Deck officially started operations as a record label and music publishing company in April 1998, with distribution by Universal Music. The company’s now one of the country’s most important and active indie labels, being partners with many international labels, such as Domino, Polyvinyl, Arts & Crafts, Avex, Cooking Vinyl, Carpark and others.
Bu the history, to be told properly, recalls 1998. On that year the first CD for the “O Som do Barzinho” series was released, a hit collection that sold over 1 million units of its 5 CDs and inspired many other musical projects afterwards.
In March 1999, Abril Music took over the distribution of Deck’s new releases. And the hits came one after the other.
The first one was the comeback album of Ultraje a Rigor, “18 Anos Sem Tirar”, which, mixing live and studio recordings, soon achieved Gold status, with over 100 thousand copies sold.
This paved the way for the return of another major São Paulo rock band, Ira!, with the release of three consecutive albums: “Isso é Amor” (1999), “MTV Ao Vivo” (2000, Disco de Ouro) and “Entre seus Rins” (2001).
The biggest hit of 2000 was the debut album of a group that would soon become a nationwide smash, Falamansa, reaching the amazing figure of over 1,5 million units sold. That same year saw yet another debut release, by group Rastapé, which sold over 300 thousand units (Platinum).
New releases of “forró” style bands and artists followed in 2001. Falamansa put out its sophomore album “Essa é pra vocês” in September, selling over 500 thousand CDs.
In November, Deck proudly became the first 100% independent record label in Brazil, starting to run its own distribution, in Rio de Janeiro. It soon started to pay-off: Deck ended 2001 with the second best selling CD of the year (Grupo Revelação – 690 thousand units), encompassing 1,78% of market share in 2003. In 2004, the share went up to 2,66%, and to 3,28% in 2005.
In A&R, Deck stands-out for its talent-scouting skills, having succeeded in introducing hit acts of many different styles, throughout its seven years in the market. Many of this artists/bands have become sales hits, while others see their careers fast developing.
In the Samba style, highlights are Grupo Revelação, Sorriso Maroto, Bokaloka, Swing & Simpatia and singer/songwriter Teresa Cristina.
Rock’n roll is another major hitmaker, with names like charming rocker Pitty (her sales figures have exceeded 500 thousand units), bands Cachorro Grande, Dead Fish, Gram, Matanza, Ultraje a Rigor and newcomer Strike. As well as some of Brazil’s punk/hardcore icons, like Mukeka di Rato and Ratos de Porão.
Other styles managed by Deck include Sertanejo (Zé Henrique & Gabriel, Edson & Hudson, Roby & Roger), Forró (Falamansa), Pop (Perlla) and Electrobeat/house (Marcelinho da Lua).
On 2010, Deck started a new label named Vigilante. The goal was to keep hiring and developing new artists that did songs and albums out of the ordinary genres on the hit parade. Mainly if they could also be a massive hit or successful in their segment. Vigilante has now many important, both starting and well-known, national and international artists in it’s catalogue, including electrobrega-pop acts Gang do Eletro and Banda UÓ, brazilian eletro-pop magician Boss in Drama, Pitty’s project Agridoce and other international ones such as Best Coast, Broken Social Scene, of Montreal, Toro y Moi, Dirty Projectors, John Cale and many others.
On the publishing side, Deck Music Publishing owns over 4 thousand edited songs, and over 2.000 recordings. Amongst its authors’ cast are some of Brazil’s biggest copyrights holders like Tato (Falamansa), Pitty, Zé Henrique (da dupla Zé Henrique & Gabriel), Thais Nascimento, Miltinho Edilberto, Eduardo Krieger, Ademir Fogaça, Edgard Scandurra (Ira!), Roger Moreira (Ultraje a Rigor), Teresa Cristina, and songwriters/members of bands Grupo Revelação, Sorriso Maroto, Dead Fish, Gram, Cachorro Grande and Ludov. On the web, Deckdisc is also a pioneer in many ways, especially with the founding of the first virtual music store, Deckpod, in December 2005. With it’s A&R focused outlook, Deckdisc continues to boost its trade, letting go of ancient industry concepts, and embracing new ways of selling music. For the next couple of years, the label plans to grow gradual and carefully, backed, mostly, by its own ability to craft high quality music – with quantity and speed, especially being able to work with its own master tapes on hand.