American record company established in New York in 1939 by Alfred Lion, to record jazz. Its earliest sessions produced records now acknowledged as classics. In the 1940s, the company established an important catalogue of traditional jazz & swing and was among the earliest to record bop musicians.

In 1965, Blue Note was purchased by Liberty and began recording jazz-rock and more commercially-oriented music. In 1975, systematic reissue began of the back catalogue and, from the 1980s, reissues appeared on Mosaic. Liberty was distributed by EMI, purchased by EMI in 1979, thus acquiring Blue Note, controlled by Manhattan, a subsidiary of Capitol in 1985. The company began making new recordings again.

In 1989, EMI discontinued Manhattan and Blue Note became the umbrella company under which EMI's jazz activities were organized. In 1991, Manhattan was revived for releases in smooth jazz and pop-jazz styles. A 2005 reorganization put Blue Note, along with sister labels Manhattan, Angel & Metro Blue, under the Blue Note Label Group.

Labelcode: LC 00133 / LC 0133