Dureco was a Dutch label, record manufacturer, distributor and retailer, the name being an acronym of Dutch Record Company; previously owned by Dureco Gramofoonplaten from Amsterdam. Please also use when written as Dureco Holland or Dureco Weesp.
It was founded in November 1952 by Belgian entrepreneur E.W. Pelgrims de Bigard, who at one time was the largest independent record manufacturer and marketer in Europe. As such it was a sister company to the Belgian Fonior and French Sofrason. All three eventually became part of Pelgrims's international group IPG, with both Dureco and Fonior being managed by Eddie Palmans.
Initially Dureco acted as distributor for major foreign labels such as RCA and Barclay, but over time, and especially under the impetus of singer and producer Johnny Hoes (1964-1967), started concentrating on producing and promoting national artists and repertoire. Hoes' departure initially was a blowback for the company, but new artistic director Robert A. Aardse and producer (from 1970 on) Pierre Kartner followed the same path, and results soon showed. Early success was achieved through religious label Te Deum, followed by the establishment in 1969 of a new label for home repertoire, Elf Provinciën. In 1972 Dureco was good for a share of 10 percent of the Dutch market. Dutch repertoire made up about 85 percent of Dureco's sales and the company remained a champion of Dutch popular music throughout its existence, even leaving the Dutch record industry's promotional organization Stichting Collectieve Grammofoonplaten Campagne because they felt it did not support local artists enough.
This is not to say international repertoire was unimportant for Dureco. It had numerous deals with major international labels both for distribution and release. Italian, Spanish, French and German material were released on the Omega International label. Following the international success of Shocking Blue, Dureco founded the Pink Elephant label in 1969, specialized in English pop music (but in large part coming from local artists). It was followed up by Blue Elephant, specialized in reggae and music from the West Indies, catering to Holland's significant immigrant community. Eventually four Elephant labels were established. Black Elephant and White Elephant (2) were used by dedicated jazz fan Aardse (originally a jazz drummer) to promote the music he loved.
Dureco carried the largest jazz catalogue in the Netherlands, representing such labels as CTI Records/Kudu, ECM Records, Milestone (4)/Riverside Records, Black Lion Records/Freedom, Storyville and Metronome. Further it represented Sire from the US; Joker (2), Napoleon, Ricordi and Carosello from Italy; Zafiro from Spain, Mr. Pickwick and Disc'Az from France; and Sonet from Scandinavia. Belgian labels on the roster included RKM/Up (6), Start (3), Monopole, Hebra Records, Basart, Eurovox Records and Bobbejaan Records. From the UK it represented Penny Farthing; in 1978 it struck a deal with Stiff Records (obtaining a major stake in the burgeoning new wave market) and NEMS (also obtaining rights to the back catalogue of Immediate). Dureco often negiotiated reciprocal deals with these labels in order to have their own products distributed abroad. A noticeable omission on the Dureco roster was Decca, the main brand of sister companies Fonior and Sofrason in their respective countries, but handled by Phonodisc B.V. in the Netherlands.
Dureco started out in the center of Amsterdam (Beursstraat) but had to move to larger offices in 1970. Two years later it had already outgrown this location too and moved to Weesp, where it employed around 100 people. There Dureco constructed its own state of the art studio and pressing plant, the Dureco Studio and Dureco Fabriek. The premises were also home to the affiliated Bospel Music Publishing Company. Apart from its headquarters, Dureco kept a specialized promotion office in Hilversum, which housed many TV and radio stations, called the Dureco Promothèque, sharing the premises with the Frans Peters Studio.
In 1980 both Fonior and the International Pelgrims Group went bankrupt, but Dureco kept thriving. It survived as an independent entity with Palmans eventually setting up a new Belgian branch (Dureco Belgium S.A.) to remain active in that market.
In 2001 Dureco was acquired by the Strengholt Music Group, which discontinued the label in 2004. The last release was Cruel Man. In 2015 the label was relaunched.
Dureco introduced CD replication in 1987 making it the first CD manufacturer in Holland. Their discs are identifiable with the code DUR-NL in the mirror band.(It looks similar to DVR-NL, but it isn't). In 1998, Dureco's Dutch and French CD plants were merged with Austrian Koch Digitaldisc GmbH to form kdg. The individual pressing plants were re-branded kdg-NL and kdg France.
Glassmasters can be done at other plants, for example: If you find CDMxx in the matrix, please add "Glass Mastered At" CDM (10) (Malmö, Sweden) (for more info see label's profile), and add Dureco in the LCCN-section as Pressed by. Also add Made by or Manufactured by Dureco when credited as such on the release, possibly on the disc label. (Example: Premie CD Internationaal '87).
Netherlands