Darko Dimitrov ( ; born 21 January 1973) is a Macedonian songwriter,

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

and

record executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a music company, in particular, a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can over ...

. Highly acclaimed for revitalising the Yugoslav mainstream

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

scene, which also influenced the surrounding

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

countries, he has received international recognition for working with many popular foreign artists.

Biography

Darko Dimitrov was born on 21 January 1973 in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(present-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

), to prominent Macedonian singer and composer, Slave Dimitrov. His family has a rich musical history—his grandfather was the prominent

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

singer, Blagoja Petrov Karagjule. Darko Dimitrov graduated at the Academy of Music in Skopje and he works in his family

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

called 'Studio Dimitrovi' along with his father and his brother Oliver, the latter being notable for producing the debut album of the

ska-punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones, making the genre ...

band, '' Superhiks''. One of his first production hits was "Otvori go Pendžerčeto", performed by the rap group Nulta Pozitiv and featuring the popular folk singer, Mitre Mitrevski. After producing for mostly

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

pop rap Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, pop hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop with pop's preference for melodic vocals, catchy hooks, and positive lyrics on pop-like p ...

oriented artists during the early 90s, Darko Dimitrov moved on to work in the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. From 1996 onwards, he produced several chart-topping hits for many artists of the Balkan era and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

such as Nokaut,

Karolina Gočeva Karolina Gočeva (, ; born 28 April 1980), sometimes credited as Karolina Gocheva or known only as Karolina, is a Macedonian singer. She launched her music career in 1991 with a performance at a local children's show and continued participating i ...

Toše Proeski Todor "Toše" Proeski (, ; 25 January 1981 – 16 October 2007) was a Macedonian singer and songwriter. Considered a top act of the local Music of North Macedonia, Macedonian and Balkan music, Balkan music scene, Proeski's music was popular acro ...

Kaliopi Kaliopi Bukle (, ; born 28 December 1966 as Kaljopa Bukleska (Macedonian: Каљопа Буклеска)), known professionally as Kaliopi, is a Macedonian singer-songwriter. In her career, Kaliopi has progressed from singing lead vocal with ...

Elena Risteska Elena Risteska (, ; born 27 April 1986), sometimes known as simply Elena, is a Macedonian singer. She represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens with the song " Ninanajna", and finished in 12th place; this was the highes ...

, Jovan Jovanov,

Tamara Todevska Tamara Todevska (, pronounced , born 1 June 1985), known professionally as Tamara, is a Macedonian singer. She has North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest, represented North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions; in M ...

Tijana Dapčević Tijana Dapčević (; , sr-cyr, Тијана Дапчевић, , ; born 3 February 1976) is a Macedonian and Serbian singer. Early life Todevska was born in Skopje, at the time part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia, ...

, Vlado Janevski, Lambe Alabakoski,

Vrčak Rade Vrčakovski ( ; born 17 November 1980 in Strumica) better known by his stage name Vrčak (Врчак) is a Macedonian singer. He represented Macedonia

Vlatko Lozanoski Vlatko "Lozano" Lozanoski (; born 27 June 1985) is a Macedonian singer. Together with Esma Redžepova, he represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. Career His first public appearance was as a participant in ...

Esma Redžepova Esma Redžepova-Teodosievska (, ; 8 August 1943 – 11 December 2016) was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. She was nicknamed "the Queen of the Gypsies" per her contribution to Romani culture and music. She started t ...

Darko Pančev Darko Pančev (, ; born 7 September 1965) is a Macedonian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He most notably played for FK Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. He was part of t ...

's wife Maja Grozdanovska Pančeva, Besa,

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition in the Albanian-speaking ...

, Gentiana Ismajli, Anjeza Shahini, Ledina Çelo, Leonora Jakupi, Rosela Gjylbegu,

Altuna Sejdiu Altuna Sejdiu (; ; born 14 July 1985), also known professionally as Tuna (), is a Macedonian-Albanian singer and songwriter. Life and career Altuna Sejdiu was born on 14 July 1985 into an Albanian family in the city of Skopje, then part of t ...

Jonida Maliqi Jonida Maliqi (; born 26 March 1983) is an Albanian singer and media personality. Throughout her career, Maliqi has won six awards at Kënga Magjike and first place in 2008. She is also a double winner of accolades at the Top Fest in 2006 and 2 ...

, Vesa Luma, Rovena Stefa, Pirro Cako,

Juliana Pasha Juliana Pasha (born 20 May 1980) is an Albanian singer. In 2010, she won Honorary Citizen Award of Burrel from the mayor of the city. After she went into Eurovision in 2010 she won the first prize in the festival "Kenga Magjike" with the song ca ...

, Kejsi Tola, Greta Koci,

Elvana Gjata Elvana Gjata (; born 3 February 1987) is an Albanian singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Tirana, she has been referred to as a "Diva of Albanian music". She rose to recognition in Albania and other Albanian-speaking ...

Aurela Gaçe Aurela Gaçe (; born 16 October 1974) is an Albanian singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Her music career made her to be called as the diva of South Albania. Awards A three-time Festivali i Këngës winner, a three-time K ...

, Xhensila Myrtezaj, Rafet El Roman, Aleksandra Radović, Jelena Tomašević, Ivo Gamulin, Jovana Nikolić,

Sergej Ćetković Sergej Ćetković ( cnr-cyrl, Сергеј Ћетковић, ; born 8 March 1976) is a Montenegrins, Montenegrin recording artist. He lives and works in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Ćetković represented Montenegro in the Eurovision Song C ...

