Bonton Music was a record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 and Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

. The name is a pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

: bon ton means "etiquette

Etiquette

Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...

" ("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

Bonton Group

Bonton Group is a media / entertainment holding company in Czech Republic. It grew from the Bonton Music record label established in 1989 by Czech jazzman Martin Kratochvíl.-Holdings:* Albatros nakladatelství, a.s. – book publisher...

 owned 49% of shares.
In Slovakia, the business name was Bonton Music Slovakia s.r.o., headquartered in Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

. In 1999 it was also merged with Sony Music to operate as Sony Music / Bonton Slovakia s.r.o. since September 9, 1999.

In 2003 Sony Music bought out the shares of the Bonton Group in the record label.