{{Short description|Hungarian record and music publisher}} {{refimprove|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox record label | name = Hungaroton | image = Hungaroton.gif | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | parent = <!-- parent company, such as "[[Warner Music Group]]" --> | founded = {{start date|1951}} | founder = <!-- name of founders, separate with commas or <br /> --> | fate = <!-- explain the reason of the closing--> | defunct = <!-- year the label dissolved, such as {{end date|1990}} --> | status = <!-- leave blank unless "Inactive" --> | distributor = <!-- distributors, separate with commas or <br /> --> | genre = <!-- such as "[[World music|World]]" or "Various", separate with commas or <br /> --> | country = [[Hungary]] | location = [[Budapest]] | url = {{URL|hungarotonmusic.com}} }} '''Hungaroton''' is the oldest [[record label]] and music publishing company in [[Hungary]].
Hungaroton was founded in [[1951 in music|1951]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Hungaroton |url=https://sfdh.us/encyclopedia/hungaroton.html |website=The Society of Folk Dance Historians |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref> when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like [[Melodiya]], [[Supraphon]] and {{Interlanguage link multi|Eterna (label)|de|3=Eterna (Plattenlabel)|lt=Eterna}} from other socialist countries. Previously called [[Qualiton Records]], its name was changed to Hungaroton in the mid-1960s, though the Qualiton brand remained as a label for [[operetta]] and [[Gypsy style|gypsy music]] releases. Also new popular music, [[Rock 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 music|classical]] and half of it [[pop music|popular music]].
== See also == * [[Lists of record labels]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{in lang|hu|en}} {{Official|http://www.hungaroton.hu}}
{{Eastern Bloc state-owned record labels}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungaroton}} [[Category:Hungarian record labels]] [[Category:Hungarian brands]] [[Category:Record labels established in 1951]] [[Category:Classical music record labels]] [[Category:Pop record labels]] [[Category:Companies based in Budapest]] [[Category:1951 establishments in Hungary]] [[Category:State-owned record labels]]
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