Short answers, pulled from the story.
King Records began operations in January 1931 as a division within the Japanese publisher Kodansha. The label remained part of this parent company for nearly two decades before gaining independence in the 1950s.
The headquarters of King Records settled in Bunkyo, Tokyo, anchoring its physical presence in the capital city. This location serves as the central base for the label's music and video game distribution activities.
Starchild specialized exclusively in anime music and film soundtracks while You! Be Cool served as the official sub-label for AKB48 and STU48. Venus-B operates as the urban music imprint, Evil Line Records emerged in April 2014 for artists like Momoiro Clover Z, Nexus handles metal and underground music, and Seven Seas focuses on world music from international artists.
King Custom began operations in the early 1960s as a special division allowing individuals to release their own works without oversight or promotional support from the label itself. The program provided only branding and distribution using matrix numbers like NCS for 7-inch records until the label discontinued the initiative in the late 1980s.
Notable performers include Stomu Yamashta, Inoran, Kana Uemura, and Takeshi Terauchi who signed with the label during different eras. Morning Musume members Tomomi Itano, Atsuko Maeda, and Yuki Kashiwagi recorded albums there before moving elsewhere, while CHAGE and ASKA stayed between 1985 and 1999.