Thanks to all for sorting this out and making this entry what seems to be a sensible solution in regard to countries or international status. Does this method now apply across the board because if so I've got some backtracking to do. Is this the same as this CD in that the Australian release is for local distribution only? It makes more sense to me to separate these but I have entered plenty of these as international from memory and will need to check them all. More importantly who's going to go over the whole site for these mistakes that are not quantifiable by the current guidelines? Not I for one.
The reason mods (I mainly speak only for myself on this issue - other mods may have a different view) don't tend to change flags promptly, is that in many cases, we don't have another issue / copy from another country or market on site to act as comparison, and therefore, proof positive that a separation should be made - yet.
...In this case, we do, and can point to both issues and their differences to show that Australia made its own specific issue for it's own market, separate from the European produced one, and so, should carry that flag.
This is why one site policy - that of having a copy in hand yourself when making entries, is the way to go, it's evidence, and proof, and not just supposing there's an alternative out there or not... the catch 22 of this being that anyone entering, or meaning to, might be reticent to do so, if they are unsure of their copy (As regards to country) and there is no other one onsite to compare to, so it doesn't get entered maybe, and so there remains nothing on site for others to compare to, so they don't enter it either, and the only way we can find these differences, and determine facts, is if people add more CDs.... but if nobody is willing to do so, because they worried about being wrong, then we won't get the CDs / info we need to differentiate, and the whole thing grinds to a halt.
So the best way is to say, be brave, Bang em' in... then the discussion / debate can hammer out the facts, the adjustments be made, and we can beat the whole thing into shape over time, and it will get easier later, once we have more to go on, and we've ironed out the creases.
So what happens here? It can't just stay as Europe with Australian images attached. Either International or separate Europe and Australian entries. I have added 6 or so similar entries in the past and probably could add another 40 or 50. Mods always seem reluctant to change to International (understandably) but do so after a bit of prodding. For me separate entries make more sense but I don't want to feel that I am "sneaking them in" against guidelines.
I absolutely agree that International is not in the least satisfactory, let alone helpful, for the very reasons you have collectively outlined (and continue to do so :)...
(This is a modding nightmare too, as someone enters a disc as such, then someone comes along with a copy, does a search, and finds the only entry that matches is identical in every particular, except: "Ah, they don't have the European / UK / wherever one, so I'll add it!" - we then have the duplicate entry made, which someone then observes is International (or the other way around, submits a correction, which then reveals it as a duplicate entry... then, it happens again, and again, and so on)
But it is not just CDs, or any one particular format that is the problem here, it is industry wide, across all formats, and genres (I've noticed this on Decca SXL vinyl from the seventies on, giving European country addresses, and then U.S ones too, all on the same sleeve!
And if you look in vinyl albums world, you will notice the same thing... but in all circumstances, it is revealing itself to be more to do with political / economic horse-trading over the last few decades (financial bodegery too) over time.
This is why I'd like to see the ability to overlay the bar-graphs in "explore" section, whereby you could see quantity of CDs by country, over time... you would see this process happening before your very eyes, with the quantity of CDs produced and for issue in individual countries would diminish, and the quantity made in one country (but as part of a larger entity, and for sale in multiple countries increase / take over (at least from the eighties on).
(Think how useful Record Collector Price guide is now, for any record of value for sale in UK in the past twenty years... they just don't appear, because they have made the same pre-internationalised mistake carried over to here from 45cat (where the format largely speaks to a time before this occurred)
Personally, I'd like to see a kind of tally system here, where someone enters their copy under their best guess from where they are, and then someone else comes along, from another country say, and says: "I have that too" and has the facility to "add flag", and once a qualifying amount of different countries reveal this issue's availability, it automatically changes the heading flag to Europe, then International progressively.
