EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales, Spanish for ''Enterprise of Recordings and Musical Editions'') is the national record label of Cuba. It is headquartered in Centro Habana, where its main record studios (''Estudios Areito'' 101 & 102) operate. It was founded in 1964 after the nationalization of the Cuban music industry, absorbing the assets of

Panart Panart was one of the first and most successful independent record labels in Cuba, founded in 1944 by engineer Ramón Sabat. In 1961, its studios were seized by Fidel Castro's communist regime and the label was nationalized, becoming "Panart Naci ...

. EGREM had a monopoly on music production activities from 1964 until the late 1980s when independent labels reemerged.Cubadisco: Cuba's premier music awards show
Cuba Absolutely. April 2013. EGREM's archive comprises "the most extensive catalog of Cuban music in the world". Since 2002, EGREM has a commercial director, a public relations department and a web site. Although the label had a history of international licensing deals, direct distribution of EGREM's music did not occur until August 2004, when several agreements were made between the label and European record companies. In 2005, the SGAE (Spanish copyright agency) began to distribute part of EGREM's catalog online. On September 15, 2015,

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

announced that it would distribute EGREM's recordings internationally.

Sub-labels

Until 1996, EGREM distributed music recorded at its Havana studios under the imprint Areito. Between the early 1980s and 1996, music from its

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

studios were released under the imprint Siboney. During the mid to late 1960s, the international distribution of Areito LPs and EPs was handled by Palma, a short-lived imprint organized by EGREM. In the 1970s, Palma was replaced by Guamá, an imprint launched by EGREM to commercialize Cuban music around the world. EGREM also manages live venues throughout Cuba under the name Casa de la Música.

Roster

Since its foundation EGREM has recorded the vast majority of artists that remained in the island. Many others, such as

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

, Bebo Valdés and

Cachao Israel López Valdés (September 14, 1918 – March 22, 2008), better known as Cachao ( ), was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo (music), mambo and a master of the descarga (improvised ...

, went into exile. Starting in the late 1990s, EGREM runs an agency called Musicuba to manage its artists in Havana. A second agency called Son de Cuba operates since 2012 in Santiago de Cuba. The following artists have recorded material released by EGREM: * Algo Nuevo * Juan Almeida * Pacho Alonso *

Adalberto Álvarez y su Son Adalberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Adalbert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. It derives from the Old German '' Athala'' (meaning noble) and ''Berth'' (meaning bright). Notable p ...

* Paulina Álvarez * Orquesta Aragón * Carlos Averhoff * Guillermo Barreto *

Bola de Nieve Bola de Nieve (literally ''Snowball''; 11 September 1911 – 2 October 1971), born Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, was a Cuban singer-pianist and songwriter. His name originates from his round, black face. Villa Fernández was born in Guanaba ...

* Lino Borges * Esther Borja * Los Bucaneros * Elena Burke * Barbarito Díez * Felipe Dulzaides y Los Armónicos * Hilario Durán * Rembert Egües * Estrellas de Areito * Los Fakires *

Roberto Faz Roberto Faz Monzón (September 18, 1914 – April 26, 1966) was a Cuban singer who reached the height of his popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. Like his contemporary Benny Moré, he specialized in many forms of Cuban music such as so ...

* Frank Fernández * Joseíto Fernández * Frank Emilio Flynn * Rosita Fornés * Rubén González * Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC * Rey Guerra *

Tata Güines Federico Arístides Soto Alejo (June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008), better known as Tata Güines, was a Cuban percussionist, bandleader and arranger. He was widely regarded as a master of the conga drum, and alongside Carlos "Patato" Valdés, in ...

Adolfo Guzmán Adolfo Guzmán (May 13, 1920 – July 30, 1976) was a Cuban pianist, music director, arranger and composer. During his 40-year-long career he directed several important Cuban ensembles, including Orquesta Riverside and Los Modernistas, as well as ...

* Irakere * Enrique Jorrín *

Los Latinos LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significan ...

* Gina León *

Pío Leyva Pío Leiva (May 5, 1917 – March 22, 2006) was a Cuban singer and the author of the guaracha ''El Mentiroso'' ("The Liar"). Leyva was part of the Buena Vista Social Club, and composed some of Cuba's best known standards. Biography Leyva was b ...

* Farah María * Beatriz Márquez * Pablo Milanés * Grupo Moncada * Grupo Monumental * Fernando Mulens * NG La Banda * Noel Nicola * Jesús Ortega * Los Papines * Pello El Afrokán *

Raúl Planas Enrique Raúl Planas Fernández (September 18, 1920 – February 28, 2001) was a popular Cuban singer and songwriter. He performed and recorded with many bands and musicians, including Carlos Barbería y su Orquesta Kubavana, Sonora Matancera, C ...

* Rodrigo Prats * Carlos Puebla * Elio Revé * Ritmo Oriental * Niño Rivera * Orquesta Riverside *

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered as Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his ...

* Ñico Rojas *Orquesta Antonio María Romeu *

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963) is a Cuban jazz pianist and composer. Early life Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba into a musical family. He adopted his great grandmother's name for professional use, just a ...

* Conjunto Rumbavana * Eduardo Saborit *

Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval (born November 6, 1949) is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, timbalero, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 ...

* Senén Suárez * Juan Pablo Torres * Chucho Valdés * Merceditas Valdés * Los Van Van * Conjunto Yarey * Grupo Yoyi * Los Zafiros * Malena Burke

References

External links

* – official site * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Egrem Record labels established in 1964 1964 establishments in Cuba State-owned record labels

Sub-labels

Roster

See also

References

External links