| Capitol Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group (2012–present) Previously EMI (1955–2012) Warner Music Group (2013–present; some recordings) |
| Founded | March 27, 1942; 83 years ago (1942-03-27) (as Liberty Records) April 8, 1942; 83 years ago (1942-04-08) (as Capitol Records) |
| Founder | Johnny Mercer Buddy DeSylva Glenn Wallichs |
| Distributors |
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Capitol Records Building, 1750 Vine StreetHollywood, California, 90028, U.S. |
| Official website | capitolrecords |
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally asCapitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known asCapitol, is an Americanrecord label owned byUniversal Music Group through itsCapitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note in the United States[1] in 1942 byJohnny Mercer,Buddy DeSylva, andGlenn E. Wallichs. Capitol was acquired by British music conglomerateEMI as its North Americansubsidiary in 1955.[2] EMI was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company a year later, making Capitol and the Capitol Music Group both distributed by UMG. The label'scircular headquarters building is a recognized landmark ofHollywood, Los Angeles, California.
SongwriterJohnny Mercer founded Capitol Records in 1942[3] with financial help from songwriter and film producerBuddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, owner ofWallichs Music City. Mercer raised the idea of starting a record company while golfing withHarold Arlen andBobby Sherwood and with Wallichs at Wallichs's record store. On February 2, 1942, Mercer and Wallichs met DeSylva at a restaurant in Hollywood to talk about investment byParamount Pictures.
On March 27, 1942, the three men incorporated as Liberty Records (not affiliated with Capitol's future sister labelLiberty Records). In May, the application was amended to change the label's name to Capitol Records.[4]
On April 6, 1942, Mercer supervised Capitol's first recording session whereMartha Tilton recorded the song "Moon Dreams". On May 5, Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks in the studio. On May 21,Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks in the studio: one with the orchestra, one withElla Mae Morse called "Cow-Cow Boogie" and "Air-Minded Executive" supervised by Mercer. On June 4, Capitol opened its first office in a second-floor room south ofSunset Boulevard. On that same day, Wallichs presented the company's first free record to Los Angeles disc jockey Peter Potter. On June 5,Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four songs at the studio. On June 12, the orchestra recorded five more songs in the studio, including "Trav'lin' Light" withBillie Holiday. On June 11,Tex Ritter recorded "(I Got Spurs That) Jingle Jangle Jingle" and "Goodbye My Little Cherokee" for his first Capitol recording session, and the songs comprised Capitol's 110th produced record.
The earliest recording artists included co-owner Mercer,Johnnie Johnston, Morse,Jo Stafford, thePied Pipers,Tex Ritter, Tilton,Paul Weston, Whiteman, andMargaret Whiting.[3] Capitol's first gold single was Morse's "Cow Cow Boogie" in 1942.[5]
Capitol's first album wasCapitol Presents Songs by Johnny Mercer, a three disc set with recordings by Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, all with Weston's orchestra.
Capitol was the first major west coast label to compete with major labels on the east coast such asRCA Victor,Columbia, andDecca. In addition to its Los Angeles recording studios, Capitol owned a second studio in New York City and occasionally sent mobile recording equipment to other cities.[citation needed]
In 1946, writer-producerAlan W. Livingston createdBozo the Clown for the company's children's record library, withPinto Colvig (the voice ofGoofy inWalt Disney cartoons) as Bozo.Mel Blanc reprised his own cartoon roles includingBugs Bunny and otherLooney Tunes characters, as well asWoody Woodpecker, while several Disney records were narrated by radio announcerDon Wilson. Examples of notable Capitol albums for children during that era areSparky's Magic Piano andRusty in Orchestraville. Capitol also developed a noted jazz catalog that included the Capitol Jazz Men and issued theMiles Davis's albumBirth of the Cool.[6]
Capitol released a few classical albums in the 1940s, some of which contained handsome heavily embossed, leather-like covers. These recordings appeared on the 78 rpm format and were subsequently reissued on the newLP format in 1949. Among the recordings: Brazilian composerHeitor Villa-Lobos'Choros No. 10, with contributions from a Los Angeles choral group and the Janssen Symphony Orchestra (1940–1952), conducted byWerner Janssen;Symphony No. 3 by Russian composerReinhold Moritzovich Glière; andCésar Franck'sSymphony in D minor, withWillem Mengelberg and theConcertgebouw Orchestra.[citation needed]
In 1949, Capitol opened a branch office in Canada and purchased KHJ Studios on Melrose Avenue adjacent to Paramount in Hollywood.[7]
By the 1950s, Capitol had become a huge label that concentrated primarily on popular music.[citation needed]
Capitol began recording rock and roll acts such asThe Jodimars andGene Vincent. There were comedy records byStan Freberg,Johnny Standley, andMickey Katz. On August 2, 1952,Billboard magazine contained a chronicle of the label's first ten years in business.[8]
In 1955, the British record companyEMI (which evolved intoUniversal Music Group) purchased Capitol Records, ending the 55-year mutual distribution agreement between EMI andRCA Victor in the Western Hemisphere in 1957. EMI acquired 96% of Capitol's stock for $8.5 million. EMI built astudio at Hollywood and Vine to match its state-of-the-artAbbey Road Studios in London.
