The music making historic CD / DVD factory in Spain is to close for good in March.
Iberofón was a company with a proud history. For 50 years, it belonged to Spains major music promoter, and the youth of Spain rocked to LP’s impressed in this Madrid based factory.
Everytime you bought a CD or tape of Julio Iglesias, Raphael or Joaquín Sabina, you knew the disc had been made in Cosleda, Madrid, by Iberofón.
Or, indeed, the Spanish editions of international rock stars such as Nirvana, Iron Maiden, The Beatles or Guns N Roses all bore the stamp of Iberofón, Cosleda, Madrid.
It was the first Spanish factory to start production of CDs, back in 87. It also produced VHS, Betamax, tape cassettes, Laser discs and the rest.
But piracy and falling CD sales have made this factory unprofitable.
In 2006, after several years of running at a loss, the company was sold to the German multinational Bertelsmann, and renamed Arvato Digital Services. Wave after wave of job cuts and restructuring followed, as CD sales almost ceased in Spain. Even the closure of every single one of its rivals couldn’t stop the losses. Competition from other, more efficient factories in other EU countries (and China!) was too strong.
Indeed, we learnt over Christmas that selling just 500 CD’s would have got you into the Spanish Xmas Top40 list!
Anyway, despite being part of a group that apparently made 621 million euros profit last year, the loss making factory is to shut after 50 years in March with the loss of the final 134 workers.