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The Great O-Zone Swindle?
Tom Wilson 30.07.04

Romanians coming home from abroad have been returning with increasingly bemused expressions lately. The boy-band O-Zone are no longer merely three Moldovans with three infectiously catchy pop hits under their belt. Thanks to the single 'Dragostea din Tei' they're sensations across Europe . I'm told you can't walk the streets of Barcelona without hearing teenagers' mobile phones playing their ringtone; you can't avoid the song in the bars and clubs of Munich; and in Paris, Arsenie, Dan and Radu have been proclaimed 'sex symbols' for a whole generation of French girls. In Britain, one of the few European countries where the song didn't quite reach number one, O-Zone are apparently viewed as being 'rather gay' (tough this is perhaps more indicative of the usual British response towards anything that comes from those rather suspicious foreigners from 'the continent'). The song has even recently reached Canada, and a South American breakthrough seems to be on the cards.

The track even made it to the number one position in the European Singles Sales chart. The fact that it's enjoyed such runaway success despite being sung in Romanian, a foreign language, makes it all the more surprising. Not since the days of the Cheeky Girls have we seen a Romanian (well, Moldovan) invasion on this scale.

However, unlike the Cheeky Girls, the song is one of the best pieces of pop music to come out in a long time. It's slick, transient and joyously shallow - everything that pop should be. Indeed, I was so impressed with the song that I ended up writing about the young producer behind the track in an article for the Face magazine, back in August 2003. Bogdan Popoiag, the 22 year-old who composed, arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered the song in question, is no stranger to the pop world. As well as being one half of the more alternative breakbeat outfit Unu', Bogdan produces hits for a long list of Romanian stars - including Loredana, Blondy, Akcent, HI-Q, Anna Lesko, TNT, Andreea Balan and La Familia.

Back then, almost one year ago, I made a prediction. "The plan is to translate the lyrics and release the song "Dragostea din Tei" in either France or England," the article ran. "The UK had better brace itself for the second wave of the Romanian invasion. With its sing-along chorus and dancefloor-destroying bassline, there's little in the UK that could stand in its way." If I'd put my money where my mouth was and placed a bet on three unlikely looking Moldovans taking over the European pop world, I could have made a sizable stack of cash.

Unlike my hypothetical winnings, the one person you'd imagine to be deserving of the rewards from the song's success is its author, Bogdan. Sadly, this isn't the case. Bogdan hasn't seen a penny from the proceeds of the track. The scandal over how his song was allegedly stolen by O-Zone's frontman Dan Balan was only made public this Wednesday, though it's a dispute that's been brewing for a considerable time.

"After we'd recorded the song," Bogdan explains, in a small apartment crammed full of keyboards, samplers and all manner of production equipment, "I was expecting the group to come back to sort out the paperwork. They never did." Dan Balan had instead registered the song with the UCMR (Romanian Union of Composers and Musicians) citing himself as its author. Following the publication of the Face article in December 2003, Bogdan started attracting international attention, and was contacted by Jive Records UK. They were interested in licensing Bogdan's track. "It was only then that I found out what had happened," Bogdan explains. "The track had been registered by someone else."

In order to assert his author rights, Bodgan recently initiated a trial against Dan Balan, a fact that hit the headlines this week. It's also led to the emergence of some rather unsavoury facts about the internal workings of the group O-Zone. The group had in fact split up in December 2003, with Balan leaving to pursue a solo career. It was Dan alone who was profiting from these assumed author rights, a fact confirmed to me when I talked to Arsenie and Radu themselves in January this year. Dan returned to the group after the song's international potential became apparent after it made the charts in Italy.

Moreover, it's come to light that this might not be the first time that Dan Balan has claimed authority over someone else's composition. O-Zone's third single, 'De Ce Plang Chitarele' is a song that was written in 1967 by the Moldovan singer Mihai Dolgan. Nevertheless, Balan registered himself as the track's composer. Thankfully, he is now reportedly recalculating the amounts received as a result of these author rights, and hopefully the money will be returned to its rightful owner - Mihai Dolagan. So far, Bogdan hasn't been so lucky.

The fact that the track is Bogdan's property simply can't be disputed. An article in the Face written one year ago, long before the scandal erupted, is itself testimony to this fact. However, the law works in mysterious ways. Whether or not Bogdan be able to get back what's his through the Romanian legal system is not yet certain. "I'm not thinking about it, to be honest," Bogdan smiles. "I'm more concerned about making that next big hit. In fact, I'm more concerned about finishing this track," he laughs, indicating at the computer screen. "It was meant to be finished yesterday. And I've got bills to pay."

It's clearly a stressful existence, one far removed from the glamour of the pop videos that accompany his tracks on MTV. And with that, Bogdan swivels back to give the work his full attention, immersed in what he does best - producing music.