| Diskoton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Status | Defunct since 1992 |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | SFR Yugoslavia |
| Location | Sarajevo |
Diskoton was a majorrecord label inSFR Yugoslavia, based inSarajevo,Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company ceased to exist in 1992, with the outbreak of theWar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The studio was destroyed along with all master recordings.
Diskoton was formally established in 1972 in Sarajevo at the instigation of Asim Haverić, then an employee of the record label Beograd Disk (later to becomeJugodisk). He persuaded Jovo Beatović, manager of the city public utility company Park in Sarajevo, to organize a record production company within his enterprise.[1]
Record production began in 1973 and Diskoton operated as a subsidiary of Park until 1977, when it became an independent company. Diskoton's premises were located in Pionirska dolina, a popular city park and zoo maintained by the Park company. The label acquired its name through a public call advertised via the popular weekly gossip-lifestyle magazine/newspaper,Ven, opting to pick a name suggested by young musician Brano Likić, later the founder and leader of the bandRezonansa [bs].[2]
Diskoton's first equipment were French-made automatic press machines Materiel Applications Plastiques (MAP) for7" record manufacturing. In the earliest months of operation, due to unskilled staff, a large quantity ofPVC was wasted because the machines produced defective records, which were then trashed. Diskoton could manufacture only singles andEP records until late 1975, when they acquired the equipment for manufacturingLP records as well ascassettes. Starting from 1980, Diskoton began occasionally using the service pressing ofJugoton pressing plant, while it became almost entirely dependent on the service pressing ofPGP-RTB pressing plant by the late 1980s.[3]
The most prominent A&R executives of Diskoton wereVajo Milošević andSlobodan Vujović [bs], the latter being the former leader of the bandAmbasadori. In 1987, Nevad Hadžić, a graduate of the Academy of Music in Sarajevo, joined Diskoton as Editor in Chief for Folk Music and inspired many already established performers to publish their music with Diskoton.
With the outbreak of theBosnian War, the company ceased to exist in 1992. The studio was completely destroyed along with all master tapes and recordings, meaning that most albums are unavailable in master quality (apart from the few that were released in the short time that Diskoton was producingCDs before its literal collapse).
Diskoton is notable for signing numerous eminent former Yugoslavpop androck, as well asfolk acts. Some of the artists that have been signed to Diskoton, include:
Like other former Yugoslav labels, Diskoton also had a licence to release foreign titles for the Yugoslav market including notable internationalpopular music stars such as:Commodores,Marvin Gaye,Gonzalez,Roy Harper,John Holt,Diana Ross,Tavares,The Temptations,Stevie Wonder, and others.
Othermajor labels in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia werePGP-RTB andJugodisk fromBelgrade,Jugoton andSuzy from Zagreb,ZKP RTLJ fromLjubljana,Diskos fromAleksandrovac, and others.
