RCA Italiana was an Italian

record company "Big Three" music labels 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 t ...

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 owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, it was bought by BMG Entertainment.

History

Founded in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1949 under the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

's protection and with its historic location which housed the

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 ...

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 Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

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 c ...

. 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) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

and

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, with the few recordings of Italian origin being contributed by Domenico Modugno, Nilla Pizzi and Katyna Ranieri. RCA subsequently signed such artists as

Nico Fidenco Nico Fidenco (artistic name Domenico Colarossi; 24 January 1933 – 18 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,

Jimmy Fontana Enrico Sbriccoli (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013), known professionally as Jimmy Fontana, was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are " Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricch ...

, Edoardo Vianello, Rita Pavone, Nada, Gianni Morandi, and Tony Del Monaco, 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'' in 1965, written and sung by Jimmy Fontana. Arrangements were written by Ennio Morricone and Luis Bacalov. RCA Italiana produced numerous fundamental albums of Italian rock 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,

Patty Pravo Nicoletta Strambelli (born 9 April 1948), known professionally as Patty Pravo, 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 p ...

, Luigi Tenco, 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 (song), Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enri ...

. The 1970s continued with the success of singer-songwriters and new singers, including Claudio Baglioni, Francesco De Gregori, Paolo Conte, 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 music, folk/folk rock singer-songwriter and composer who scored relative success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece. Early and ...

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