But even this is fraught with problems, as there are always exceptions, such as Australia, and Italy (although I'm not entirely sure Italy remains apart to this day now)
We could take Discogs view (a lot easier, in many respects) by just going by country of manufacture, but that, quite frankly, in expressing where that CD was made, and for who, is just plain wrong - after all, in recent years (correct me if I'm wrong), a CD made in UK, exclusively for UK market, and therefore, by definition, being a UK issue, is still obliged to be marked as "Made In EU", so a UK, top to bottom issue, will be entered as European on Discogs - it may happen the other way too for some CDs, and for reasons we cannot fathom, that a UK marked disc, is available elsewhere, and entered not as European.
This expansive blurb amounts to this: It is not us, who come after, and who are trying to record this process, who are wrong, it really is an objective fact, that the industry and political institutions themselves who have made a mess, that cannot, across the entirety of all entries made here, conform to any one single logic or system, and hope still, to be accurate.
Until admin do alter the system, or methods of making these determinations, we have to work with what we got, within the broad confines of that it allows, as best we can.
(But the more entries are made, the stark will appear the shortcomings of what we have, and the more work will be required to correct it all!)
Another thought - if multiple flags aren't technically possible (though both Musicbrainz and RYM have those), then perhaps a new "Copy to draft" function could be introduced to make copying an entry for another country easier, because using two browser windows is still a bit of a pain!
Lee, just entering the country of manufacture (if that's your intent?) isn't particularly helpful either, especially for the earliest CD's which were made in just a few factories for wider circulation outside Germany, Austria, Japan, etc. or even for some current-day product (usually minor artists and back catalogue) where a local record company doesn't think it worthwhile to make their own copies, and just orders from whichever overseas warehouse has stock, so the International classification would still be valid. Country of manufacture might be a starting point in the absence of other information (though use with caution - if we were to apply that principle to modern vinyl reissues, would we really want hundreds of entries for Czech Republic?), but if it can be demonstrated to a reasonable degree of certainty that the same item was available in regular music stores via a company's local affiliate (NOT importers), then we can be justified in making that item International, or preferably adding multiple country flags if this site can be programmed to handle that. I am starting to agree, though, that if there are separate pressings from other countries with identical or near-identical details, then a separate entry should be made.
In practice, that would mean that the first 1987 issues of The Beatles' albums would all be International or multi-flagged, as EMI exported those to all their overseas branches, and then as other countries factories came on line later in the decade or into the 90's, those would be entered separately, so we could have 100 entries for say, SGT. PEPPER, instead of one entry with hundreds of images on it. OC and Doc Doom would have to advise, though, how much of an impact that would have on database capacity.
Also, owners outside the countries of manufacture shouldn't be subject to a sometimes near-impossible burden of "proof" when claiming that a disc was released in their country, because written or printed proof usually doesn't exist. I have sometimes been asked whether the disc states that it is distributed in Australia, and usually the answer is "no', but by the same token, those same discs don't say that they are distributed only in Europe (or wherever) either, so why aren't the Eurocrats here subjected to the same burden? A couple of us here in Oz have the Platterlog catalogues to help us to some degree, coupled with general observation as to what was available in the stores (in my case, visiting shops at least twice a week, and The_Vinyl_Junkie worked in retail, so he knows what the local companies were supplying).
Like it or not, the reality is that a significant part of the CD market has always been, and will continue to be, an international one, and this site has to find ways to best reflect that reality.
Malaysia and Brazil will confuse things further here but I'm with Greg when he says ""DE-INTERNATIONALERZISE";),let's go back to entering the CD under the country it was intended for release in,"International" serves no purpose whatsoever,it tells us nothing,and even if a CD was issued in different countries,i.e,as in the stock European releases being shipped over to Australia and sold there,then let's just add that fact to the notes,don't go making it "International"it just confuses matters."
Can the MODS at least agree to this as a fallback position then at least we'd have something a little more workable at the coalface. Separate issues EU, Australia and Brazil and Malaysia if need be would be my preference also.
@MM
As you probably know,i've never been a fan of the whole "International " thing from the start.
We must first consider what is it we are actually trying to say when we make something "International".
