1. Andrei Vladimirovich Tropillo was a Soviet and Russian record producer, music publisher, sound engineer, founder of the label AnTrop, and rock musician.
11 Facts About Andrei Tropillo
1. 2.
Andrei Tropillo organized concerts for several bands, including Mashina Vremeni, and used the income to buy technical equipment for sound recording.
3.
Andrei Tropillo later started working part-time at the House of Pioneers in the Krasnogvardeysky District of Leningrad, teaching members of the Young Pioneers about sound recording and giving guitar lessons.
4.
Andrei Tropillo would distribute master copies to recording cooperatives on reel-to-reel tapes, which were then re-copied and distributed to other cooperatives across the country.
5.
In 1985, Andrei Tropillo was dismissed from his role at the House of Pioneers and his studio was closed.
6.
Andrei Tropillo temporarily stored his equipment at the Leningrad Rock Club, before setting up a new AnTrop studio.
7.
Andrei Tropillo brought over several of the master tapes recorded in his old studio and made them available to the label, sometimes without the permission of the musicians involved.
8.
From here, Andrei Tropillo released copies of albums by Western rock bands such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Sonic Youth, taking advantage of gaps in the Russian intellectual property laws at the time.
9.
Andrei Tropillo would make alterations to the record covers to circumvent copyright laws.
10.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Karl Marx is replaced by the Russian Beatles fan Kolya Vasin and Andrei Tropillo's face is inserted in the top row.
11.
Andrei Tropillo died on 28 April 2024 in Finland, at the age of 73.