RCA Italiana was an Italian

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

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 A ...

, 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 enoug ...

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 "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

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 interna ...

, with the few recordings of Italian origin being contributed by

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (song), Nel blu dipinto di blu", ...

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, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She won the first edition of the ...

and

Katyna Ranieri Caterina Ranieri (31 August 1925 – 3 September 2018), known professionally as Katyna Ranieri, was an Italian singer. Biography Ranieri was born in Follonica in 1925. She had her first hit in 1954 at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song " ...

. RCA subsequently signed such artists as

Nico Fidenco Nico Fidenco (artistic name Domenico Colarossi; 24 January 1933 – 19 November 2022) was an Italian singer and film soundtrack composer who gained considerable popularity in 1960 with the release of the song "What a Sky" (Italian: "''Su nel cie ...

Gianni Meccia Giovanni "Gianni" Meccia (born 2 June 1931) is an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. He is often associated with Jimmy Fontana. Life and career Born in Ferrara, in 1950 Meccia moved to Rome to pursue an acting caree ...

Jimmy Fontana Jimmy Fontana (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013) was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are " Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricchi e Poveri, and " Il Mondo". Biography Born ...

Edoardo Vianello Edoardo Vianello (born 24 June 1938) is an Italian singer, composer and actor. He's considered one of the most popular Italian singers of the Sixties. Career Born in Rome, Vianello started his career in 1956. His first successes came in 1961, w ...

Rita Pavone Rita Pavone (; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian-Swiss ballad and rock singer and actress, who enjoyed success through the 1960s. Singing career She was born in Turin, Italy. In 1962 she participated in, and won, the first Festival degli Scon ...

Nada Nada may refer to: Culture * Nāda, a concept in ancient Indian metaphysics Places *Nada, Hainan, China *Nada, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States *Nada, Nepal, village in Achham District, Seti Zone * Nada, Texas, United S ...

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 I ...

, and

Tony Del Monaco Antonio Del Monaco, better known as Tony Del Monaco (27 December 1935 – 27 May 1993), was an Italian pop singer, and actor. Biography Del Monaco was born in the city of Sulmona in Abruzzo, Italy. He started in show business as an actor, appeari ...

, 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 Un disco per l'estate (translation "A Record for the Summer") was an Italian Summer festival held from 1964 to 2003. It was organized and sponsored by the Italian record industry association, AFI, and by RAI, except for the editions between 1995 ...

'' in 1965, written and sung by Jimmy Fontana. RCA Italiana produced numerous fundamental albums of

Italian rock Italian rock is a form of rock music produced primarily in Italy. The music genre has roots in the country as it spread in the early 1960s from the United States with the earliest versions of rock and roll during this period being cover versions ...

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 The Rokes were a pop rock band formed in 1963 in Italy by English expatriates. Their most successful songs included "Piangi con Me", the original version of " Let's Live for Today", a US hit when re-recorded by The Grass Roots; and "Che Colpa A ...

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 followin ...

Luigi Tenco Luigi Tenco (21 March 1938 – 27 January 1967) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Biography Tenco was born in Cassine (province of Alessandria) in 1938, the son of Teresa Zoccola and Giuseppe Tenco. He never knew his father, who died in uncle ...

, 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 Claudio Baglioni (; born 16 May 1951) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. His career has been going on for over 50 years. Some songs from the 70s are part of Italian culture such as ''E tu come stai?''. In the 80s he released the ...

, Francesco De Gregori,

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 L ...

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

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 wa ...

and Rino Gaetano. 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