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Gallo Record Company

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[b]Gallo Record Company[/b] is Africa's largest domestic record company. [b]Also appears as a label since 1989[/b]. Do not confuse with previous labels [l=Gallo] / [l=Gallo GRC] & following label [l=Gallo Music Productions]. It is through purchase, merger or consolidation that it has also come to control the catalogues from several competitor and associate companies, including [b]Gramophone Record Company[/b], [b]Trutone[/b], [b]Teal[/b], [b]RPM[/b], [b]WEA/Tusk[/b], [b]Troubadour[/b], [b]Meteor[/b], [b]Record Industries[/b], [b]USA[/b], [b]Joburg[/b], [b]MFP[/b], and [b]DJ[/b]. Consequently, the company now owns some 75% of recordings ever made in South Africa up through the 1980's. Gallo's history is long and complex, and it began in 1939 when Arnold Golembo founded the [b]Gramophone Record Company[/b] (GRC) around a small music retail shop in downtown Johannesburg. GRC obtained the South African franchise for [l=Capitol Records] label in 1946 but relinquished it in favour of [l=CBS] Records in 1956. In 1985 GRC was incorporated into the [b]Gallo Group[/b], becoming [b]Gallo-GRC[/b] under the leadership of Peter Gallo (the son of Eric Gallo who had launched the original [l=Gallotone] Recordings in 1926). In 1989 (Gallo-GRC's 50th anniversary year), the company's name was shortened to [b]Gallo Record Company[/b]. However, a setback for the company occurred when South Africa's first democratically-elected government came into power and [url=http://www.discogs.com/label/Sony+Music+Entertainment+(South+Africa)]Sony[/url] decided to return to the country and claim back the distribution rights for its [l=CBS] and [l=Epic] brands in 1995. The following year Gallo merged with [url=http://www.discogs.com/label/RPM+Records+(3)]RPM Records[/url] (but retained their old name). Another year later, the company bought out another local music giant, [l=Tusk Music], and with that obtained the rights to distribute the [l=Warner Music International] catalogue, as well as that of [l=Tommy Boy Music], [l=Strictly Rhythm], [l=Hollywood Records], [l=Naxos], and [l=Elap Music]. Gallo Record Company also represents a number of independent labels which are managed in its [b]RPM Records[/b] division as well as a major roster of domestic artists through [b]Gallo Music South Africa[/b] (GMSA), itself encompassing several subdivisions. Parent company [b]Gallo (Africa) Ltd.[/b] is part of the Johnnic Communications media and entertainment group, with which Warner Music International began a joint venture in May 2006, creating [b]Warner Music Gallo Africa[/b] and expanding the company's vast musical archive into the digital realm and a worldwide market.