Veljko Despot
Encyclopedia
Veljko Despot is Croatian music journalist and record business entrepreneur.
He is a well-known name from Croatia
in music and entertainment industry. A record business entrepreneur, product manager, music producer and record company executive, a journalist. He has been involved in all aspects of the music industry as top-level manager-director, owner of a record label, music journalist, reporter, chief editor, radio and TV program director.
Born in Belgrade
, Yugoslavia
, since 1950 lives in Zagreb
. Croat. Family ties in Dalmatia
, Zagreb and Moscow
. Father Žarko is born 1921 in Zaostrog
, Croatia, a respectful businessman in Zagreb. Mother Mirjana is born 1925 in Moscow, a violoncellist graduated in Moscow and in Zagreb Conservatory (studying under Antonio Janigro
, extraaordinary Italian cellist), later as gifted teacher based in Zagreb she educated many Croatian cellists.
who specializes in covering international popular music. The first and only East European journalist who has interviewed The Beatles
. This interview was published as one of his first articles, in "Plavi vjesnik" (April 17, 1967).
In late sixties writes in "Plavi vjesnik", "Arena", "Studio" and "Vjesnik
", major Croatian papers. Had published interviews with many big artists, such as Pink Floyd
, The Hollies
, Bee Gees
, The Rolling Stones
, Led Zeppelin
, The Who
, Marc Bolan
etc.
Signed in 1967 as a producer by the biggest Yugoslav record label Jugoton
, a first record producer agreement in Yugoslav recording industry. Produces in 1967 an EP
release for famous Slovenia
n rock group Kameleoni. In 1968 produces their soundtrack for a movie "Sončni krik" ("Sunny Cry") by Boštjan Hladnik
, legendary Slovenian film director.
Founded in 1968 in Zagreb the Jugoslavenski Beatles Fan Club/The Yugoslav Beatles Fan Club, a branch of The Official Beatles Fan Club from Liverpool, covering most of East European countries.
Co-founder and on the board of editors of the "Pop Express" from Zagreb (1969–1970), one of first music papers in Yugoslavia, a legendary magazine that soon reaches cult status.
Since 1971, already a leading name in local rock music journalism, also contributes abroad, New Musical Express.
Had a rare privilege to attend recording sessions by some of the greatest rock artists and witnessed creation some of the most important albums in music history, like The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
" (London, 1967), Rolling Stones "Let It Bleed
" (London, 1969), Pink Floyd
"Ummagumma
" (London, 1969) and Arsen Dedić
"Homo volans" (Zagreb, 1973) and wrote about it.
From 1968 contributes as freelance on radio stations and since 1972 on the Yugoslavia
n Radio
Television
(Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija or Jugoslovenska radio-televizija, JRT), on Croatian Radio Television and subnational radio and TV centers based in Belgrade, Ljubljana
and Sarajevo
. Throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties had numerous music reports on television, interviews, portraits and special programs, all concerning international popular music. Also a music director in TV drama. In the mid-seventies brings first music videos on Yugoslav television and in eighties introduces first music advertising on national TV.
In 1974, he ties with Jugoton and establishes International Department for this biggest record company in Yugoslavia. Acquires major license deals for the company and works with some of the greatest labels in the world and their artists, managers and publishers, record company executives, for their product releases in the territory of former Yugoslavia. Jugoton in seventies through eighties and up to beginning of nineties had licence for majority of international repertoire and had exclusive deals with majors and many independent international record companies, such as EMI
, Warner Music, BMG
, Decca
, Island
, Chrysalis
, Virgin, Motown and many more, covering majority of best international production in record business. This was the only record company in this part of Europe and all of Eastern Europe which has been releasing consecutive for decades international repertoire, much due to own mission by Veljko Despot.
He was also music editor on two most successful albums by most popular group in Yugoslavia ever Bijelo dugme
, in 1975 for "Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu" and in 1976 for "Eto! Baš hoću". Both albums were recorded in Air Studios, London and produced by Neil Harrison
.
At his post in record business in Croatia he initiates and helped bringing to Yugoslavia many important artists, like Deep Purple
in 1975, The Rolling Stones
(1976), Paul McCartney
& Wings
(1976), Queen
(1979), Elton John
(1984), Dire Straits
(1985), Laurie Anderson
(1990), Eros Ramazzotti
(1990, 1994), Pet Shop Boys
(1991), David Bowie
(1990, 1996, 1997) and many more. For most of these artists it was their first visit in East Europe and a thrill for their fans who had first opportunity to see major international rock artists playing live.
