BEHIND THE FIRST RECORD LABEL IN HUNGARY & THE NEW & IMPROVED PROTON STUDIO
When the law passed that established the foundation for modern record labels in Hungary (1951), Proton Records (formerly E-music Records, founded by Ernő Enyedi) was the first established record label in the country.
The history of PROTON bears a special chapter in the Hungarian pop-rock music culture.
It began in the mid 1980’s, in a system that was still closed and highly regulated at the time, when Ernő Enyedi realized that independent record publishing based on Western models had a place in Hungary. The initial steps quickly grew into a serious enterprise: a modern studio, it’s own production capacity, and a catalog that simultaneously served the needs of the audience and supported domestic performers.
However, the transformation of the market, pirated cassettes, and later digital copying and illegal downloads dealt a serious blow to the labels.
PROTON was forced to look in new directions: it adapted to the changing circumstances, changed genres, and tried to maintain its operations with new business models.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the rise of streaming permanently rewrote the rules of the game.
Classical record publishing was pushed into the background, but at the same time new opportunities appeared.
PROTON realized this and was reborn in a new form:
it continued its operations under the name e-Music, relying on both the values of the archive and new productions.
The label not only reissued old material, but also stood behind fresh recordings, talents and projects, while also taking advantage of the renewed interest in vinyl.
This story is not just about a business, but about an approach: to adapt, survive and then rebuild. Proton has always been strong when change was needed – and has always remained on its feet when others disappeared.
Since 2025, Ernő has retired and passed on the label and it’s historically fascinating studio to his oldest son, Richárd Enyedi, who manages it with the same passion and ambition as his father once did – if not more!
With the momentum of a new generation, continues what the previous one built.
New thinking, new markets and new opportunities open up before him, while the values of the past remain as a foundation in the soul of the studio.
As the studio continues to grow with eclectic ears and open arms, the many masters of genres continue to bring a broad spectrum of sounds from Blues & Pop-Rock, to Hip-hop, Nu-Metal, Grunge, as well as many electronic underground genres!
protonrecordsstudio.com 