Please note, many Capitol Records issues also carry an EMI logo. This is not a label and EMI should not be added as a label; it instead indicates that Capitol was part of the EMI Group. For LPs the label design may help identify the era of release. See vinylbeat.com & friktech.com links below.

The Capitol Records, Inc. company was founded by the songwriters Johnny Mercer, Buddy G. De Sylva and record store owner Glenn Wallichs on April 9, 1942 in Hollywood, California. By 1946 Capitol had sold 42 million records and was established as one of the Big Six studios.

In January 1955, the British company Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI) acquired Capitol Records, Inc for $8.5 million. In 1979, Capitol was made part of the EMI Music "Worldwide division." In 2001, EMI Group Plc merged Capitol Records label with the Priority Records label.

In the UK and Europe EMI began releasing Capitol product in January 1956 after the license with The Decca Record Company Limited expired.

In September 2012 Capitol Records was purchased by Vivendi S.A. (owner of the Universal Music Group)

Label Code: LC 0148 / LC 00148

Please note: unofficial / counterfeit releases should use Capitol Records (2) instead.

Capitol Records album prefix codes:
Catalog numbers are generally divided into a prefix (from 1 to 4 letters) and a number. The number is the actual release number. Capitol started numbering at 100, with some of their subsidiaries (like Tower) starting at higher numbers (such as 5000 for Tower and 3350 for Apple). By 1968, their regular issue albums had reached 2999; 3000 to 9999 were reserved for subsidiaries so they started over at 100. In 1972, album numbering reached 999 and catalog numbers jumped ahead to 10000.

The prefix is composed of letters.
• If the record is in stereo, then the first letter is "S.". If the first letter is a "D" the record is in reprocessed stereo created from mono recordings (= Duophonic).
No letter corresponds to a mono recording.
• The second letter is the price code. Beginning in the late 1950s, "T" was the standard code for a full-price single Lp. Other letters, such as W, M and K indicate a different list price.
• The third letter (if present) indicates the number of discs in the album. "A" = single Lp, "B" = two Lps, "C" = 3 Lps, etc.
• A fourth letter (if present) means there was some kind of special packaging, such as a boxed set, gatefold cover, booklet, etc.