| Label |
Point Total 1961 |
Top Twenty 1961 |
Number Ones 1961 |
| RCA Victor |
1057 |
15 |
3 |
| Liberty |
984 |
11 |
1 |
| Parkway |
746 |
5 |
1 |
| Decca |
655 |
8 |
1 |
| Columbia |
563 |
4 |
1 |
| United Artists |
499 |
5 |
1 |
| Dot |
492 |
5 |
2 |
| Scepter |
487 |
3 |
1 |
| Beltone |
464 |
3 |
1 |
| Colpix |
400 |
3 |
1 |
| Imperial |
384 |
6 |
1 |
| Atco |
379 |
6 |
0 |
| Monument |
353 |
3 |
1 |
| BIGTOP |
351 |
2 |
1 |
| Mercury |
350 |
5 |
0 |
| Vee-Jay |
346 |
4 |
0 |
| ABC-Paramount |
332 |
7 |
1 |
| Tamla |
323 |
2 |
1 |
| MGM |
316 |
5 |
0 |
| LeGrand |
282 |
2 |
1 |
| COED |
263 |
4 |
0 |
| Laurie |
251 |
3 |
1 |
| Canadian American |
189 |
3 |
0 |
| Minit |
188 |
1 |
1 |
| Warner Brothers |
166 |
3 |
0 |
| Smash |
165 |
1 |
1 |
| Instant |
158 |
1 |
0 |
| Warwick |
154 |
3 |
0 |
| Dunes |
147 |
2 |
0 |
| Argo |
146 |
2 |
0 |
| Satellite |
126 |
1 |
0 |
| Highland |
123 |
1 |
0 |
| Gone |
113 |
2 |
0 |
| Hull |
112 |
1 |
0 |
| HiFi |
109 |
1 |
0 |
| Cadence |
104 |
3 |
0 |
| Capitol |
104 |
4 |
0 |
| GregMark |
92 |
1 |
0 |
| Old Town |
91 |
1 |
0 |
| Vista |
84 |
1 |
0 |
| Atlantic |
82 |
4 |
0 |
| Fury |
78 |
1 |
0 |
| Impulse |
72 |
1 |
0 |
| Del-fi |
67 |
1 |
0 |
| Felsted |
47 |
1 |
0 |
| Cameo |
39 |
1 |
0 |
| Tag |
35 |
1 |
0 |
| Brunswick |
33 |
3 |
0 |
| CREST |
33 |
1 |
0 |
| Gee |
32 |
2 |
0 |
| Dolton |
32 |
1 |
0 |
| Amor |
30 |
1 |
0 |
| Heritage |
30 |
1 |
0 |
| Indigo Records |
29 |
1 |
0 |
| SEG-WAY |
26 |
1 |
0 |
| EPIC |
23 |
2 |
0 |
| Kapp |
17 |
2 |
0 |
| Carlton |
17 |
2 |
0 |
| Sue |
10 |
1 |
0 |
| Surprise |
9 |
1 |
0 |
| Nomar |
6 |
1 |
0 |
| Jamie |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| ERA |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Coral |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Gusto |
1 |
1 |
0 |
*The Power Points are based on how the record did in the weekly Billboard top twenty. For each week a record was in the top twenty it is awarded one point for each ranking slot -- the 20th ranked record would receive one point, while the top record would receive 20 points for that week. If a record is in the top ten, it received 5 bonus points and if a record was ranked #1, it received 5 bonus points. The power points for a label is the total of all the points earned by records from that label that made the top twenty for at least one week. The top twenty for 1956, 1957, and 1958 through July 28th are taken from the Top 100 chart which had been in use since 1955 in an effort to combine the Best Seller, Most Played by Jockeys, and Most Played by Jukeboxes charts. With the publication of the Hot 100, the Best Seller, the other charts were soon all abandoned and all top twenty listings from August 4th, 1958 through 1963 (end of the Elvis Era), are taken from the Billboard Hot 100.
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| Click on the appropriate button above to view an historical acccount of the record labels for the year, a chart ranking the popularity of the labels in the Billboard top twenty for the year, or a list of the labels that had records in the top twenty for the year. |
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| Elvis Presley continued to lead the way for RCA, the top label of 1961, but the label's success was also due to emerging artists such as Neil Sedaka who had his biggest hit to date with "Calendar Girl." |
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| Gene McDaniels scored two top ten hits for Liberty records, "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" and "Tower of Strength." |
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| The Philadelphia label, Parkway, garnered its success from Chubby Checker who built on his 1960 success with "The Twist" to place four records in the top ten. "Pony Time" became his second #1 record and at the end of the year "The Twist" was again climbing the charts, headed towards a repeat at the top. |
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| Of Atco's six top twenty records, Ben E. King provided three. Along with "Stand By Me" he also charted with "Spanish Harlem" (#10) and "Amor" (#18). |
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| Brenda Lee was responsible for half of Decca's top twenty records in 1961. |
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