Scardona

Scardona is a Croatian record label and concert agency based in Zagreb, founded in 1998 by Branko Paić, who remains its owner and director. It has built its reputation as the leading Croatian label specialising in Dalmatian music — particularly klapa (traditional a cappella) singing — and as a concert agency focused on organising large-scale performances by domestic artists. Its catalogue includes many of the country's most popular and award-winning klapa ensembles, such as Intrade, Cambi, Maslina, Sv. Juraj HRM, Šufit and Lučica, alongside pop and entertainment performers including Goran Karan, Tomislav Bralić, Jasmin Stavros, Dražen Zečić and Alen Nižetić. Beyond recorded music, Scardona organises concerts across Croatia, Europe and overseas tours in the United States, Canada and Australia, and offers artist booking services. The company also produces content for social media, manages social media accounts for others, and curates playlists on streaming platforms; through distributors it places music on more than 150 streaming services. Its leadership team includes CEO Branko Paić, COO Tena Lovrić, sales lead Jadranka Jagar, PR lead Lea Markovinović and social media lead Petra Srđenović. Scardona's catalogue spans traditional-meets-modern albums, greatest-hits compilations, instrumental albums, compilations of leading songwriters and recordings of klapa spectacles. A notable sub-label, "Sound of Dalmatia", gathers its klapa and Dalmatian traditional releases. The company has been repeatedly entered into the Golden Book of Entrepreneurs, an honour reserved for companies in the top 10% of Croatian firms and trades.

Scardona was founded in 1998 in Zagreb by Branko Paić, a music producer and industry figure who is one of the founders of the Croatian Music Union and the Croatian Phonographic Association, served as the first vice-president of the HDU, and has been a member of the Croatian Music Council, the supervisory board of the Institute of Croatian Music, the board of the Porin award (including two years as vice-president), and founder of the Association of Managers and Producers. In its early years the company focused on managing leading Croatian performers. Among its early concert projects were Colonia's landmark 2000 concert at Dom sportova in Zagreb, which helped establish them as major pop stars, and Goran Karan's four consecutive sold-out concerts at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, as well as tours in Australia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey. Dražen Zečić's concert at Žnjan drew an audience of 20,000. Paić, together with Lidija Bajuk, the group Legen and Dunja Knebl, was a driving force behind the Croatian ethno music scene, and Scardona devoted particular attention to ethno sound and the musical expression of other Croatian regions. The label presented Croatian ethno music internationally through multimedia at WOMEX, the international world music festival in England. In 2003 Scardona acquired the entire catalogue of ZG ZOE MUSIC, expanding into pop music with some of the best albums of the 1990s (by artists such as Tony, ET and Nina), and began collaborations with Hari Rončević, Buđenje and Jelena Radan. That year it received the "First Golden Crown" awarded by the Institute for Business Research. Scardona was the first to recognise the need to connect recording and concert activities, following its artists — especially klapa ensembles — and building a rich catalogue of valuable releases under the special "Sound of Dalmatia" label. This series features the best-known klapa groups: Cambi, Intrade, Maslina, Sv. Juraj – HRM, Šufit, Sol, Filip Dević, Lučica and many others, as well as numerous instrumental treatments of traditional Dalmatian songs, chants and kolo dances performed by Trio Suveniri, Trio Agava, Matko Jelavić and Gojka Skorić Pelajić. In 2006, together with "Picaferaj", Scardona launched the large-scale Poljud spectacle "NE DAMO TE PISMO NAŠA" in front of 15,000 people, aimed at preserving and spreading the tradition of klapa singing. The project proved extremely successful in promoting Croatian intangible heritage, klapa music, and has been organised traditionally at the end of each summer ever since. Alongside the annual concerts at Split's Poljud stadium, the tour visited other Croatian cities including Zagreb, Varaždin, Rijeka, Zadar, Makarska, Metković and Dubrovnik. Their popularity in Croatia generated strong interest in klapa concerts in Slovenia. Klapa music became Scardona's greatest phenomenon, with ensembles filling stadiums, arenas and sports halls and releasing songs that defined recent years. The company has maintained long-term relationships with artists it believed in from the start, including Dražen Zečić (since 1998), klapa Cambi from Kaštel Kambelovac (since 2000), Jasmin Stavros (since 2001), Tomislav Bralić (since 2003), klapa Intrade (since 2005), klapa Sv. Juraj HRM (since 2006), Goran Karan (1999–2003) and klapa Maslina (since 2007).

• 2006

  Launches the Poljud spectacle "NE DAMO TE PISMO NAŠA" with Picaferaj in front of 15,000 people.

• 2003

  Scardona acquires the entire catalogue of ZG ZOE MUSIC and receives the "First Golden Crown".

• 2000

  Colonia's concert at Dom sportova in Zagreb, organised by Scardona, establishes them as major pop stars.

• 1998

  Scardona founded in Zagreb by Branko Paić.

Leading Croatian record label specialising in Dalmatian music and a concert agency for large-scale domestic performances.

• Sound of Dalmatia sub-label releases

• Klapa recordings (Intrade, Cambi, Maslina, Sv. Juraj HRM, Šufit, Lučica, Sol, Filip Dević)

• Pop and entertainment albums (Goran Karan, Tomislav Bralić, Jasmin Stavros, Dražen Zečić, Alen Nižetić)

• Ethno music releases (Lidija Bajuk, Legen, Dunja Knebl)

• Instrumental albums (Trio Suveniri, Trio Agava, Matko Jelavić, Gojka Skorić Pelajić)

1. 1Scardona – Mi stvaramo emocijescardona.hr
2. 2About Us – Scardonascardona.hr
3. 3Scardonawikidata.org
4. 4Scardonahr.wikipedia.org