Croatia Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Croatia Records is the largest record label in Croatia. It is a record label that sells mainstream music, and often a target of public criticism. The company was founded in 1947 as Jugoton Records, but it changed its name in 1991 to Croatia Records. CEO of Croatia Records is Miroslav Škoro.
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[edit] History
Croatia Records was formed in 1947 under name Jugoton. It's notable for releasing some of the most important former Yugoslav records including some albums of Bijelo Dugme, Azra, Električni Orgazam, Idoli, Haustor and certain Leb i Sol albums, as well as the influential compilation album Paket Aranžman. Under name Jugoton company has signed most of the eminent ex-Yugoslav artists, and also released some of the most important international pop and rock stars for the domestic market including the albums by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Kate Bush, Public Image Limited, Kraftwerk, Queen, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden and others. As well, the company owned a widespread network of record shops across the country.
Many artists that represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest were signed with Jugoton including the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 winners Riva.
With the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the company was inherited by Croatia and subsequently, the name of the company became Croatia Records.
After the start of the privatization of state owned companies, the owner of Croatia Records was Miroslav Škoro. Today, Croatia Records claims to have 70% share[citation needed] of the Croatian music market and has 30 franchise stores. During last few years, under leadership of Želimir Babogredac -- who is the president of the Board of directors, the company has started to publish compilations of best selling musicians from the Former Yugoslavia. [1]
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Azra
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.[2]
