UK Capitol (and presumably EMI generally) seem to have started using barcodes in mid-1983; I have Ashford & Simpson's HIGH RISE on a UK copy. Here in Australia, though, we had to wait a couple of years more, with EMI adopting them in 1986 (or maybe late 1985), but some of the other companies didn't start until 1987 for locally-made product (we had seen barcodes since CD's were introduced in 1983, because all the companies imported stock from their overseas parents for the first few years).
Thanks, and have to agree. Having now checked rear of several US Capitol albums from '81 listed here.
But in my homeland nope, none, not for a while longer.
So there's one small but sure visual way of sorting these two major countries releases, before studing the tiny small print in obscure places. Well for a short period of time anyway.
Barcodes started appearing on Capitol albums
around the same time as CBS albums in the summer of 1979.
In fact, A&M were one of the first to use them, as early as January of '79.
P.S. I just checked my copy of Minnie Riperton's posthumous album LOVE LIVES FOREVER (1980, SOO-12097), which I bought about a week after release, and that has a barcode, so Capitol were definitely using them before 1981.
Quite possible, as US CBS at least had started using barcodes in 1979. I don't know when Capitol started using them, but if this album was first issued with this catalogue number in 1981, then that's the year we use.