of samba characterized by strong chorus and, normally, three solo parts. As the aesthetic orientation towards young music of that time, these "song festivals" practically ignored the samba, which generated criticism from sambistas such as Elton Medeiros, who claimed the inclusion of the "truly Brazilian music" in these musical contests. Against this trend, the first Bienal do Samba took place in 1968, a year also characterized by the release of Paulinho da Viola's first solo album and also of another studio album by this composer in a duet with Elton Medeiros. At the beginning of the following decade, Paulinho consolidated his prestige with the commercial success of the samba "Foi um rio que passou na minha vida" and also as a producer of the first studio album of the Velha Guarda da Portela samba group. Samba and the expansion of the Brazilian music industry Between 1968 and 1979, Brazil experienced a huge growth in the production and consumption of cultural goods. During this period, there was a strong expansion of the music industry in the country, which consolidated itself as one of the largest world markets. Among the main factors for the expansion of the Brazilian market were: the consolidation of MPB production stimulated by artists such as Elis Regina, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Maria Bethania, and also in the segment of sentimental songs, drawn sales champion Roberto Carlos; the establishment of LP as a dominant medium format, where it was possible to insert several compositions on the same record, and also made the artist more important than his songs individually; the significant participation of foreign music in the Brazilian market, with the predominance of young music on the country charts, and the growth of the international repertoire on the soap opera soundtracks, mainly on TV Globo. Another important aspect in the phonographic sector of the period was technological, with a modernization of recording studios in Brazil that approached international technical standards, and the consolidation of foreign record labels in the country, such as EMI and the WEA. This Brazilian entry in the scope of the global cultural industry also profoundly affected the samba universe, which became one of the mass phenomena of the national music market of that decade represented by the appearance, on the list of best selling records of the period, of studio albums by artists such as Martinho da Vila, Originals of