Discos MAG

Since its foundation (June 8, 1953), Discos MAG has played a key role in the musical development of Peru, enabling tropical artists and musicians from other genres to build their careers. Manuel Antonio Guerrero founded and managed the label which takes its name from his own initials (M.A.G.).

Apart from managing the label, Guerrero unhesitatingly took part in recording sessions, brought musicians together on special projects for MAG and even performed some technical tasks, such as mixing or cutting records himself.

Guerrero also left his imprint on the visual side of the label’s releases as he took the photographs used for many of the covers, placing emphasis on the commercial aspects of the records while managing the musical line of the business with great success.

His team of musicians that worked regularly at the MAG studios for all his productions included the talented Coco Lagos, Alfredo Linares, Mario Allison, Melcochita… Other international artists who were staying in Lima also ended up recording exclusive sessions for the label. This was the case of the Cuban Orquesta Revé, Los Compadres or Xiomara Alfaro.

MAG managed to build up a solid repertoire of local artists, not only betting on tropical rhythms but also releasing rock, folk and even jazz music. The label soon added rock & roll to its catalog, recording the first album in this genre in Peru in 1957. The 50s and 60s were hugely successful for MAG, decades when it mainly released tropical and Creole music. In the following years, and until Manuel’s death in 1991, the label’s progress depended to large extent on the political ups and downs that affected Peru, alternating periods of economic instability with moments of business expansion, making MAG one of the country’s musical benchmarks.

In 2021, MAG was acquired by the Spanish company Distrolux SL, which owns the record labels Munster and Vampisoul, after years of previous collaborations during which some of the stand-out titles of the catalog were reissued for the international market: Nils Jazz Ensemble, Sonora Casino, Traffic Sound, Al Valdez, Pax…

Under this new management, MAG’s catalog is currently undergoing careful review and archiving, documenting all available information on each recording, restoring the cover artwork and remastering all the tapes that have been preserved over almost 70 years. As a result of this process, many recordings are now available again through Bandcamp and digital streaming platforms after years of being inaccessible.

MAG logró construir un sólido repertorio de artistas locales, apostando no solo por los ritmos tropicales sino publicando también rock, folk y hasta jazz. La discográfica incorporó pronto el rock & roll a su catálogo, logrando grabar en 1957 el primer disco de este género en Perú. Esa misma década y la de los años 60 fueron de gran éxito para MAG con la publicación de música tropical y criolla principalmente. Durante los años siguientes, y hasta el fallecimiento de don Manuel en 1991, la marcha del sello dependió en buena medida de los bandazos políticos que afectaron a Perú, alternándose períodos de inestabilidad económica con momentos de expansión del negocio, logrando situar a MAG como uno de los referentes musicales del país.

En 2021 MAG fue adquirida por la empresa española Distrolux SL, propietaria de las discográficas Munster y Vampisoul, tras años de colaboraciones previas en los que ya se reeditaron algunos de los títulos más emblemáticos del catálogo para el mercado internacional: Nils Jazz Ensemble, Sonora Casino, Traffic Sound, Al Valdez, Pax…

En la actualidad, bajo la nueva dirección, el catálogo de MAG está siendo objeto de una cuidadosa revisión y catalogación, documentando toda la información disponible de cada grabación, restaurando el arte de sus portadas y remasterizando todas las bobinas que se han conservado a lo largo de estos casi 70 años. Como resultado de este proceso, muchas grabaciones vuelven ahora a estar disponibles a través de Bandcamp y las plataformas digitales de streaming tras años de permanecer inaccesibles.