Elektra butterfly vinyl labels.
How to identify one.

Early-1970s butterfly labels read 'Elektra Records, 15 Columbus Circle, New York City 10023' along the bottom. Mid-decade labels read 'Mfg. by Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records, 962 North La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles' with 'A Division of Warner Communications Inc.' and the W logo, which Discogs' Elektra label notes date from early 1975. Discogs marks the Columbus Circle label as the original issue of No Secrets, so an early-decade album with the Los Angeles address was pressed later.

1. Butterfly beside the E logo. A large green, orange and red butterfly sits to the right of the spindle hole, next to the white Elektra E and lowercase 'elektra' wordmark, on a mottled tan-green background.
2. New York rim address. Early copies read 'Elektra Records, 15 Columbus Circle, New York City 10023'. Anticipation (EKS-75016) and the original No Secrets (EKS-75049) both carry it.
3. Los Angeles address and Warner wording. By 1975 the rim reads 'Mfg. by Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records, 962 North La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90069' and 'A Division of Warner Communications Inc.' with the W logo, as on A Night at the Opera (7E-1053).
4. Plant codes on the label and in the runout. Some labels print a plant code under the catalog number, such as (CSM) for Columbia's Santa Maria plant or SP for Specialty. Runouts carry etched initials such as CSM, CTH (Terre Haute) or CP (Pitman).
5. Red label after 1979. In 1979 Elektra went back to a red label with a white E logo and the Los Angeles rim text, as on The Cars' Candy-O (5E-507). A butterfly-era album on this red label is a later pressing.

A period-correct label narrows the search. It does not replace the album-specific matrix, jacket, and format checks.

• Treating every butterfly label as an original. The design ran from 1970 to 1979, so a 1971 album can sit on a butterfly label pressed years later.
• Skipping the rim address. Columbus Circle versus La Cienega is the quickest split between early and later butterfly pressings.
• Mixing up the two red labels. The 1969–70 red label has a large E and no Warner text; the 1979 red label has a smaller E and Warner Communications wording on the rim.
• Expecting high prices for common titles. No Secrets sold in huge numbers, and Discogs medians for US copies sit under $10.

These album-specific guides show how the shared label clue combines with a catalog number, matrix, jacket, and value range.

1. Confirm the butterfly design and read the full rim text on both labels.
2. Note the address, 15 Columbus Circle (New York) or 962 North La Cienega (Los Angeles), and whether the W logo appears.
3. Match the catalog number, such as EKS-75049 or 7E-1053, to the jacket and look for a plant code beneath it.
4. Read the dead wax for plant initials (CSM, CTH, CP) and copy both matrix strings before comparing with the album's Discogs entries.