C.e.t.r.a. (the name is the acronym of Compagnia per edizioni, teatro, registrazioni ed affini) was born in Turin on April 10, 1933, on the initiative of the Italian Agency for Radio Auditions (EIAR), which decides to transform the Edizioni musicali Radiofono, active since 15 September 1923 (and owned by him) in the record company, changing its name to Cetra Società Anonima; later the company will become a joint stock company. Initially, the Cetra only made its own recordings and the distribution of the discs, for the printing of which it used instead of the Parlophon as easily found on the labels. In a short time, also starting the printing of its own records and with its own machinery, it became one of the leading companies in the Italian discography (at the time only 78 rpm records were printed), thanks above all to the link with the radio company EIAR, that all the major singers broadcast by the radio then recorded for the Cetra. After the war it continues to have a prominent position on the market, thanks to artists such as
Nilla Pizzi,
Achille Togliani,
Claudio Villa (since 1957), and to the work of its general manager, Edgardo Trinelli. La Cetra also distributed some small satellite labels, such as Fon and Mayor. With an act dated December 16, 1957, Fonit and Cetra decided to merge into a new company,
Fonit Cetra; the Cetra brand continues to exist within the new company. == Bibliography ==