In 20 years of successful running International Division in Jugoton as a music editor and international director he managed to release in this part of Europe thousands of most important albums, singles and music videos in history of popular music, making doors wide open to pop and rock culture in Yugoslavia and East Europe.
In 1991 after Croatia became independent from old Yugoslavia, Jugoton became Croatia Records and he remained with the company until 1994.
In 1994, he establishes and runs his own record company Koncept VD, a label exclusively representing BMG Music, MCA
, Geffen Records
and GRP Records
repertoire in new states on territory of former Yugoslavia. Signs domestic artists as well - greatest Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić
and big club attraction from Zagreb the Soul Fingers. Their albums on Koncept label won prestigious award Porin
for best releases in Croatia. With his own record company he set in the nineties new standards for operations of such a label in Croatia and in 1998 he received a recognition from the Croatian government as one of top private entrepreneurs in Croatia.
In 1999, he created and runs since the Simbol Music, a consulting company that assists other artists and labels in being involved in the music business.
In 2000 and 2001, he also runs the Cantus
label (a record division of the Croatian Composers' Society
, HDS). Signs for the label many big names in Croatian popular music (Tony Cetinski, Arsen Dedić, Goran Karan
, Matija Dedić, Tamara Obrovac
, etc.) and releases their albums, winning many new Porin awards again.
The Neweurope Corporation (NEC) from Florida signed him in a year 2001 in utilizing his services. It is a private corporation with a unique “Click-Media-Mortar” business model centered around the New Europe theme. NEC targets over 28 million 1st and 2nd generation Europeans living in the U.S.A. and millions of others who want or like something European. He is in the management of Neweurope Corporation and is a corporate partner at post as the Director of Neweurope Media & Entertainment Center (NEMEC), running and operating this European center that screens out the best of music, recording artists, their releases, songs and videos, as well as European TV programs, for marketing in the United States.
He is one of founding members of the Croatian Phonographic Association, HDU (established in 1995).
Is one of three founding members of Croatian music award Porin (established in 1993) for outstanding achievements in Croatian recording industry, an equivalent of the Grammy Awards.
Since 1993 he is a member of The Recording Academy in the United States and since 2000 he is also a member of The Latin Recording Academy. In a year 2008 when The Recording Academy was celebrating 51 years of servicing the recording community he, as "the heart and soul of our organization", was honoured "in appreciation and recognition of 15 years of membership in the Academy and supporting its education, advocacy and human services initiatives".
He is a well-known name from Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
in music and entertainment industry. A record business entrepreneur, product manager, music producer and record company executive, a journalist. He has been involved in all aspects of the music industry as top-level manager-director, owner of a record label, music journalist, reporter, chief editor, radio and TV program director.
Born in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, since 1950 lives in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. Croat. Family ties in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Zagreb and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Father Žarko is born 1921 in Zaostrog
Zaostrog
Zaostrog is a tourist town and harbor along the Adriatic Sea in southern Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located between Makarska and Ploče. It consists of two parts, an older part below a steep limestone section of the Biokovo mountain range, and a newer coastal zone...
, Croatia, a respectful businessman in Zagreb. Mother Mirjana is born 1925 in Moscow, a violoncellist graduated in Moscow and in Zagreb Conservatory (studying under Antonio Janigro
Antonio Janigro
Antonio Janigro was an Italian cellist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Milan, he began studying piano when he was six and cello when he was eight. Initially taught by Giovanni Berti, Janigro enrolled in the Verdi Conservatory of Milan, where he was instructed by Gilberto Crepax...
, extraaordinary Italian cellist), later as gifted teacher based in Zagreb she educated many Croatian cellists.
Career
At age of 18 Veljko Despot started his career in beginning of 1967 in local press ("Plavi vjesnik") reporting from London on swinging sixties and trilling pop and rock scene. He was the first journalist from former YugoslaviaFormer Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
who specializes in covering international popular music. The first and only East European journalist who has interviewed The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. This interview was published as one of his first articles, in "Plavi vjesnik" (April 17, 1967).
