Jugoton

Yugoslav record label

Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, SR Croatia.

Jugoton
Founded July 10, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-07-10)[1]
Status Defunct (succeeded by Croatia Records in 1990)
Genre Various
Country of origin SFR Yugoslavia
Location Zagreb
Official website Croatia Records official website

History

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Jugoton was created in 1947. It released some of the most important former Yugoslav pop and rock records. The company also owned a large network of record shops across SFR Yugoslavia.

After the break-up of Yugoslavia began, the company changed its name to Croatia Records in 1991.

Artists

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Jugoton signed many famous former Yugoslav pop and rock acts. Some of the artists that have been signed to Jugoton include:

 
A Jugoton record.

Jugoton also released the popular compilation album Paket aranžman. Many artists that represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest were signed with Jugoton, including the 1989 winners Riva.

Like other former Yugoslav labels, Jugoton also had a licence to release foreign titles for the Yugoslav market including notable international popular music stars such as: Rick Astley, The Beatles, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Deep Purple, Eurythmics, Iron Maiden, Kraftwerk, John Lennon, Madonna, Gary Moore, Mötley Crüe, Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Public Image Limited, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Scorpions, U2, Whitesnake, Kim Wilde and others.

Competition

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Other major labels in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were: PGP-RTB and Jugodisk from Belgrade; Suzy from Zagreb; Diskoton from Sarajevo; ZKP RTLJ from Ljubljana and others.

Legacy

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Yugonostalgia

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1980s price sticker featuring Jugoton company logo. The price is in Yugoslav dinars

Jugoton, as an important part of the former Yugoslav culture is one of the subjects of Yugonostalgia.

The former Jugoton record shop in the main shopping mall in Skopje (Gradski Trgovski Centar), North Macedonia, still operates under the same name managed by the Macedonian record label Lithium Records.[3]

An example of different kind is the online radio and web tv station called Jugoton which operates in the Yugoslav diaspora in Vienna, Austria.[4] It plays music from the former Yugoslavia, but also from all the contemporary former Yugoslav countries, including pop, rock and folk. However, it is not formally related to the actual Jugoton, and not all the Yugoslav artists represented in its program were really signed to the label.

Yugoton

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Yugoton is a Polish tribute album to the former Yugoslav rock scene released in 2001. Its title is a nod to Jugoton.

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References

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  1. "Jugoton je proizvodio više od 16 milijuna vinila godišnje". Novi list (in Croatian). September 14, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  2. Rasmussen, Ljerka V. (2002). Newly Composed Folk Music of Yugoslavia; page 74. ISBN 9780415939669. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  3. Jugoton Shop Official Website Archived 2007-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
    Lithium Records Official Website Archived 2008-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Jugoton" Radio (in Croatian and German)

Other websites

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