The History.

The origin

In Montevideo, around 1938, Enrique Abal Salvo, then twenty years old, began making the first private recordings, marking those early direct-to-disc records with the name Son d’Or (Golden Sound). Since then the company has recorded tens of thousands of political speeches, commercial advertisements, musical performances and more.

In parallel, in 1941 Son d’Or carried out the first industrial pressing of shellac records, the masters cut in the backyard of Enrique Abal’s own house, the discs manufactured using a dry-cleaner’s steam boiler. So was born the oldest phonographic industry in Uruguay.

The label

Around 1944 the company began commercially releasing performances under its own label (Son d’Or), becoming the country’s oldest record producer as well. In 1954 it produced the first 45 rpm record in South America, and by 1960 the first stereophonic record in Uruguay. In the years that followed it has always stayed at the technological and commercial forefront, first with the arrival of the cassette, and later the compact disc.

The catalogue

In 1962 Enrique Abal Oliú, “Quique”, joined the company. He promoted and recorded numerous groups and soloists, and is responsible for developing the current catalogue of Uruguayan artists.

On the editorial side too, SONDOR has championed the launch of countless artists. By absorbing other Uruguayan labels (Clave, De la Planta, Macondo and APSA), it today holds the most important catalogue of Uruguayan music, its best-known names including Julio Sosa, Alfredo Zitarrosa, Rubén Rada, José Carbajal “El Sabalero”, Santiago Chalar, Pepe Guerra, Donato Racciatti, Miguel Villasboas, Romeo Gavioli, Karibe con K, Eduardo Mateo, Eduardo Darnauchans and a great many others who have passed, and still pass, through its recording studios.

The archive

SONDOR holds an archive of more than 500 78-rpm records, 400 40-cm backup discs of those recordings, hundreds of private recordings, more than 2,000 magnetic tapes corresponding to released LPs, hundreds of DATs, and today archives the original tracks of its recordings on DVD-ROM. The original graphic designs are archived as well, in some cases reaching back to the artwork of the very first recordings, accompanied by the posters printed across the decades to present the artists.

Two copies of every recording released are preserved in the archive, across each of their formats: 78-rpm records, Extended-Play records, Long-Play records, singles, cassettes, compact discs and DVD.

The studios

SONDOR’s recording studios have always been defined by front-line equipment, a quiet centralized climate-control system, and a main room large enough to record, in excellent conditions, an orchestra of more than 70 musicians.

In the technical department, every recorder and player used since SONDOR’s beginnings is kept in working order, so that the various formats in which the recordings were made can still be played back today.

This equipment is exhibited each year on Heritage Day (Día del Patrimonio), in the recording studio’s own room, in an exhibition coordinated with the University School of Music.

The family

As a family business, Sondor today has the active involvement of members of the third generation, keeping alive the entrepreneurial spirit that gave rise to the company more than 72 years ago.

Until his passing in 2025, the company was led by Ing. Rafael Abal Oliú, who held a solid background in Professional Audio and Business Management. Since then, Sondor is directed by Juan Ignacio Abal and Diego Abal Oliú, who continue to drive the company’s growth and evolution, preserving its legacy and projecting it into the future.