| Fonovisa Records | |
| Parent: | Universal Music Group (2008–present) Univision Music Group (2002–2008) Televisa (1984-2002) |
| Founder: | Guillermo Santiso |
| Genre: | Latin pop, Regional Mexican |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Location: | Hollywood, California |
Fonovisa Records is an American Spanish language record label founded in 1984 by Guillermo Santiso as a subsidiary of Televisa.[1] Its former name before being acquired by Televisa in 1984 was Profono Internacional, which was founded in 1978. Fonovisa mainly produces Mexican style music. It is well known for its signing with artists such as Los Tigres Del Norte, Los Bukis, Los Temerarios, Enrique Iglesias, Lucero and Thalía.
In late 2002, Fonovisa was acquired from Televisa by the Univision Music Group. Fonovisa was owned by the Univision Music Group until May 2008 when it was bought by Universal Music Group. It is now part of Universal Music Latin Entertainment. Fonovisa headquarters are now in the Capitol Records Building, in Hollywood, California.[2]
On January 25, 1996, Fonovisa was allowed to proceed with its copyright infringement lawsuit against Cherry Auction (which is known for operating the Cherry Avenue Auction in Fresno, CA) for allowing vendors to sell unlicensed records.[3] [4]
Fonovisa itself, however, became the subject of controversy in 1999 when the record label admitted to paying radio stations millions of dollars in payola to play songs from Fonovisa artists. Santiso was also charged with tax evasion during the process.[5]