Jugoton

{{Infobox record label

| name = Jugoton

| slogan = Nova ploča! (New record!)

| image_name = Jugoton logo.svg

| image_size =

| image_bg =

| parent =

| founded = {{start date and age|1947|7|10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.novilist.hr/Scena/Jugoton-je-proizvodio-vise-od-16-milijuna-vinila-godisnje|title=Jugoton je proizvodio više od 16 milijuna vinila godišnje|date=September 14, 2015|work=Novi list|language=hr|access-date=January 13, 2020}}

| defunct = {{end date|1991}}, now Croatia Records

| founder =

| distributor =

| genre = Various

| country = SFR Yugoslavia

| location = Zagreb, SR Croatia

}}

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

History

Jugoton was formed in 1947.{{cite journal |last1=Radovinović |first1=Željka |title=The Czech Republic and Croatia: Cooperation on the Early Production of Recorded Sound |journal=Fontes Artis Musicae |date=January 2024 |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=28–52 |doi=10.1353/fam.2024.a922725 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/287/article/922725 |access-date=28 January 2025|url-access=subscription }} It replaced Elektroton, which had been founded in 1937, nationalized in 1945, and liquidated in 1947, acquiring its machines and matrices.{{cite journal |last1=Vuletic |first1=Dean |title=The making of a Yugoslav popular music industry |journal=Popular Music History |date=December 2011 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=269–285 |doi=10.1558/pomh.v6i3.269 |url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/PMH/article/view/13499 |access-date=28 January 2025|url-access=subscription }} By 1961, Jugoton was producing 2,371,600 records a year. It is notable for releasing some of the most important former Yugoslav pop and rock records. In addition, the company owned a widespread network of record shops across SFR Yugoslavia.

The company changed its name to Croatia Records in 1991, after Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia.

Artists

Jugoton notable for signing numerous eminent former Yugoslav pop and rock acts. Some of the artists that have been signed to Jugoton include:

File:Jugoton Yugoslavia Vinilo.jpg

Jugoton also released the influential 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

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, Diskos from Aleksandrovac, and others.

Legacy

=Yugonostalgia=

Image:Jugoton logo price sticker.jpgs]]

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

The former Jugoton record shop located 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.jugoton.com.mk/eindex.htm |title=Jugoton Shop Official Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527220005/http://www.jugoton.com.mk/eindex.htm |archive-date=2007-05-27 |lang=mk |url-status=dead}}{{br}}{{cite web |url=http://www.lithiumrecords.com.mk |title=Lithium Records Official Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430192324/http://lithiumrecords.com.mk/ |archive-date=2008-04-30 |lang=mk |url-status=dead}}

An example of different kind is the online radio and web tv station called Jugoton which operates in the Yugoslav diaspora in Vienna, Austria.[http://www.jugoton.com "Jugoton" Radio] {{in lang|hr|de}} 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.