapbook and listen to it when I have time.
And of course as you can imagine, all the bands that arrive at Tratore.
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services and why?
Nothing beats the practicality of streaming. But at home, it is vinyl mostly and CDs in the car sometimes.
Where do you do most of your music listening?
Car or bike. Now that Sao Paulo has a few good bike paths, wearing headphones is not an unsafe option.
How do find and listen to pre-release music?
I don’t. Only professionally, when a relevant new release appears in the office.
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?
THE ABSENCE OF LINER NOTES AND FULL CREDITS. Don’t get me started.
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?
Streaming is good for this… You just add to your library with one click.
Do you tip other people off to new music? How?
Ah, the aforementioned playlist which I update monthly, RADIO BACANA where I put everything that I like, sometimes connected by an unifying theme: This month: New Palestinian music.
Anything you want to “promote”?
New Tratore stuff that deserves a close listen – the latest O Terno, new Thiago Pethit, latest one by Rubel, new Fafa de Belem and My new band “The Universal Mauricio Orchestra”, a jam band formed only by Mauricios, six of them.
