[2] Founded in 1942 as the first West Coast-based record label of note in the United States by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Glenn E. Wallichs, Capitol was acquired by British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary in 1955.

The building was completed in April 1956.Capitol Studios are located in the rectangular ground floor base of the 13-story circular Capitol Records Tower, just north of the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.

Clients have access to instruments that have been played on numerous Capitol Studios sessions, including Yamaha C9 and New York Steinway Model B grand pianos, vintage Rhodes and Wurlitzer keyboards, and a Hammond B-3 Organ.

Studio C's Neve 88R 72-input console with full surround monitoring scoring capabilities, including Dolby Atmos, Auro-3D, 7.1 and 5.1, making it ideal for TV and film projects.

Located 30 feet below Capitol Tower's parking lot, each of the trapezoidal-shaped echo chambers, constructed with thick concrete walls and ceilings finished with a highly reflective hard lacquer, was designed to have a different sound.

Artists like the Beach Boys, R.E.M., Deep Purple, Glass Animals, N.W.A., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Miley Cyrus, and Selena Gomez have all had projects mastered at Capitol Studios.

Other notable artists who recorded at the Studios in the 1950s included Dean Martin, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and The Kingston Trio.

[8] The studios also produced commercially successful albums from country music artists like Glen Campbell, and the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart.

[9] Other notable artists who recorded at Capitol Studios in the 1960s included Nancy Wilson,[10] Stan Kenton,[11] George Shearing, Plas Johnson, Cannonball Adderley, Bobby Darin, Peggy Lee, Wayne Newton, Lou Rawls, The Seekers, Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, and Billy Preston.

Other notable artists who recorded at Capitol Studios in the 1980s included The Carpenters, David Lee Roth, America, Michelle Shocked, Barry Manilow, Circle Jerks, and The Smithereens.

Other artists recording at the studios in the 1990s included Bonnie Raitt, Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr., Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, Tanya Tucker, Richard Marx, and Dave Koz.

The subsequent decade would mark repeated success for Diana Krall projects recorded at the studio, including the Grammy Award winning album The Look of Love.

Other artists recording at Capitol in the 2000s included Sting, Ringo Starr, Green Day, Coldplay, Train, Britney Spears, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, The Wallflowers, Weezer, Oasis (band), Robbie Williams, and Toni Braxton.

Other albums recorded at the studios in the 2010s included Bob Dylan's Shadows in the Night and Fallen Angels, John Mayer's The Search for Everything, and Jenny Lewis' On the Line.

Other artists recording at Capitol in the 2010s included Tony Bennett, Imagine Dragons, Tori Kelly, Sam Smith, Muse, Mary J. Blige, Beck, Ryan Adams, Michael Buble, Seth MacFarlane, Queen Latifah, Emeli Sande, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, Daft Punk, Sum 41, Toto, Ozzy Osbourne, and Shinedown.

On April 30, 2022, Paul McCartney and Giles Martin oversaw the recording of string overdubs for "Now and Then," the final Beatles song ever to be released, at Capitol Studios.