THE LIVING ARCHIVE.
How South America’s oldest record label keeps recording, and how its archive came to hold a country’s sound.
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13,047tracks
487artists
88years
5genres
1studio
3generations
Manifesto
We are drivenby the soundof a country.
Eighty-eight years recording cumbia, folklore, tango, candombe and murga. We don’t collect records — we keep a region’s sound alive and in motion.
First 45 RPM in South America, 1954.
1938
Son d’Or founded by Enrique Abal Salvo
1941
First vinyl pressing plant in Uruguay
1947
Estudios Sondor opens at Río Branco 1530
1954
First 45 RPM in South America
1969
Sondor name adopted; first stereo disc
1977
El Kinto releases “Circa 1968”
1984
Alfredo Zitarrosa releases “La canción quiere”
1994
Jaime Roos records “Brindis por Pierrot”
2026
Catalog fully digitized · 13,047 tracks
Five sounds. One country.
Five genres. Five accents in the system. Eight decades of recordings, indexed by year, era, and master tape, newly digitized and cleared for licensing.
01 · CUMBIA
Cumbia
Heat, movement, fiesta.
02 · FOLKLORE
Folklore
Land, roots, campo.
03 · TANGO
Tango
Passion, night, drama.
04 · CANDOMBE
Candombe
Drum, ritual, earth.
05 · MURGA
Murga
Carnival, voice, satire.
Music. By the artists who made
a country sound like itself.
Four hundred and eighty-seven names have walked into Río Branco 1530. Here are the first four. Browse the rest in the catalog.
Browse the roster ↗
Precleared. Traceable. The only authentic source.
Every track in the archive is pre-cleared and rights-traceable. Music originally recorded for Uruguayan records and bands, now available for film, television and advertising.
Contact licensing →SYNC
Film · TV · Ads
STREAM
Spotify · Apple · Tidal
REISSUE
Vinyl · CD · Digital
ARCHIVE
Restoration · Master
Río Branco 1530.
A single room at Río Branco 1530 has held a tube console, a candombe percussion booth, and three generations of engineers since 1947. The room has memory. The microphones still work.
StreetRío Branco 1530
CityMontevideo, Uruguay
Open since1947
ConsoleCustom tube + Pro Tools HDX
RoomsLive · Iso · Candombe booth
Sessions 2025142
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