lee: thanks for the link - two dozen of those yr hmbl srppnt.'s not previously met (or, a couple, possibly met - but not remembered). (as to my true anorarankhiness (or otherwise), well... in some areas, i believe my claim (or should that read "shame" - ?) thereunto to be fairly soundly-based, not to say "tolerably convincingly heavy". . .)
ppint I thought you had to apply for the international CD rights badge at anorak level underneath a Subway outlet. You certainly do need to get your head around some otherwise useless shit to find your way around CD Albums world. Oh no, here comes the BIEM rights express en route to 59 different countries at the same time. Look out!
Added link to the wiki page that lists these countries.
Wouldn't it be smart if there was a reference page to explain in clear layman's terms what all these codes - PM this, POL that and publishing stuff all means - all this BIEM, MCPS, STEMRA etc. I mean it's sort of treated like a best kept secret from the masses, which is ludicrous. Or am I just stating the obvious...?
Hi guys,i can only speak for how i try to ID CD's,and this,of course,may well be incorrect,but it's sorta worked so far,so i've been carrying on.What we actually need,and has been mentioned before,is someone who had a few years working in the business with CD's,specifically,in CD distribution,hopefully,one day,that person will join the site,and put us all out of our misery:).
As a general rule (and it can only be general,as there will always be exceptions when it comes to CD's;) i look for a Retail Price Code (here,it's "PM520"),usually two letters followed by three numbers,these were once thought to be Distribution Codes,and are,in a way,but they are used not to tell the retailer at which price to sell the CD,but rather,what price the retailer has to pay a particular distributor (see Discogs thread here,where i believe someone in the industry finally helped).Here is a list of some French Retail Price Codes.
I think (and i'm sure there are examples of where this hasn't been the case,there seem to be few fixed rules when it comes to CD's;) that releases that are intended solely for a UK release,will not have a Retail Price Code (see UK CD),as i believe that system was not used by UK retailers?,and so,if it has a Code,i think you can say that it's been sold in Europe,it may also have been sold in the UK as well,but at least you can say it's been sold in Europe,so,by definition,European.
It must be stated again,that this is only the way i do it,and as yet,has not been confirmed (It has worked so far though;).
So,with regard to Apollo59's CD,it should be added here as a variation,as it shares Cat.No's/label/barcode (exactly),and it has also got a PM520 Retail Price Code,so European also.
Hope that's of some help :)
Added Booklet scans for shuffling into place and sent a correction to have the date removed. There is no image for Booklet 2 as this page is plain white so I didn't bother to scan it. I will refuse to reveal where this CD was bought, other than in a shop, in the interests of not complicating things any further.
The only reason I pulled out the booklet was to see if there was anything there that would indicate a definite release date but as you can see there are no clues at all. So I just thought I'd scan it up so we have everything on the page while we deliberate over this one. It's not much help though other than confirming there's no date on the packaging and what to do about Apollo59's version still has me completely stumped. My preference at this stage would be to list them separately as a UK (Apollo59's) and EU (this one) releases even though they have the same cat#, barcode, label and even come from the same EMI Swindon plant.
EMI's Swindon plant has a lot to answer for because not only did they engage in this kind of palaver but they also shipped clear glass all over the world. These would then be stamped wherever they landed and released as a local copy. So manufactured in or made in sometimes really means assembled in and the same glass can appear anywhere in the world. Looks like the Matrix numbers hold the key but that will be a bridge too far for most site users entering a CD.
This one is a classic example of how treacherous it can be when you dip your toe into the waters of CD Albums World.
That's what I thought - it's a 3rd version.
Yes, all the matrix info is as stated:
321589 (in a string, followed by a space of approx 4 digits width) 3
This is why I think the origins of discs are more important than where they are sold. It's also far more accurate as there's no disputing what's printed on them, to the extent that we know this disc was pressed in Swindon.
Looks like a combination of the two listed already Apollo59 but neither one nor the other. It's hard to know what to do with any certainty. Looks like more of a giant whole in the system rather than a crack from way down yonder in New Holland.
Are you sure the matrix is 321589 3 and not 3215892 3 (the cat# in a string plus a space and a 3). Regardless, the matrix on this copy is different 3215892 4 as you can see on the scan of the disc itself. I think that would indicate that these are in fact different releases but as to reasons behind it I've no idea. Perhaps there was a local UK version and an EU version made using the same basic details which doesn't really help us here.
Is gregs 78s about? He's good on these finer details for UK/EU releases. Now, where's that Mr. Marmalade bloke and his magic pipe it's time for puff and a ponder. I'll be back in a couple of hours.
Should we remove the date then, Leonard? I'm not sure how it got there because there's nothing on the CD to indicate 1990 only references to 1988 like the original but as you point out it must be post 1995.
Apollo59 although this disc is made in the UK it actually states Made in the EU on the actual disc and the disc carries two cat#s the UK cat# of the original release linked below and this cat# CDP 3215892. So when entering this and comparing it to the one already listed the Made in the EU and presence of the new/different cat# CDP 32 1589 and different barcode indicate that it was made for a wider distribution than just the UK. Plus, the BEL rights on the CD indicate that it would be a European release as Leonard has pointed out.
BEL = Bureau for European Licensing (since 1995). Cooperation between GEMA (Germany), MCPS (UK) and SDRM (France) and probably others. This cd can't be from 1990 for this reason.
Well, donning my Sherlock Holmes deer-stalker, and taking a few puffs on my pipe Watson...
...puff, puff...
....I'd have to say that application of reason shows that two issues are listed which are not identical, although they bear the same catalogue number...
...one says: "Made in England", and bears no rights logos consistent with European markets, while the other has, in addition to "Manufactured in the UK", the marking: "Distributed by EMI", and a barcode difference.
So if two copies exist from the same time, ostensibly made in the same place, but which are different, one must be for another intended purpose than the other. Here, the presence of the rights logos says it was at least intended to be able to be released Europe wide, whereas the other does not, and so it strongly suggests that this is the principle reason for the difference.
In essence, the existence of each contributes to validating the designation of either as European and UK only, respectively.
(I could not change a flag for one of the U2 entries you requested for this reason, as there was no alternative entry to make this kind of comparison...yet. - and I was able to make that determination through comparison with another U2 title and change it as you requested... there being two contemporary issues with differences allowing me to determine that one must be UK, and the other not, ad therefore Europe... and as the other title did not have another issue to compare with, but was by the same artist, I felt it reasonable to assume that another such issue for that title may well exist, and until it turns up here, I can't yet make that comparison, and determination for that title. - So one of your requests for a correction was made, and the other not (yet)
---- Correction: The other has a two years difference, but the reasoning still holds, and may simply be indicative of the changes in EU law , or a deal done by record company in the interim ---