 | |
| Company type | Joint stock |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music industry |
| Founded | AsElektroton in 1938,[1] nationalised in 1947 asJugoton, renamed in 1991,registered at theCommercial Court on January 30, 1996[2] |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Želimir Babogredac |
| Products | Audio CD,DVD-Video,Audio Cassette,Gramophone record |
| Parent | AUTOR d.o.o. |
| Website | www |
Croatia Records is arecord label inCroatia owned by AUTOR d.o.o., based inZagreb.
Croatia Records d.d. is ajoint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, asound engineer. It releases mostly (but not exclusively) mainstream music, and has signed many prominentCroatian musicians of variousmusic genres such asDražen Zečić,Arsen Dedić,Mišo Kovač,Josipa Lisac,Majke,Teška Industrija,Thompson,Maksim Mrvica,Crvena jabuka,Jelena Rozga,Novi fosili,Opća opasnost,Rade Šerbedžija,Jacques Houdek,Parni valjak,Leteći odred,Mladen Grdović,Dino Dvornik,Dino Merlin,Hari Rončević,Radojka Šverko,Giuliano,Mate Bulić,Disciplin A Kitschme,Srebrna krila,Divlje jagode,Indexi,Sinan Alimanović,Lu Jakelić,Mia Dimšić,Mia Negovetić,Nina Donelli and others.[citation needed] Today, Croatia Records claims to have 70% share of the Croatian music market and has 30record shops.[citation needed] Being a continuation ofJugoton, from which it inherited a comprehensive audio and video collection, Croatia Records is also active in re-releasing numerousdigitally remastered formerYugoslav pop and rock titles. Following the globalretro trend, the company decided to re-introducegramophone records as well.[3]
The company that is today Croatia Records was founded in1947 inZagreb, the capital of the then-People's Republic of Croatia under the nameJugoton, apublicly owned company which was the largestrecord label andchainrecord store in the formerSFR Yugoslavia. During several decades of its successful existence, Jugoton signed many eminent ex-Yugoslav artists such as:Indexi,Bijelo Dugme,Električni Orgazam,Haustor,Idoli andLeb 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,Depeche Mode etc. The company also owned a chain of record shops across Yugoslavia. ManyYugoslav entries in theEurovision Song Contest were signed with Jugoton including the1989 winnersRiva.
After the transition fromsocialist state toparliamentary democracy in 1989, the question of Croatia'sself-determination from Yugoslavia was raised. In 1991, shortly before the declaration ofCroatian independence and thebreakup of Yugoslavia, the company's nameJugoton, aportmanteau word ofJugoslavija (Yugoslavia) andtone, was changed to Croatia Records. The company was inherited by the now-independentRepublic of Croatia and since the previous economic system was abandoned, it wasprivatized. Since the year of 2000, Croatia Records has been managed by professionals from themusic industry who joined a partnership company called AUTOR d.o.o.[4][5][6] In 2001, the musicianMiroslav Škoro became the leader of Croatia Records, until his resignation in 2006.[7]
Croatia Records has been the object of a controversy raised by singerBranimir Štulić overroyalty rights. Štulić claims royalties of songs by former rock bandAzra, 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 millionEuros he believes the company owes him but has not opted to take legal action to claim it.[8] 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 ofaudio CDs only if he joins theCroatian Composers' Society (ZAMP).[9]
