King Records (Japan)


King Records Co., Ltd. is a Japanese record company founded in January 1931 as a division of the Japanese publisher Kodansha. It initially began operating as an independent entity in the 1950s. It later became part of the Otowa Group. Today, King Records is one of Japan's largest record companies which is owned by a multinational entity. The headquarters are in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Sub-labels

Its Starchild label, managed by animation producer Toshimichi Ōtsuki, specialises in anime music and film. King Records also distributes the Up-Front Works–owned and –operated labels Piccolo Town and Rice Music, and also released video games for the PC-88, Famicom, and MSX2 computers. On February 1, 2016, King Records restructured Starchild and renamed it King Amusement Creative.
Paddle Wheel Records is a division of King Record Co.
You! Be Cool is the official sub-label for AKB48.
Venus-B is the company's official urban music imprint.
Evil Line Records is the label's new division, established on April 2014, and comprises artists like Momoiro Clover Z and Meg, among others.
Nexus is the label's division especialized for metal/underground music from Japan also overseas. Notable artists in it label are Earthshaker, etc.
Seven Seas is the label's division focusing world music from overseas artists in many genre.

Notable artists