Formed by EMI in 1969 to promote 'progressive' rock music and to compete with Philips' Vertigo and Decca's Deram labels.

The label was distributed in the US by EMI's US arm Capitol Records. It was home to such classic rock artists as Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, the Move and Electric Light Orchestra.

Harvest Records's focus changed slightly in the late 1970s, signing some punk artists. Thomas Dolby and Duran Duran (in the US and Canada) even released their debut albums on the label. Finally, British heavy metal band Iron Maiden's first three albums were released on the label in the US in conjunction with Capitol Records.

After Pink Floyd released The Final Cut in 1983, they moved over to EMI. The Harvest imprint was then used infrequently.

Harvest Records is no longer operating as a proper record company, but the Harvest label brand name gets reactivated occasionally by the EMI Group when a band or singer fits into the label's heritage.