History
The company was originally founded in the 1970s under the name Profono Internacional, later rebranding as Laser in the early 1980s.
In 1984, it adopted its current name, with prominent artists including Grupo Mojado, Los Tigres del Norte, Duelo, and Banda Toro. The latter rose to prominence with the 1994 release of "La noche que Chicago murió," a song that has since garnered over 300 million streams. Banda Toro also became a leading exponent of the quebradita genre with other notable hits such as "La ruca no era ruca," "Los Ríos de Babilonia," "El hijo desobediente," and "Anoche me enamoré." During the same period, the label achieved significant commercial success with acts such as Los Humildes, Los Bukis, Los Caminantes, Rigo Tovar, and Los Yonic's. Some artists were signed to other labels while being in the FONO roster for distribution purposes. (Note: Artists and groups like Pesado and Banda Machos were under Metro Casa Musical, whereas artists like Impacto de Montemorelos and Los Mier were under Sony Music Entertainment Latin. While signed to both, Fonovisa would distribute their music based on region.)
In the 1980s, FONO acquired Discos y Cintas Melody, S.A., formerly known as Discos y Cartuchos de México, S.A. (DCM), establishing the "Melody" imprint. This sublabel focused on pop and rock artists, with acts such as Timbiriche, Flans, Lucero, and Thalía. Other artists under Melody included Enrique Iglesias (from 1995 to 1998), Sparx, and Lorenzo Antonio.
By late 1997 and early 1998, FONO dissolved its Musivisa and Melody sublabels, incorporating their artists into the main Fonovisa label.
In late 2002, FONO was acquired from Televisa by Univision Music Group, joining Univision Records and Disa Records under the same umbrella. In 2008, Universal Music Group purchased Univision Music Group, leading to the closure of Univision Records. FONO is currently headquartered in Hollywood, California.
In May 2025, Fonovisa merged with Disa to rebrand as FONO. Their slogan is "Música, No Borders"
Lawsuits
On January 25, 1996, FONO 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.
FONO 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 FONO artists. Santiso was also charged with tax evasion during the process. In the same year, Interscope Records filed a lawsuit against FONO over its unauthorized inclusion of Enrique Iglesias's song "Bailamos" in a greatest hits compilation. At the time, Iglesias had already ended his contract with Fonovisa and was preparing to release his first English-language album under Interscope. By the time the lawsuit was filed, the compilation had sold over one million copies. Interscope later withdrew the suit, which had threatened to shutter FONO. A revised version of the compilation, excluding "Bailamos", was released shortly thereafter.
25th Anniversary
In 2009, FONO celebrated their 25th anniversary as a record label by releasing special editions of previously released albums by artists on their rosters, multi-volume compilations, a La Historia De Los Éxitos collection based on the label's roster's genres. For the special edition albums, the cover was modified so that it showed the original cover in the middle with a black border surrounding it. In a corner of the original album cover, a 25th anniversary version of the label's logo would be placed, and in the top middle of the border, there would be text saying "Edición Especial • 25 Aniversario". The label's slogan for their 25th anniversary celebration was "Fonovisa: La Historia De Los Éxitos".
The full lineup for the La Historia De Los Éxitos collection were
- The standard and first compilation of the lineup, which consisted of 25 tracks split into two discs (released on January 20, 2009)
- A banda version, which consisted of 25 songs in the banda genre split into two discs (released on March 24, 2009)
- A DVD compiation with 15 music videos (released on March 31, 2009, just one week after the banda version)
- A norteño version, which consisted of 20 songs in the norteño genre (Note: in the Mexico release, Paz En Este Amor by Fidel Rueda is replaced by Un Idiota Como Yo by Duelo) (released on April 21, 2009)
- A cumbia version, titled "Bailables", which consisted of 20 songs in the cumbia genre (released on May 25, 2009)
- A corridos version, titled "Corridos Pesados", which consisted of 20 corridos (released on June 20, 2009)
- A parranderas version, which consisted of 20 songs that are considered songs to drink or party to (Note: in the Mexico release, most of the tracks are replaced and the tracklist goes from 20 to 18 songs) (released on July 21, 2009 to the general public, where as the alternative tracklist version was released on September 15, 2009)
- A mariachi version, which consisted of 20 songs in the mariachi/ranchera genre (released on August 25, 2009)
- A pop-goes-regional mexican version, titled "Pop a La Mexicana", which consisted of 20 tracks, mostly regional mexican versions (Note: in the Mexico release, one of the compilation's tracks is replaced by Paulina Rubio's "El Último Adiós") (released on September 22, 2009)
- A romantic version, titled "Románticas", which consisted of 20 love songs (released on October 13, 2009)
Other compilations released for FONO's 25th anniversary were "25 Aniversario Fonovisa", a five volume compilation including artists from the label's foundation to their 2009 celebration, released in mid-2009. A 15 track Mother's Day compilation titled "Para Ti Madrecita: 15 Super Éxitos" was released on March 24, 2009, consisting of 15 tracks dedicated to all the mothers around the world. A 25 track, 2-disc compilation titled "Las 25 Más Románticas Con Los Supergrupos" was released on February 10, 2009, consisting of 25 tracks in the grupero genre. A live album was also released for the celebration, titled "Fonovisa 25 Aniversario: El Concierto".
The year-long anniversary schedule was supported by TV and internet campaigns.
Some artists that got albums reissued with the 25th anniversary CDs were
- Banda El Recodo (Por Ti, Tengo Una Ilusión, No Me Sé Rajar & De Parranda Con La Banda)
- Los Bukis (Quiéreme, Si Me Recuerdas, Me Volvi A Acordar de Ti, Inalcanzable, Mi Fantasia, Y Para Siempre...)
- Los Temerarios (Mi Vida Eres Tú, Tu Última Canción, Te Quiero, Cómo Te Recuerdo, Veintisiete, En La Madrugada Se Fue, Una Lágrima No Basta)
- Grupo Mojado (Sueño y Realidad)
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