In late sixties writes in "Plavi vjesnik", "Arena", "Studio" and "Vjesnik
Vjesnik
Vjesnik is a Croatian daily newspaper, published in Zagreb. Through its history, it has been considered a newspaper of record.The paper was originally printed as a monthly publication by the League of Communists of Croatia starting in 1940...
", major Croatian papers. Had published interviews with many big artists, such as Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
, Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
etc.
Signed in 1967 as a producer by the biggest Yugoslav record label Jugoton
Jugoton
Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia the company continued to work in independent Republic of Croatia under the name Croatia...
, a first record producer agreement in Yugoslav recording industry. Produces in 1967 an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
release for famous Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n rock group Kameleoni. In 1968 produces their soundtrack for a movie "Sončni krik" ("Sunny Cry") by Boštjan Hladnik
Boštjan Hladnik
Boštjan Hladnik was a Yugoslavian/Slovene filmmaker.Hladnik was born in Kranj. He started with amateur short films after acquiring a projector and a 8mm camera in 1947. From 1949 he studied at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana and made a name for himself with several...
, legendary Slovenian film director.
Founded in 1968 in Zagreb the Jugoslavenski Beatles Fan Club/The Yugoslav Beatles Fan Club, a branch of The Official Beatles Fan Club from Liverpool, covering most of East European countries.
Co-founder and on the board of editors of the "Pop Express" from Zagreb (1969–1970), one of first music papers in Yugoslavia, a legendary magazine that soon reaches cult status.
Since 1971, already a leading name in local rock music journalism, also contributes abroad, New Musical Express.
Had a rare privilege to attend recording sessions by some of the greatest rock artists and witnessed creation some of the most important albums in music history, like The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
" (London, 1967), Rolling Stones "Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in December 1969 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States...
" (London, 1969), Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
"Ummagumma
Ummagumma
Ummagumma is a double album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in 1969 by Harvest and EMI in the United Kingdom and Harvest and Capitol in the United States...
" (London, 1969) and Arsen Dedić
Arsen Dedic
Arsen Dedić is a Croatian singer-songwriter who has been prominent in the Croatian as well as former Yugoslav music scene. Dedić writes and performs chansons as well as film music...
"Homo volans" (Zagreb, 1973) and wrote about it.
From 1968 contributes as freelance on radio stations and since 1972 on the Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n Radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
(Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija or Jugoslovenska radio-televizija, JRT), on Croatian Radio Television and subnational radio and TV centers based in Belgrade, Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
and Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. Throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties had numerous music reports on television, interviews, portraits and special programs, all concerning international popular music. Also a music director in TV drama. In the mid-seventies brings first music videos on Yugoslav television and in eighties introduces first music advertising on national TV.
In 1974, he ties with Jugoton and establishes International Department for this biggest record company in Yugoslavia. Acquires major license deals for the company and works with some of the greatest labels in the world and their artists, managers and publishers, record company executives, for their product releases in the territory of former Yugoslavia. Jugoton in seventies through eighties and up to beginning of nineties had licence for majority of international repertoire and had exclusive deals with majors and many independent international record companies, such as EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Warner Music, BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
, Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, Island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
, Chrysalis
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
, Virgin, Motown and many more, covering majority of best international production in record business. This was the only record company in this part of Europe and all of Eastern Europe which has been releasing consecutive for decades international repertoire, much due to own mission by Veljko Despot.
He was also music editor on two most successful albums by most popular group in Yugoslavia ever Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme was a highly influential former Yugoslav rock band, based in Sarajevo. Active between 1974 and 1989, it is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav rock...
, in 1975 for "Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu" and in 1976 for "Eto! Baš hoću". Both albums were recorded in Air Studios, London and produced by Neil Harrison
Neil Harrison
Neil Harrison is a British member of The Beatles tribute band, The Bootleg Beatles, in which he plays John Lennon.-The Bootleg Beatles:Following the final show of the West End musical Beatlemania, which Harrison joined at the age of 28, Harrison formed The Bootleg Beatles with fellow cast members...
.
