Som Indústria E Comércio S.A.

Brazilian record company. The story of the company is intimately linked to that of the Copacabana label. The first mentions of a “new factory called Copacabana”, with equipment from the USA and its own recording studio, dates back to late 1946. In the autumn of 1947, under the supervision of Vincente Mangione (former distribution manager at Columbia and Continental), was announced the launch of two new labels, Star (25) and otherwise unknown Guanabara. At the beginning it was a small thing, poorly structured, with technical and organizational problems. The turning point came in December 1948, with the establishment of Som Indústria E Comércio S.A., under the direction of president Cláudio Luiz Pinto and Wadih Houaiss: the company immediately undertook major investments, with the expectation of a large production. In 1950 a record plant started operating (located in rua Nelson Cardoso, n. 627, Jacarepaguá; machinery and equipment were imported from USA and Sweden): in March 1950 were produced the first Brazilian-made Capitol records. In 1952 a warehouse was built, attached to the factory to be used as records and materials store, as well as printing facilites. Furthermore, in 1952, the construction of a new recording studio was underway. A great contribution to the company's growth was made by Victório Latari, former artistic director of RCA Victor. Unfortunately he died in September 1954. In 1953 there was economic-financial consolidation, increase in the volume of records sold and technical evolution both on the manufacturing and on the recording side. In January 1954, the company headquarters, which was originally located in avenida Presidente Vargas 463, 11° andar, Rio de Janeiro, moved to avenida Rio Branco, 25, 13° andar. On 6 May 1954 the company, in association with Indústrias Elétricas Sinter S.A., inaugurated the new recording studios, called Estúdios de Gravações Reunidos Ltda. Figures of great importance within the company were Emilio and Vicente Vitale, the main players of Brazilian music publishing (see Irmãos Vitale), who were part of the board of directors, and João Fernando Blumenschein, engineer, who was entrusted with the technical supervision of the record plant. Since 1955 Som represented Vanguard in Brazil. In 1962 the organization started releasing, on its Copacabana label, Verve Records recordings. In 1966 the company began the move of its offices to São Paulo, in rua Casper Libero, 58. In 1967 the company obtained a loan from the Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimiento, as part of a support program for small and medium-sized enterprises, and, with the intention to increase its production capacity, moved also the record plant from Jacarepaguá to Rudge Ramos (São Bernardo do Campo, near São Paulo): the new and modern plant was activated on October 23, 1967. After Emílio Vitale died in 1973, the control of the company was tranferred to Adiel Macedo de Carvalho (the founder of Beverly), Rosvaldo Cury (who came from Beverly too) and Gunter Cszasnik, who managed the company until the early 1980s. The new managers, together with João Blumenschein, made technical improvements in all areas of the company. Production increased and capital as well. New machinery was purchased from the USA. Galvanoplasty was improved and also offset and photolithography processes, in order to act independently on the entire supply chain. A new 7500 m2 building was built. A distribution branch was established in New York. At that time the mutual representation contracts with United Artists Records (USA) and Vogue (France) were also renewed: Som launched the catalog of the French company in Brazil and Vogue distributed Copacabana and Beverly labels in France, Holland, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. In 1980 the company had to face the great crisis of the record industry: the market stagnation, the spread of FM radio, piracy, the arrogance of the big multinational competitors created enormous difficulties and the company could not afford the production costs anylonger. A pathetic attempt was therefore made to recycle the production in the sector of plastic objects for household and children's use (including baby bottles and rattles). Unfortunately, the operation failed: in December 1982 the record company declared bankruptcy and, between 1982 and 1983, about 300 of the approximately 850 employees were fired. In the following years Adiel Macedo, after having bought the shares of the partners at a bargain price, tried to revive the record company (sometimes credited as “Nova Copacabana”). It was the swan song: in 1992 the company ceased operations. AKA: Som Indústria E Comércio Sociedade Anônima Som Indústria E Comércio S.A. Som Ind. E Com. S.A. Som Indústria E Comércio S/A. Som Ind. E Com. S/A. Som, Indústria E Comércio S.A. Som, Ind. E Com. S/A. etc. Expressions like "Som, Indústria E Comércio S.A. (Copacabana)" or "Som, Indústria E Comércio S.A. (Discos Copacabana)" are frequently attested, due to the tendency to identify the company and the label as one entity. Owner of Copacabana, and Som labels. Company CGC/CNPJ codes: 61.160.842 (before 1970) 61.160.842/001 (between 1970/76) 61.160.842/0001-03 (from 1976 to 1993)