# Hed Arzi Music > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hed_Arzi_Music > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hed_Arzi_Music.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hed_Arzi_Music > Source revision: 1253913831 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Israeli record label Record label Hed Arzi הד ארצי‎ Founded 1946 Founder Zvi Levin Genre Various Country of origin Israel Location Tel Aviv Official website www.hed-arzi.co.il **Hed Arzi Music** ([Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language): הד ארצי, meaning: *Echo of My Country*) is an Israeli [record label](/source/Record_label) founded in 1946. ## History The company was founded in [Tel Aviv](/source/Tel_Aviv) in 1946 as a partnership of Zvi Levin (also known as Hirsch Lewin) with Josef Grossman, Alexander Borowitz and Ephraim Ruttenberg. Mr. Levin was a refugee from [Berlin](/source/Berlin) where he has owned and operated a bookshop and recording label *Semer* (from the Hebrew "Zemer", meaning song). The Semer label operated from approximately 1932 until the recording masters and inventory were smashed and burned during [Kristallnacht](/source/Kristallnacht). Hed-Arzi started operating in September 1947, managed by Ephraim Felix Rzeczynski, making it the oldest recording company in Israel (followed by [Makolit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Makolit&action=edit&redlink=1) in [Jaffa](/source/Jaffa), [Tslil](/source/The_Recording_of_the_Israel_Declaration_of_Independence#The_"Tslil"_Recording_Company) in Tel-Aviv and others[1]). Originally the company produced 78 rpm gramophone records (including re-issues of Semer recordings), the most popular among which were *Agala Vesoussa* and *Bab El-Wad* by [Yaffa Yarkoni](/source/Yaffa_Yarkoni) as well as *Kalaniot* and *Ani Mitzfat* by [Shoshana Damari](/source/Shoshana_Damari). In 1951, company started building a plant in [Ramat-Gan](/source/Ramat-Gan). In 1955, the first LP was manufactured (6 songs of Shoshana Damari).[2] In 1958, it recorded its first stereo record and was considered "the biggest and most modern record manufacturer in the Near East with steady increasing export activities to nearly 30 countries"[3] or the "leading distributor and manufacturer in Israel".[4] Until 1960, the company has produced over 1250 titles of conventional records, about 700 records 7" in diameter and over 320 LP records; its income was $25,000 a year.[5] In late 1961, the company issued a documentary LP *Echoes of the [Eichmann](/source/Adolf_Eichmann) trial*.[6] In 1980, 50% share was sold to Modi’in Publishing House, ltd. (the parent company of the newspaper [*Maariv*](/source/Maariv_(newspaper))), since 1993 owned by [Israel Land Development Company](/source/Israel_Land_Development_Company), ltd. Since 2008, ownership is held by NMC United (owner of [NMC Music](/source/NMC_Music)). ## Notable artists - [The Dudaim](/source/The_Dudaim) - [Shoshana Damari](/source/Shoshana_Damari) - [Yaffa Yarkoni](/source/Yaffa_Yarkoni) - [David D'Or](/source/David_D'Or) - [Gidi Gov](/source/Gidi_Gov) - [Sarit Hadad](/source/Sarit_Hadad) - [Ofra Haza](/source/Ofra_Haza) - [Poogy](/source/Poogy) - [Harel Skaat](/source/Harel_Skaat) - [Teapacks](/source/Teapacks) - [Dana International](/source/Dana_International) - [Boaz Mauda](/source/Boaz_Mauda) - [Yehoram Gaon](/source/Yehoram_Gaon) - [The Churchills](/source/The_Churchills_(Israeli_band)) ## See also - [Music of Israel](/source/Music_of_Israel) - [Piposh](/source/Piposh), a video game franchise published by the video game subsidiary Hed Arzi Multimedia. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** P. Gradenwitz, Music publishing in Israel, Music Library Association Notes, v. X, 1953, p. 391-393. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Israel digest: a bi-weekly summary of news from Israel, 1955, v. 6-8, p. 48. [\[1\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=sGo8AQAAIAAJ&q=%22hed-arzi%22++Shoshana+Damari) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Who's who Israel, 1958, p. 452](https://books.google.com/books?id=VAVXAAAAMAAJ&q=hed-arzi) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [The Billboard, Sept. 7, 1959, p. 8](https://books.google.com/books?id=PwoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22leading+distributor+and+manufacturer+in+Israel%22&pg=PA8) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [The Israel yearbook, 1960, p. 293](https://books.google.com/books?id=xftWAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Hed-Artzi%22) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [The Billboard, Nov. 13, 1961, p. 42](https://books.google.com/books?id=ziAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22hed+arzi%22&pg=PA42) ## External links - [Official site](http://www.hed-arzi.co.il/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070624073621/http://www.hed-arzi.co.il/) 2007-06-24 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (in Hebrew) - [List of some of Hed-Arzi recordings, with photos of their labels](http://www.russian-records.com/categories.php?cat_id=349) Authority control databases National Israel Other MusicBrainz label --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hed Arzi Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hed_Arzi_Music) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hed_Arzi_Music?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.