In the 1950s,Decca Records broke its distribution contract withPanart, the first independentCuban record company. This provided an opening for Capitol, which then contracted with Panart to have Capitol and Odeon records distributed in Cuba. In turn, Capitol distributed Panart records in the United States, growing the export percentage of Panart records from 20 percent to 50 percent. This was a coup for Capitol, asRCA Victor up to this point had huge predominance in the United States distribution of Cuban music recordings.[11][12]
In 1957, EMI's classical labelAngel was merged into Capitol. Some classical recordings were issued in high fidelity andstereophonic sound. These includedWilliam Steinberg and thePittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,Leopold Stokowski with various orchestras (including theLos Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra) andSir Thomas Beecham and theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as light classical albums byCarmen Dragon and theHollywood Bowl Orchestra and albums of film music conducted by Hollywood composers such asAlfred Newman.
In the realm of "Sweet Jazz"big-band music, Capitol also joined forces with the bandleaderGuy Lombardo starting in the mid 1950s to issue a series of approximately thirty recordings until the late 1960s.[13]
The Capitol of the World series introduced in 1956 and active into the 1970s encompassedGerman Beer Drinking Songs,Honeymoon in Rome,Australian Aboriginals, andKasongo! Modern Music of the Belgian Congo. Many were produced by Dave Dexter Jr. This series contained over 400 albums. It was also in this period that Capitol issuedChristmas music recordings from various countries outside the United States.[14][15] In the 1960s Capitol established subsidiary labels includingTower Records. Capitol was the US distributor ofthe Beatles'Apple Records.
In October 1979, EMI merged withThorn Electrical Industries to formThorn EMI[16] and, due to business models increasingly diverging, on August 16, 1996, Thorn EMI's shareholders voted to demerge. The resulting media company was then known as the EMI Group.[17] In June 1997, Capitol, together withVirgin Records, absorbedEMI USA, which folded.[18]
Some American recordings originally owned by Capitol by international artists such asTina Turner,Joe Cocker and the bandKraftwerk, were merged withEMI Records/Parlophone years before the sale ofEMI Group toUniversal Music, were included in the Parlophone Label Group (PLG) and were sold toWarner in 2013.
In 2012, the recorded music operations of EMI were sold to theUniversal Music Group and the world headquarters were re-established in the Capitol Tower in Hollywood as part of the subsequent reorganization of theCapitol Music Group. Steve Barnett, previously an employee of Columbia, was hired as chairman and CEO of the division.[19][20]
Capitol filed a lawsuit againstVimeo, an online video-sharing website, for audio copyright infringement. Capitol filed the claim after users were visibly lip-synching to some of their tracks.[21]
Following legal action by Capitol against the ReDigi.com online company in April 2013, the latter was found to have violated copyright law. Capitol Records claimed that ReDigi was guilty of copyright infringement due to a business model that facilitated the creation of additional copies of Capitol's digital music files, whereby users could upload the files for downloading or streaming to the new purchaser of the file. ReDigi argued that the resale of MP3/digital music files is permitted under certain doctrines ("fair use" and "first sale") but the court maintained that the doctrines' application "was limited to material items that the copyright owner put into the stream of commerce."[22]
In 2014, PGH Live Music joined the team andKaty Perry founded the record label Metamorphosis Music, starting a label venture with Capitol.[23] The name of the label was later changed toUnsub Records in 2016.[24]
Also that year, Capitol rose to number two market share and won four categories at theGrammy Awards for music byBeck andSam Smith.[25]
In 2018, Capitol's electronic divisionAstralwerks relaunched with a new team and moved its entire operations to Capitol's tower in Los Angeles.[26]
In 2019,Jeff Vaughn was named President of Capitol Records, assuming his position as of January 1, 2020.[27]
In 2021,Michelle Jubelirer was named the Chair & CEO of Capitol.[28]
In 2024, Capitol Records became part of UMG's Interscope Capitol Labels Group.
Designed byWelton Becket with Louis Naidorf, a young architect from Becket's office, serving as project designer,[29][2] the thirteen-story, earthquake-resistant Capitol Records Tower was the world's first circular office building and it is the base for severalrecording studios. Although not intended as a tribute to record players, its wide curved awnings and tall narrow tower mimic the appearance of a stack of gramophone records atop a phonograph. The building was commissioned by EMI after its acquisition of Capitol Records in 1955 and was completed in April 1956. The building is north of the intersection of Hollywood and Vine and is the center of the company's consolidated West Coast operations. It was nicknamed "The House That Nat Built" after the financial success of Capitol singerNat King Cole.[30][31] The rectangular ground floor is a separate structure joined to the tower after it was completed.
