Columbia

Columbia Records is the longest-standing brand in recorded sound, established in January 1889 in Washington DC as the Columbia Phonograph Co. by Edward D. Easton. Initially, the company sold phonograph cylinders and later disc records.

For 78's bearing "Exclusive Artist (At Pressing)" on labels, include "Exclusive Artist" in the FTT (format) field and add "Exclusive Artist (At Pressing)" in the notes.

For all unofficial or bootleg versions of this label, refer to as Columbia.

A British operation began shortly thereafter, which was sold in 1922 to its management, and in 1925, the independent Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd. purchased its struggling former parent. It merged with The Gramophone Co. Ltd., founded in the UK in 1896, leading to the formation of Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI) in 1931. Due to US anti-trust laws, the UK company had to divest its US operations the same year.

The label was introduced to Japan in 1931 by Nippon Phonograph Co. (also known as Nipponophone Co. Ltd.), a subsidiary of Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. In 1935, EMI sold its interest in Nipponophone, but Nipponophone retained ownership of the Columbia brand for Japan. After World War II, the label became part of Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.

In subsequent decades, the Columbia imprint was owned exclusively by Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd., except in North America, Japan, and Spain, where Discos Columbia, S.A., unrelated to Electric & Musical Industries Ltd., held the rights (eventually sold to BMG Spain through RCA). In the US and Canada, Columbia was owned by CBS Inc.

In 1961, Columbia established CBS Records as a parent company. In 1965, Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd. merged into The Gramophone Co. Ltd., and the rights to the Columbia trademark were reassigned to that company. By January 1973, The Gramophone Co. Ltd. started phasing out some of its domestic labels, including Columbia, in favor of the newly-founded EMI label, ceasing to use the label for pop or rock releases in much of the world, though it remained in use in parts of Asia and for non-pop releases.

On November 2, 1989, CBS sold its music distribution and label group to Sony Corporation for $400 million. On October 15, 1990, EMI Records Ltd. (successor of The Gramophone Co. Ltd.) officially sold its international rights to the Columbia trademark to Sony. On April 17, 1991, Sony completed its acquisition of Columbia Records and its affiliates. CBS Records was renamed Sony Music Entertainment, and the Japanese branch CBS/Sony, a venture formed in 1968 between CBS Inc. and Sony, was rebranded as Sony Records (now Sony Music Japan). In Spain, Sony acquired the rights from BMG, with which it had merged on August 5, 2004, as Sony BMG Music Entertainment. However, since the trademark wasn't held by an EMI affiliate in Japan, Sony couldn't acquire it for that market. This is why Sony can't use the original Columbia brand or name in Japan, where the label was run by Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. until October 1, 2002, when the name changed to Columbia Music Entertainment, Inc., and on October 1, 2010, the name reverted to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.

Today, Columbia (walking eye) is one of the four main music labels operated by Sony Music Entertainment globally, except in Japan, where Columbia (magic notes) is Nippon Columbia's primary imprint.

WARNING: Do not enter the following codes as catalog numbers: XSS, ZSS, AL, BL. These are matrix numbers unique to each side of a vinyl release and should be entered in the Barcode and Other Identifiers section. The actual catalog number typically appears above the matrix number.

European releases in the 1980s until the late 1990s often displayed supplementary numbers in the format:

xx-xxxxxx-xx (e.g., 01-497424-10, in addition to the short catalog number 497424). These are not distribution codes or catalog numbers but were added by the Dutch CBS, Haarlem/Sony/CBS, Haarlem plants, known as Computer Numbers. Do not add them as catalog numbers. Instead, enter these codes as "Other" in the BaOI section with "Manufacturing code" as the description.

Catalog letters from 1989 to 2005 follow the format "CK 12345".

Label code: LC 00162.

The Spanish series is Espectacular.

French Columbia shellac codes, sizes, labels colors, price codes (1951):

BF - 25 cm (10") - brown label (price code Medium)

BFX - 30 cm (12") - brown label (price code Medium)

DF - 25 cm (10") - black label (price code Standard)

DFX - 30 cm (12") - black label (price code Standard)

GF - 25 cm (10") - green label (price code Artistique)

GFX - 30 cm (12") - green label (price code Artistique)

LF - 25 cm (12") - blue label (price code Artistique)

LFX - 30 cm (12") - blue label (price code Artistique)

RFX - 30 cm (12") - red label (price code Medium)

9000 to 11672 - 30 cm (12") - black label (price code Standard)

Please note some mid-1950s (USA) 45rpm releases have a release number on the label ending in -c "Which Indicates Country":

4-41008-c (Year released 1957) 3374163

4-41012-c (Year released 1957) 5144473

4-41020-c (Year released 1957) 12487985

Note some releases from 1986 up to 1991 (on record labels) display the ⎊ upside triangle (similar to a Fallout Shelter) on the label, indicating this pressing era. Found at Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Carrollton, GA, and also Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman, on LP's or 12" singles, it helps designate the A side. This symbol also appears on some CDs and cassette tapes.