Living in Peru : your everyday companion

by
Carsten Korch

The Cocodrilo Verde, a popular live music venue and restaurant in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima, played host to an innovative music event recently. Mostro Digital, a digital music distribution company based in Los Angeles and also in Peru, held a press conference and party to celebrate the company’s first quarterly payments of artist income from the sale of their music via the global giant iTunes. Mostro took advantage of the occasion to sign new deals with artists, and to speak at length to the assembled guests and media about what digital music is, how the international market is changing, and why they are focusing almost exclusively on bringing the music of Latin America to the rest of the world starting with our beloved Peru.

Samantha Cramer and Todd Bisson, two of Mostro’s managing partners, were responsible for the successful event that serves as yet another sign that the world is paying attention to the wealth of musical talent and culture as a whole in Peru. Cramer is based in Lima and Bisson flew in from the company headquarters in Los Angeles for the gathering. They spoke in detail about the new ways that music lovers all over the world are experiencing and purchasing music due to digital sales and distribution. Billions of songs have been sold, not pirated, by way of the Internet to customers who download the music to their computers or directly to their portable music devices such as iPods and iPhones, all without the need for physical CDs.

The quick-changing global music marketplace opens up new avenues for artists and record companies to reach listeners more rapidly, directly, and economically than before. Mostro hobnobbed with the many artists who have signed with for distribution, including Jaime Cuadra whose Cholo Soy recordings have been the company’s top seller over the past several months. Sales of Cuadra’s five albums were, in part, driven by his much celebrated inclusion in the recent James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Other artists who are working with Mostro and were present at the event included La Mente, Manuel Miranda, Zen, El Hombre Misterioso and Daniela Ghersi. The new signings that took place that day were with children’s music artist Miss Rosi, alternative rock group Emergency Blanket, jazz legend Jean Pierre Magnet, composer and keyboardist Polo Cox, and Los Shains, the first garage band ever to make music in Peru in the 1960’s.

After the event Cramer and Bisson spoke in more detail with Living in Peru about their rapid development and future plans, which include entering the market in Columbia and Argentina beginning later this year. They estimate based on current and near future signings and that the company will have well over 1,500 songs in distribution by June, and this is only the beginning. Clearly the world is growing smaller daily, as the Internet becomes the expressway to daily life and business. Peru stands to benefit tremendously from this trend as the country’s culture, food, history, and music become increasingly popular beyond its borders.

For further information: www.mostrodigital.com
More articles on Mostro Digital: www.visorperu.com
Thanks to Cocodrilo Verde: www.cocodriloverde.com

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