Hungaroton is the oldest

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and music publisher company in Hungary. Hungaroton was founded in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. Previously called Qualiton, its name was changed to Hungaroton in the mid-1960s, though the Qualiton brand remained as a label for

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

and gypsy music releases. Also new popular music, rock and jazz labels (Pepita, Bravó, and Krém) were founded. In the early 1990s the massive import of foreign records caused a serious decrease in Hungaroton's sales. Although the original company went into liquidation, new and smaller companies arose on the ruins of Hungaroton. The Hungaroton Gong and Hungaroton Classic companies went private in 1995, and were reunited in 1998 under the name Hungaroton Records Publisher Ltd. Nowadays it publishes approximately 150 new records per year, half of it classical and half of it popular music.

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* Hungarian record labels Hungarian brands Record labels established in 1951 Classical music record labels Pop record labels Companies based in Budapest 1951 establishments in Hungary State-owned record labels {{Hungary-stub

See also

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