In the mid-1980s, Perestroika began: private business was partly legalized in the form of “cooperatives.” The Soviet Union was trying to adapt to a free market and democracy. Authorities and entrepreneurs started building connections with the outside world, showing openness to change and international cooperation. Joint ventures with Western companies appeared.

At the same time, while Andrei Tropillo was just beginning to legalize his work through record releases on Melodiya, other private labels also appeared, publishing both legal and pirate albums. As in the era of magnitizdat in the 1970s–80s, personal contacts and informal networks played a big role in shaping the new Russian music business. But in the 1990s, the commercial side — the drive to make money — became much more visible.

Russkiy Disc

The cooperative Russkiy Disk (Russian Disc) was founded in 1989 on the basis of the All-Union Recording Studio, first to restore old recordings and produce cassettes. A similar company had already been exporting Soviet records since the early 1980s.

Vinyl Bootlegs

In 1991, at the same time as Antrop, Russian Disc began issuing bootlegs of Russian and Western performers — with altered covers and the label “archival recordings” — pressed at the Riga record plant. Over the next two years, the company released albums by Marc Bolan, Yes, CCR, Scorpions, Santana, Pink Floyd, and of course, the Beatles.

“During the cooperative era, our studio set up the creative production enterprise ‘Russian Disc,’ although at first it only made cassettes,” recalls Melodiya employee Olga Markina. “At the beginning it was fine — there was a lot of money coming in. But then the director of RD started releasing music behind [Melodiya’s director] Sukhorado’s back. When he found out, a war began. Sukhorado called in his contacts at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, involved the Investigative Committee, and we ended up removing the entire music archive from Russian Disc’s premises.”

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Legal Releases

Russian Disc wasn’t a bootleg-only label. It made some legal clessical, pop and rock music releases. Such as Kino, Mashina Vremeni, Aquarium and russian version of Jesus Christ Superstar opera:

Also, there are compilations serie from LRK recordings called “Once at the Rock Club”, including late new wave and punk rock bands such as Narodnoye Opolcheniye alongside with Kino ans Jungly:

DIrect Metal Mastering

Interestingly, the records were cut using the Direct Metal Mastering (DMM) technology, which had existed at Melodiya since the mid-1980s. In theory, this should have improved the sound quality.

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© Artur Netsvetaev