In 1976, he initially attempted to set up a small record factory in a room rented from his then-employer, the Geophysics department of Leningrad University.

He also organized concerts for several bands, including Mashina Vremeni, and used the income to buy technical equipment for sound recording.

[1] Tropillo began to invite local rock bands to record in the House of Pioneers, starting with Aquarium and Mify (Russian: Мифы, lit.

[1] From here, Tropillo released copies of albums by Western rock bands such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Sonic Youth, taking advantage of gaps in the Russian intellectual property laws at the time.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Karl Marx is replaced by the Russian Beatles fan Kolya Vasin and Tropillo's face is inserted in the top row.

[4] In his interview for the BBC Storyville documentary How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, Tropillo stated: "I support not copyright but copyleft.