At his post in record business in Croatia he initiates and helped bringing to Yugoslavia many important artists, like Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
in 1975, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
(1976), Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
& Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
(1976), Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
(1979), Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
(1984), Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
(1985), Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
(1990), Eros Ramazzotti
Eros Ramazzotti
Eros Luciano Walter Ramazzotti , known simply as Eros Ramazzotti, is an Italian singer and songwriter. Ramazzotti is enormously popular in Italy, and is well known in most non-English-speaking European countries and in the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in both...
(1990, 1994), Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
(1991), David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
(1990, 1996, 1997) and many more. For most of these artists it was their first visit in East Europe and a thrill for their fans who had first opportunity to see major international rock artists playing live.
In 20 years of successful running International Division in Jugoton as a music editor and international director he managed to release in this part of Europe thousands of most important albums, singles and music videos in history of popular music, making doors wide open to pop and rock culture in Yugoslavia and East Europe.
In 1991 after Croatia became independent from old Yugoslavia, Jugoton became Croatia Records and he remained with the company until 1994.
In 1994, he establishes and runs his own record company Koncept VD, a label exclusively representing BMG Music, MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
and GRP Records
GRP Records
GRP Records is an American jazz record company, owned by Universal Music Group and operates through its Verve Music Group. The company's name has had different meanings. In its early days, it stood for "Grusin/Rosen Productions," after the founders...
repertoire in new states on territory of former Yugoslavia. Signs domestic artists as well - greatest Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić
Arsen Dedic
Arsen Dedić is a Croatian singer-songwriter who has been prominent in the Croatian as well as former Yugoslav music scene. Dedić writes and performs chansons as well as film music...
and big club attraction from Zagreb the Soul Fingers. Their albums on Koncept label won prestigious award Porin
Porin (music award)
Porin is Croatian music award founded by Croatian Phonographic Association, Croatian Musicians Union, Croatian Radiotelevision and Croatian Composers' Society.-Lifetime Achievement Award:...
for best releases in Croatia. With his own record company he set in the nineties new standards for operations of such a label in Croatia and in 1998 he received a recognition from the Croatian government as one of top private entrepreneurs in Croatia.
In 1999, he created and runs since the Simbol Music, a consulting company that assists other artists and labels in being involved in the music business.
In 2000 and 2001, he also runs the Cantus
Cantus
A cantus , is an activity organised by Belgian, Dutch, French, Baltic and Afrikaans student organisations and fraternities. A cantus mainly involves singing traditional songs and drinking beer. It is governed by strict traditional rules...
label (a record division of the Croatian Composers' Society
Croatian Composers' Society
Croatian Composers' Society is a professional organization of composers in Croatia.HDS organizes the Music Biennale Zagreb, an international festival of contemporary music, and Zagrebfest, a festival of Croatian popular music....
, HDS). Signs for the label many big names in Croatian popular music (Tony Cetinski, Arsen Dedić, Goran Karan
Goran Karan
Goran Karan , is a Croatian singer from Split. He specializes in songs influenced by Dalmatian folk music and is known for his powerful and refined tenor voice...
, Matija Dedić, Tamara Obrovac
Tamara Obrovac
Tamara Obrovac is a Croatian ethno jazz singer, flutist, song writer and composer. She has received a Porin, and was nominated for the BBC Radio 3 World music Award in 2004....
, etc.) and releases their albums, winning many new Porin awards again.
The Neweurope Corporation (NEC) from Florida signed him in a year 2001 in utilizing his services. It is a private corporation with a unique “Click-Media-Mortar” business model centered around the New Europe theme. NEC targets over 28 million 1st and 2nd generation Europeans living in the U.S.A. and millions of others who want or like something European. He is in the management of Neweurope Corporation and is a corporate partner at post as the Director of Neweurope Media & Entertainment Center (NEMEC), running and operating this European center that screens out the best of music, recording artists, their releases, songs and videos, as well as European TV programs, for marketing in the United States.
He is one of founding members of the Croatian Phonographic Association, HDU (established in 1995).
Is one of three founding members of Croatian music award Porin (established in 1993) for outstanding achievements in Croatian recording industry, an equivalent of the Grammy Awards.
Since 1993 he is a member of The Recording Academy in the United States and since 2000 he is also a member of The Latin Recording Academy. In a year 2008 when The Recording Academy was celebrating 51 years of servicing the recording community he, as "the heart and soul of our organization", was honoured "in appreciation and recognition of 15 years of membership in the Academy and supporting its education, advocacy and human services initiatives".