Hari Varešanović Hajrudin "Hari" Varešanović (born 16 January 1961 in Sarajevo) is a Bosnian musician. Varešanović remains the vocal soloist, primary composer and lyricist for the musical group Hari Mata Hari. Biography Hajrudin Varešanović was born in 1 ...

Emina Jahović Emina Jahović (, ; born 15 January 1982) is a Serbian-Turkish singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman of Bosniak origin. Born and raised in Novi Pazar, she made her recording debut in 2002 and has released six studio albums: ''Tačka'' (20 ...

Arilena Ara Arilena Ara (; born 17 July 1998) is an Albanian singer. Ara rose to national recognition in Albania, upon her victory at X Factor Albania in 2013. After her participation in the 18th edition of the music contest , her song "" found significant ...

Marija Šerifović Marija Šerifović ( sr-cyr, Марија Шерифовић, ; born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer. Born in Kragujevac, she is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland with "Molitva", becoming Serbia's ...

Željko Joksimović Željko Joksimović ( sr-Cyrl, Жељко Јоксимовић, ; born 20 April 1972) is a Serbian vocalist, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He plays 12 different musical instruments including accordion, piano, guitar a ...

, Eye Cue, Edis Görgülü,

Jelena Rozga Jelena Rozga (born 23 August 1977) is a Croatian pop, folk, and electropop singer. Born and raised in Split, Croatia, Rozga was a ballet dancer as a child. She rose to fame in 1996, when she became the lead singer of Magazin, a pop band famous i ...

, Severina, Nataša Bekvalac, Anastasija Ražnatović, Anxhela Peristeri, Vlaho,

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

, Lexington,

Elena Kitić Elena Kitić ( sr-cyr, Елена Китић; born 11 August 1997) is a Serbian singer. Born in Hanover, she is the daughter of Bosnian Serb singers Mile Kitić and Marta Savić. Elena made her recording debut with "Better Days", released in ...

, Lena Kovačević,

Yll Limani Yll Limani (; born 24 September 1994) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter. Life and career 1994–2020: Early life and career beginnings Yll Limani was born on 24 September 1994 into an Kosovo Albanians, Albanian family in the city o ...

, Adelina Tahiri, Nina Žižić, among many other domestic and foreign

pop stars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, ''Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gro ...

. In 1999, Dimitrov released a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, featuring music from various artists which he has produced. The album ''100% Hits: The Best of Darko Dimitrov'' broke national sales records. His songs have participated in many notable pop

music festivals A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

such as Skopje Fest, MakFest, Ohrid Fest,

Sunčane Skale Sunčane Skale was a pop music festival held every summer in Herceg Novi, Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_ ...

and the Budva Music Festival in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, the FERAS Radio Festival in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, Croatian Radio Festival, the Split Festival in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, Dora

, the

Pamukkale Pamukkale, () meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish language, Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of Hot spring, thermal spring water. It is located in ...

Festival in

, the Golden Stag in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Kënga Magjike Kënga Magjike (; ) is an annual music competition organised by the Albanian television broadcaster Televizioni Klan. The music competition has been broadcasting annually since its inauguration in 1999 with the exception of 2020 and 2023. The f ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and the 2006 European Song Festival for Children with Special Needs,

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the ninth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place in Yerevan, Armenia at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex. It was the first time in history of the Junior Eurovision ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. Dimitrov produced and composed " Ninanajna",2006 esctoday.com awards: THE NOMINATIONS
. esctoday. December 11, 2006. Retrieved October 30, 2007. the Macedonian entry in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. The song was performed in both the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

and

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

s by

and placed 12th with 56 points, giving the nation its best result until 2019. He also wrote the song "Ne voliš je znam" which was performed by

at the opening show of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasting Unio ...

in Belgrade. He again participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and 2014 as a co-writer and co-composer of Macedonian entries; "

Pred da se razdeni Macedonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Pred da se razdeni" written by Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkoski, Simeon Atanasov and Magdalena Cvetkoska. The song was performed by Esma Redzepova, Esma and Vlatko Lozan ...

" (Before the sunrise), performed by

and

in 2013, and " To The Sky" performed by

in 2014. Both entries failed to qualify for the grand final. In 2015, Dimitrov arranged and produced the entry for Albania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

, " I'm Alive", performed by

, placing 17th with 34 points. In 2018 and 2019, Dimitrov co-wrote both North Macedonia's and Serbia's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest, including the song "

Proud Proud may refer to: Music * ''Proud'' (Heather Small album), the debut album by Heather Small ** "Proud" (Heather Small song), a song by Heather Small that was the official song for the London 2012 Olympic bid * '' Proud: An Urban-Pacific Stree ...

" which placed 7th overall in the 2019 contest, and gave North Macedonia its best result to date. Darko Dimitrov has won over 30 awards in the 'best producer', 'best composer' and 'best arranger' categories. and his songs won more than 100 awards. "Proud" won 1st place from jury on

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

and 7th overall. He co-founded the M2 Productions

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

along with Ivo Jankovski and worked with many productions in Europe. The songs he produced have more than 1 billion YouTube views in total. M2 Productions has organised several

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

s, from which several current Macedonian pop stars emerged. Among these include Elena Risteska, Tuna, Lambe Alabakoski, Aleksandra Pileva, 4play, Emil Arsov, Dimitar Andonovski and Bojana Atanasovska.

Eurovision Song Contest entries

Junior Eurovision entries

References

External links

M2 Productions official website

Biography at the Macedonian Music Network

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrov, Darko 1973 births Living people Musicians from Skopje Macedonian songwriters Male songwriters Macedonian record producers

Biography

Eurovision Song Contest entries

Junior Eurovision entries

See also

References

External links