Greek record company, established in November 1960 by Μάκης Μάτσας and his father, Μίνως Μάτσας, who, in 1965, became CEO until his death.
Μίνως Μάτσας & Υιός Α.Ε. should only be used as a Record Company and not as the primary label.
Please check Minos Matsas & Son Co. Ltd. for ℗ & © holder and distribution.
Initially, the company marketed locally the Odeon and Parlophone labels in Greece. In the late 1960s, they launched Minos (2) and Margophone, which replaced Odeon and Parlophone respectively.
It was the first Greek record company to sign an exclusive contract with a songwriter, artist, in 1962, and was the first to introduce in Greece the institution of a PR office in a record company, headed by artist, in the mid-1960s. Leftéris Papadópoulos held this position for six months only.
On 28 November 1968, they purchased the founded and owned by Στέλιος Καζαντζίδης label Standard (7) and the machinery of its pressing plant. A few years later, they sold the machinery to Cyprus.
In 1977, the company signed a marketing contract with RCA Records and its associated labels, becoming their local agent. When Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) opened its own branch in Greece, label/BMG Greece A.E., Μίνως Μάτσας & Υιός Α.Ε. continued to distribute their products.
Sometime in the second half of the 1980s, BMG expressed their intention to acquire 50% of the company, but Μάκης Μάτσας had some reservations about BMG's proposals and decided to break off the (absolutely confidential) negotiations.
Towards the end of 1989 or early 1990, the CEO of EMI Ltd. asked to visit Μάκης Μάτσας to discuss a full-scale collaboration. The discussions for the merger of EMI Greece S.A. and Μίνως Μάτσας & Υιός Α.Ε. began at the 1990 Midem in Cannes, where the first memorandum of understanding was signed. In October of the same year, the agreement was signed and EMI purchased a majority stake in Μίνως Μάτσας & Υιός Α.Ε., forming Minos-EMI S.A. According to the contract, Makis Matsas undertook to be the chairman and CEO of the new company for at least 5 years, after which ΕΜΙ Ltd. had the option to increase its stake.