Acústico MTV was a music television program broadcast by MTV Brasil, inspired by the MTV Unplugged series — a North American show created in 1989 in which bands and artists perform their songs in acoustic versions, that is, using acoustic rather than electric instruments.
Initially, Acústico MTV began as a television program and subsequently became a music label. For the Brazilian recording industry, the series propelled the music market to its peak.
With the end of Grupo Abril's management of MTV Brasil in September 2013, the network ceased production of the program; consequently, the final Acústico MTV session featured Arnaldo Antunes. However, in November 2018, Viacom (the current rights holder for MTV Brasil) announced the project's return as part of a strategy to reposition MTV in Brazil.
History
Acústico MTV: Barão Vermelho was the first official Acústico MTV program (the previous show, by Marcelo Nova in 1990, served merely as a "pilot" and was never broadcast or released as an album). Although Acústico MTV: Barão Vermelho was not released on CD at the time, it saw its first commercial release in 2006 as part of the MTV Barão Vermelho DVD box set.
João Bosco's Acústico (1992) was the first to be released on both LP and CD, despite having been recorded after the shows by Marcelo Nova and Barão Vermelho. The CD edition does not feature the MTV logo on the cover, and — along with Marcelo Nova's show — it was one of the only ones not released in video format.
The series made history in terms of CD sales and the release of new hits. The first to surpass the 1-million-sales mark was Acústico MTV: Titãs, with 1.7 million copies sold—a figure surpassed only by Acústico MTV: Kid Abelha, which reached two million copies in Brazil.
The simplest of all the MTV Unplugged sessions was Acústico MTV: Legião Urbana, which featured only two acoustic guitars and percussion, without any elaborate set design. In contrast, the most expensive one was Acústico MTV: Art Popular.
The project was put on hold in 2007 following the release of the Acústico MTV album by samba artist Paulinho da Viola, and was revived in 2010 — to mark MTV Brasil's 20th anniversary — with Lulu Santos's second Acústico MTV album. Furthermore, responsibility for releases on CD, DVD, Blu-ray, or any other format shifted to the artist's record label rather than the broadcaster.
With the end of Grupo Abril's management of MTV Brasil in September 2013, the channel shifted to a cable-only format and had ceased production of the program back in 2012; consequently, the final Acústico MTV session featured Arnaldo Antunes. However, in November 2018, Viacom (the current rights holder for MTV Brasil) announced the project's return as part of a strategy to reposition MTV in Brazil.
In August and September 2009, MTV Brasil aired all the Acústico MTV specials recorded between 1994 and 2007. The specials were rebroadcast again in August and September 2013 due to the station ceasing its free-to-air broadcasts.
In 2005, the compilation album O Melhor do Acústico MTV was released through Sony BMG. Subsequently, the second volume, O Melhor do Acústico MTV 2, was released by Universal Music.