Music Entrepreneurship and Family Businesses: The Case of Avsenik Brothers Ensemble

Abstract

The Avsenik Brothers Ensemble is by far the most successful Slovene music group performing popular-national music, having sold 36 million albums worldwide and having been featured in more than 10,000 live shows. Year 2013 marked the 60th anniversary of successful music-making for the brothers Slavko Avsenik and Vilko Ovsenik. Today the family music tradition is actively pursued by Slavko’s son Gregor, and grandson Sašo, who continue the artistry of the Avseniks and oversee the family business built around it. The article provides a historical qualitative description of the Avseniks’ career, their business model, the milestones of their success, music expansion and building of the identity of popular-national music in Slovenia.