Areito is a Cuban record label founded in 1964 as the primary imprint of

EGREM EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales, Spanish for ''Enterprise of Recordings and Musical Editions'') is the national record label of Cuba. It is headquartered in Centro Habana, where its main record studios (''Estudios Areito'' 101 & ...

, which is based in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. Areito is named after the recording studio from which the vast majority of its catalog stems, which in turn was named after the Taíno ritual of the same name. The record studio had established in 1944, originally named Panart studios and was associated with recording engineer Ramón Sabat's

Panart Panart was one of the first and most successful independent record labels in Cuba, founded in 1944 by engineer Ramón Sabat. In 1961, its studios were seized by Fidel Castro's communist regime and the label was nationalized, becoming "Panart Nacio ...

record label. The 1959 government nationalized the Cuban music industry, including the associated studio and record company in 1961. Since the 1960s, Areito/EGREM has been the main music company in Cuba, managing most of the recording, manufacture and distribution of albums, EPs and singles in the country. Areito's counterpart in eastern Cuba is Siboney. Both imprints, Areito and Siboney, were discontinued by EGREM in 1996. EGREM's studios in Havana are still called ''Estudios Areito''.

International distribution

During the mid to late 1960s, the international distribution of Areito LPs and EPs was handled by Palma, a short-lived imprint organized by EGREM. In the 1970s, Palma was replaced by Guamá, an imprint launched by EGREM to commercialize Cuban music around the world.

References

External links

* – official site * {{Authority control EGREM Record labels established in 1964 Cuban record labels