All we are currently doing is making something "International" if the Cat.No./label/barcode match,which it does here,so by the "current" rules this indeed should be merged together under the "International" banner,but my point is that what good does that actually do?,no good IMHO,except to confuse matters completely,the Australian release would not have been issued in Europe,and in this case,the European release would not have been issued in Australia,as,as we can plainly see,there is Jasper's copy which would have been made in Australia.
So can't we stop trying to flog a dead horse here,by adhering to a rule that was clearly intended when CD World was being set up,and is found to be no longer relevant,i.e,just because CD's share a common Cat.No/barcode it doesn't mean they were issued Internationally,most of the time,specific releases were made for each country,even though they share ID,each country usually differs slightly,and so,should each have their own separate entries IMHO,and even if they don't differ,still have separate entries.If i came to this site searching for the Australian release of this album,it would not occur immediately to look under "International" to find it,whereas if it was under Australia it would be obvious.
I think it's probable that when CD World was first thought of,it was probably thought that the majority of CD'S would all share exactly the same details,for all the worldwide releases,and that by grouping them together you would only have to have one "master" page,where all other countries could be added to,which,would save time/space,but,in reality,we have found this not to be the case,and that minor differences in either Cat.No./barcode etc determines which country that CD was intended for,and even if they match exactly,as here,they should still be separate to show which country they were intended for.So please,"DE-INTERNATIONALERZISE";),let's go back to entering the CD under the country it was intended for release in,"International" serves no purpose whatsoever,it tells us nothing,and even if a CD was issued in different countries,i.e,as in the stock European releases being shipped over to Australia and sold there,then let's just add that fact to the notes,don't go making it "International"it just confuses matters.
PCB's scans look European, perhaps International (if available outside Europe also), but I think the Australian one is Australian specific.
To me, that is the issue with this entry, whether to separate the Aus from he European / International scans, but whether the scans that remain are European or International is a separate issue - answered simply by asking whether it was available outside Europe, and therefore, is international - which maybe answered in someway by removing the Australian scans to their own entry, as then you only have "European" scans on the page, not Europe and beyond> International.
I agree that I would much prefer to enter this CD as an Australian release. The very first entry I made in CD world was this one Hairspray
almost 3 years ago - nothing has changed.
Perhaps we should correct the Cat# to be 0630-16552-2 as it appears here and on the EU disc itself before we compare? Oh, look a perfect match!
Just how is it "possible to get rid of the dreaded International category" leonard? Many of us have tried to put a reasonable case but it always falls into the too hard basket and nothing gets done at all. You may as well get rid of the EU classification is my advice and just go straight to international because nearly everything made in the EU was released somewhere else. If we go by the guidelines all we'll be left with is independent national releases of local artists, international, USA and Japan 90% (or thereabouts) of CDs will fall into these categories.
To get rid of the problem the guidelines to change and the MODS need to have some sort of consistent approach rather everyone else developing their standards for entering CDs which is the case now. No-one checks if anything is international when it goes in and whenever something needs to change there's usually a ridiculous amount of debate because the site has no real policy.
What has happened is most of have ended up ignoring the category all together and go by the data on the CDs. Jasper, if he wished, could have entered this as an Australian CD and no-one would have noticed as there are no checks and balances in place for international releases at the MODDING stage. If there are there is no evidence of them ever being used. This is mainly because the idea itself is not sound or logical so most people just enter things the way they want.
Problems seem to occur when a USA or EU release needs to made international or is asked to be made international from outside those areas. Then some sort of unholy war breaks out that involves sec. cat#, publishers, distributors, price codes, rights associations and the most minute of differences are used to defend the regionality (I made that word up) of a CD. It needs to stop and it is clear most site users prefer some method of identifying where their CD is from that doesn't involve classifying it as international.
The category is an ill-determined fabrication that is peculiar to this site and does not reflect reality at all.
Although barcode and cat# are the same I'd rather see these Australian images have a seperate entry. This will make it possible to get rid of the dreaded International category. There are minor differences in the cat format on the disc too!
While we are at it this should also be "International" - added tray inlay and disc images of manufactured and distributed in Australia by Warner Music Australia version. Identical bar code and cat #.