- Croatia Records
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Croatia Records 
Type Joint stock Industry Music industry Founded As Jugoton in 1947, renamed in 1990, registered at the Commercial Court on January 30, 1996[1] Headquarters Zagreb, Croatia Key people Želimir Babogredac Products Audio CD, DVD-Video, Audio Cassette, Gramophone record Website http://www.crorec.hr Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Dubrava in Zagreb.
Contents
Summary
Croatia Records d.d. is a joint stock company currently led by the Chairman of the Board of directors Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer. It releases mostly (but not necessarily) mainstream music, and it has signed many prominent Croatian musicians of various music genres such as: Baruni, Mate Bulić, Daleka obala, Oliver Dragojević, Doris Dragović, Dino Dvornik, Gibonni, Petar Grašo, Hladno pivo, Josipa Lisac, Mišo Kovač, Magazin, Danijela Martinović, Boris Novković, Parni valjak, Prljavo kazalište, Psihomodo Pop, Severina, Jura Stublić, Dado Topić, Vanna, Alka Vuica and others. Today, Croatia Records claims to have 70% share of the Croatian music market and has 30 record stores. Being a continuation of Jugoton, from which it inherited a comprehensive audio and video collection, Croatia Records is also active in re-releasing numerous digitally remastered former Yugoslav pop and rock titles. Following the global retro trend, the company decided to re-introduce gramophone records as well.[2]
History
Main article: JugotonThe company that is today Croatia Records was founded in 1947 in Zagreb, the capital of the then-People's Republic of Croatia under the name Jugoton, a publicly owned company which was the largest record label and chain record store in the former SFR Yugoslavia. During several decades of its successful existence, Jugoton signed many eminent ex-Yugoslav artists such as: Azra, Bijelo Dugme, Električni Orgazam, Haustor, Idoli and Leb i Sol, and also numerous important foreign stars for the domestic market including: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2, David Bowie, Queen, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Kraftwerk etc. The company also owned a chain of record shops across Yugoslavia. Many Yugoslav entries in the Eurovision Song Contest were signed with Jugoton including the 1989 winners Riva.
Croatian independence
After the transition from socialist state to parliamentary democracy in 1989, the question of Croatia's self-determination from Yugoslavia was raised. Shortly before the declaration of Croatian independence and the breakup of Yugoslavia, the company's name Jugoton, a portmanteau word of Jugoslavija (Yugoslavia) and tone, was changed to Croatia Records in 1990. Parallelly, the major labels in Serbia and Slovenia such as PGP RTB and ZKP RTLJ were renamed to PGP-RTS and ZKP RTVS respectively. The company was inherited by the now-independent Republic of Croatia and since the previous economic system was abandoned, it was privatized. Since the year of 2000, Croatia Records is managed by professionals from the music industry joined in the partnership company called AUTOR d.o.o. (limited company).[5][6][7] In 2001, the musician Miroslav Škoro became the leader of Croatia Records, until his resignation in 2006.[3]
Controversy
Often, the company was a target of public criticism on various issues.
Croatia Records has been the object of a controversy raised by singer Branimir Štulić over royalty rights. Štulić claims royalties of songs by former rock band Azra, whose lead singer and songwriter he was in the 1980s, and which was then managed by Croatia Record's predecessor Jugoton. Štulić has named a sum of 12 million Euros he believes the company owes him but has not opted to take legal action to claim it.[4] Želimir Babogredac replied that Croatia Records has all the legal rights to release titles by Štulić and Azra, as the company is a direct successor of Jugoton, whom these artists were signed for. He also said that the sum Štulić claims is exaggerated. However, he added that Croatia Records is proud to have the highly acclaimed Štulić in the list of its artists and that he may receive a payment from the sale of audio CDs only if he joins the Croatian Composers' Society - ZAMP.[5]
See also
References
- Croatia Records Official Site (Croatian)
- ^ Biznet - Business directory by the Croatian Chamber of Economy (English)
- ^ Nacional, August 18, 2008: [1] (Croatian)
- ^ 24 Sata newspaper, July 30, 2006: [2] (Google cache version) (Croatian)
- ^ Slobodna Dalmacija, March 29, 2008: [3] (Croatian)
- ^ Slobodna Dalmacija, April 5, 2008:[4] (Croatian)
External links
- Croatia Records Official site
- Croatia Records at Myspace
- Croatian Roots Music - Roots music edition of Croatia Records
- Croatia Records USA - Distributor for the USA and Canada
- Croatia Records at Discogs
Porin Lifetime Achievement Award Nikša Bareza (2008) · Drago Britvić (2006) · Emil Cossetto (2004) · Croatia Records (2007) · Arsen Dedić (1999) · Dubravko Detoni (2007) · Mato Došen (2010) · Dino Dvornik (2009) · Pero Gotovac (2000) · Milan Horvat (2005) · Đelo Jusić (2007) · Alfi Kabiljo (2004) · Nikica Kalogjera (2001) · Stipica Kalogjera (2010) · Milko Kelemen (1998) · Tereza Kesovija (2009) · Anđelko Klobučar (2002) · Vladimir Krpan (2001) · Ljubo Kuntarić (2009) · Kvartet 4M (1995) · National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia LADO (2002) · Anton Marti (1994) · Branko Mihaljević (2005) · Miroslav Miletić (2009) · Drago Mlinarec (2005) · Tomislav Neralić (2006) · Gabi Novak (2006) · Đorđe Novković (1996) · Boško Petrović (2003) · Julije Njikoš (2010) · Ruža Pospiš Baldani (2003) · Božo Potočnik (2005) · Miljenko Prohaska (1995) · Ivo Robić (1997) · Zdenko Runjić (1998) · Siniša Škarica (2002) · Ljubo Stipišić (2006) · Zvonko Špišić (2008) · Nenad Turkalj (2004) · Dunja Vejzović (1999) · Dražen Vrdoljak (2003) · Vice Vukov (2000) · Zagrebački kvartet (2000) · Zagrebački solisti (1994)
Categories:- Record labels established in 1947
- Croatian record labels
- IFPI members
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