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bus stops, strategically targeted its audience and increased accessibility. Radio Guarachita, in a
sense, created a new community surrounding music, as indicated by their statement:
We are a big family. There are more than a quarter of a
million of us. We are the biggest and most powerful family.
We are Radio Guarachita family. We are a quarter of a
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million listeners always united.
The Radio Guarachita family, therefore, created a consistent relationship between consumers and
the dominant producer of bachata in the Dominican Republic.
Radhames Aracena not only disseminated bachata through Radio Guarachita, but also
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controlled how that music was made. Combining his radio station, record pressing factory,
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record store, and the recording studio in his home, Aracena created ​Empresa Guarachita​.
Through Empresa Guarachita, Aracena was able to impact the music people heard ​and​ its
quality. Throughout the recording process, for example, Aracena would make grammatical
corrections to the lyrics and teach the singers proper pronunciation; making the music more
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appropriate for its future, much wider, audience. Beyond radio, another important form of
dissemination of bachata was the informal market. According to Pacini Hernandez, “all bachata,
regardless of format, was sold to the public via the thousands of sidewalk record stalls
strategically located in working­class shopping districts and near bus stops in cities and towns
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​Pacini Hernandez 92.
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​Pacini Hernandez 93.
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Fabrica de Discos la Guarachita
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Discos Guarachita
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Guarachita Enterprise
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​Pacini Hernandez 98.
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