The importance of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) within Brazil's culture is undeniable. In addition to its relevance as an aesthetic manifestation of Brazil's multiple cultural identities, MPB is one of the most powerful tools for preserving people's memories and a privileged social space for views and interpretations of Brazil

The prestige of Brazilian music is consolidated throughout the world, symbolizing the people of Brazil and their habits, manner, behavior and speech. Brazil's music production still needs critical and theoretical reflection, as well as a thorough historic job that can map, systematize, discuss and read its universe critically.

The Portuguese version of The Cravo Albin Dictionary of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) has now 7,000 words. One of the world's most consulted popular music Web sites is justifiable by the possibility of recovering and consolidating Brazil's musical memory. Moreover, its importance lies in its willingness to rescue songs, names, historic periods and genres. These are milestones in Brazil's History and icons of a social imagination peopled with sounds, verses, day-to-day stories and characters that have sung love affairs and political demands, and often reinvented their routine - an essential feature of most Brazilian Popular Music poets.

Finally, it is necessary to say that we still have significant material for analysis, preparation or enhancement of new entries. We are still receiving a generous amount of never-before released data – information, suggestions, corrections and addenda – from all parts of Brazil.

We simply could not overlook such new material reaching project supervisors and coordinators everyday. That is why we can affirm this is an endless job, with no final conclusion. Doing research on Brazilian Popular Music’s wide, unceasing production is a job for many generations. With the future print version (scheduled for 2006) and this Web site, The Cravo Albin Dictionary of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) launches the cataloguing of very rich material and an imaginary collection of gigantic proportions.