RCA Italiana was an Italian record company founded in 1949 and active until 1987, the date on which, together with the parent company

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

, it was bought by BMG Entertainment.

History

Founded in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1949 under the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

's protection and with its historic location which housed the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large en ...

s on Via Tiburtina, the record company closed around 1990 and was absorbed with its

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

by the

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

. Releases from the earlier part of the unit's existence were largely of imports of records that were made by its American parent, including

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

and

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internat ...

, with the few recordings of Italian origin being contributed by Domenico Modugno,

Nilla Pizzi Nilla Pizzi, stage name of Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese Sant'Agata Bolognese ( Western Bolognese: ; City Bolognese: ) is a small '' comune'' in the Metrop ...

and Katyna Ranieri. RCA subsequently signed such artists as Nico Fidenco, Gianni Meccia, Jimmy Fontana, Edoardo Vianello, Rita Pavone, Nada,

Gianni Morandi Gianni Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer. Early life Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the ...

, and Tony Del Monaco, who all would become prominent forces of the Italian record scene. At that time, the best-selling single was "Il mondo", a tune launched by the contest '' Un disco per l'estate'' in 1965, written and sung by Jimmy Fontana. RCA Italiana produced numerous fundamental albums of Italian rock between the last 1960s and the first 1970s. RCA's success in this field prompted the label to continue investing in young talents, such as the Rokes,

Patty Pravo Patty Pravo (born Nicoletta Strambelli on 9 April 1948) is an Italian singer. She debuted in 1966 and remained most successful commercially for the rest of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Having suffered a decline in popularity in the followi ...

, Luigi Tenco, Dino and

Lucio Dalla Lucio Dalla (; 4 March 1943 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards. Dalla was the composer of " Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso, and ...

. The 1970s continued with the success of singer-songwriters and new singers, including Claudio Baglioni,

Francesco De Gregori Francesco De Gregori OMRI (born 4 April 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. In Italy, he is popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" ("The Prince of the singer-songwriters"), a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics. He is of ...

Paolo Conte Paolo Conte (; born 6 January 1937) is an Italian singer, pianist, songwriter and lawyer known for his distinctly grainy, resonant voice. His compositions fuse Italian and Mediterranean sounds with jazz, boogie and elements of the French and ...

, Ivano Fossati, Antonello Venditti, Renato Zero, Gabriella Ferri, Nicola Di Bari, Fiorella Mannoia,

Riccardo Cocciante Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship. Personal life Cocciante was ...

Angelo Branduardi Angelo Branduardi (born 12 February 1950) is an Italian folk/folk rock singer-songwriter and composer who scored relative success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece. Biography Branduardi was ...

and

Rino Gaetano Salvatore Antonio "Rino" Gaetano (29 October 1950 – 2 June 1981) was an Italian musician and singer-songwriter. He is famous for his satirical songs and oblique yet incisive political commentary. He is remembered for his raspy voice, for the h ...

. Towards the end of the decade, the first period of economic crisis came due to the decline of the Italian record market and a series of bad choices. In 1978, RCA lost Claudio Baglioni and Antonello Venditti, and some singers didn't achieve the goals the label had desired from them. In the 1980s, other artists left RCA's Italian unit, including Paolo Conte, Francesco De Gregori and Ivano Fossati, and the label never found replacements for them. The managing director also left the company, which is taken over by BMG Entertainment.

References

External links

{{Authority control Italian record labels Record labels established in 1949 Record labels disestablished in 1987 RCA Records Sony BMG Music in Rome

History

See also

References

External links