Bonton Music was a record label in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The name is a pun: bon ton means "etiquette" ("good manners") in French (also borrowed into some other languages), but also may be understood as "good sound" and alliterates with Panton, another Czech label.
In 1998 the Czech Bonton was merged with Sony Music Czech Republic and continued as Sony Music Bonton, being the second largest Czech label at that time. Sony Music owned 51% of shares, while Bonton Music's parent company, the Bonton Group owned 49% of shares. [1]
In Slovakia, the business name was Bonton Music Slovakia s.r.o., headquartered in Bratislava. In 1999 it was also merged with Sony Music to operate as Sony Music / Bonton Slovakia s.r.o. since September 9, 1999.[2][3]
In 2003 Sony Music bought out the shares of the Bonton Group in the record label.[4]