Caroline Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Capitol Music Group |
Founded | 1973 |
Founder | Richard Branson |
Distributor(s) | Virgin Records |
Genre | Various |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | New York |
Official website | www |
Caroline Records is an American record label that started as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records America during the early to mid-1970s. It specialized in inexpensive LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists that lacked commercial appeal.
The first release was Outside the Dream Syndicate by Tony Conrad and Faust in 1973. The logo was a photographic-style variation of Virgin's "Twins" logo designed by Roger Dean.
Both the US and UK branches of Caroline Records are subsidiaries of Caroline Music, which includes Caroline Distribution and is in turn owned by Universal Music Group. Caroline has or had a number of subsidiary labels including Astralwerks, Gyroscope, Caroline Blue Plate, Rocks the World, Scamp, and Passenger.
On February 20, 2014, it was revealed that American rapper 50 Cent had signed with the label, and released his next album on it on June 3, 2014.
Steven Wilson joined the label's roster in April 2017, ahead of the release of his fifth studio album.