Melodiya (Russian: Мелодия, lit. 'Melody') is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union.
Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya" in accordance with a resolution issued by the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. It utilized numerous recording studios and manufacturing facilities throughout the USSR as well as powerful centres of distribution and promotional strategies. The best selling format at the time was 33⅓ and 78 rpm vinyl records. By 1973, Melodiya released some 1,200 gramophone records with a total circulation of 190-200 million per year,[1] in addition to 1 million compact cassettes per year, was exporting its production to more than 70 countries.[2]
In other countries, Melodiya recordings imported from the USSR were often sold under the label MK, which stood for Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga ("International Book", Russian: Μеждународная Книга).
Being state owned until April 1989, the Soviet recording industry was able to apply a single numbering system to all its releases from 1933 onwards regardless of origin or place of manufacture. The number sequences for 78s and LPs are strictly chronological, from which it is possible to date many, though not all, releases using only the catalogue number [3]
Melodiya is actively working with the archive.[5] As of 2023, more than 80% of the archive has been digitized and 2,400 digital albums have been published; since 2014, more than 100 vinyl records have been published.[1]