In September 2006, EMI announced that it had sold the tower and adjacent properties for $50 million to New York-based developerArgent Ventures.[32] In mid-2008, a controversy erupted over a plan to build a condominium complex next door, igniting fears that the building's acoustic properties, specifically its underground echo chambers, would be compromised. It was announced in November 2012 thatSteve Barnett would become chairman and CEO ofCapitol Music Group and would be based at the Capitol Records Building.[33] Capitol and artist Richard Wyatt Jr. restored his Hollywood Jazz Mural on the south wall of the Capitol Records Building.[34]
Capitol's recording studios were designed to minimize noise and vibration, then newly important goals in the high-fidelity sound era. An inner wall floating on layers of rubber and cork was erected inside the building's 10-inch-thick (250 mm) concrete exterior walls, leaving a one-inch air gap to provide complete sound isolation.[35] The facility also features subterranean echo chambers that allow engineers to add reverberation during the recording process. Eighttrapezoidal chambers are located 30 feet (9.1 m) underground, with 10-inch concrete walls and 12-inch-thick (300 mm) concrete ceilings. Speakers on one side and microphones on the other permit an echo effect of up to five seconds. Studios A and B can be combined for the recording of orchestral music and symphonic film soundtracks. The first album recorded in the tower wasFrank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color.
Capitol modified albums that were originally released in other countries on other labels. Albums released in the United States contained fewer tracks, usually no more than 11 or 12, compared to albums released in the United Kingdom, due to differences in how publishing royalties were calculated in the two countries.[36] Also, in the American market it was expected that albums would include the current hit single, whereas British albums typically did not duplicate songs released as singles.
Capitol released various albums bythe Beatles.[37]
Beginning in 1948, Capitol Records were released in the UK on the Capitol label by Decca. After its 1955 acquisition of Capitol, EMI took over distribution in 1956.[38] EMI's Parlophone unit handled Capitol label marketing in the UK in later years.[39]
In 2012, EMI was sold to Universal Music Group. Universal Music started Capitol as an autonomous label in the UK with the rights to the Beatles' catalog.[40] This marks the first time that Capitol in the UK operated as an autonomous label.[41]
Capitol Records of Canada was established in 1949 by businessman W. Lockwood Miller. Capitol broke with Miller's company and formed Capitol Record Distributors of Canada Limited in 1954. EMI acquired this company when it acquired Capitol. The company was renamed Capitol Records of Canada Ltd. in 1958 after Miller's rights to the name expired. In 1959, Capitol of Canada picked up distribution rights for EMI's labels Angel,Pathé,Odeon, andParlophone.[42]
In 1957, Paul White joined Capitol of Canada and in 1960 established anA&R department independent of the American company to promote talent for the Canadian market.[43] The division found native talent such asAnne Murray and EMI musicians from other countries. Beginning in 1962, Capitol of Canada issued albums by British musicians such asCliff Richard,Helen Shapiro andFrank Ifield. They accepted the Beatles long before the American company. By 1967, they were distributing non-EMI labels such as20th Century Fox,Buena Vista Records,Disneyland, andPickwick.[43] The company was renamed Capitol Records-EMI of Canada in 1974, before the EMI Music Canada name was adopted in 1993.[44][45][46] EMI Music Canada was absorbed into Universal Music Canada in 2012. In 2016, Universal Music Canada donated the EMI Music Canada archives to theUniversity of Calgary.[47]
Capitol Latin focuses on Latin music artists in Latin America and the United States. It was founded in 1989 as EMI Latin and was renamed to Capitol Latin in 2009.[48][49] Capitol Latin was merged withUniversal Music Latin Entertainment in 2013.[50]
Capitol Records of Mexico was founded in 1965 as the Mexican division of Capitol. EMI later renamed the label EMI Capitol of Mexico until it later became simply EMI's local company,EMI Music Mexico.[51] Since 2012, afterUniversal Music Group purchased EMI, the Mexican EMI brand,music catalog and office are owned byUniversal Music México.
Capitol Music Germany was founded by EMI Music Germany and inherited most of EMI's German artists catalog. In 2013, Capitol Germany was acquired by Universal and merged with UMG'sVertigo Berlin domestic division. The new label is calledVertigo/Capitol.
Capitol Music Group Sweden was relaunched in 2015 after UMG rebranded the Lionheart Music Group label. It originally existed as a division of EMI Music Sweden during the 1990s and mid-2000s. EMI's Swedish offices were included in theParlophone Label Group sale and were acquired byWarner Music Group, which owns the Capitol Sweden's back catalog.
In France, Capitol Label Services (formerly Capitol Music France) exists as a division of Universal Music France, and bears the 1970s Capitol "C" logo.
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