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| Columbia [US] - Cat# prefixes |
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| 1st Aug 2014, 10:49 PM | #1 REPORT | |
 | TheJudge In-house specialist in drive-by moddings. Member since Dec 2012 3715 Points Moderator | Still plodding away on adding Diognes_The_Fox's images and, having reached Columbia, my curiosity has been piqued by something. A lot of their LPs - from the early/mid-70s specifically - seem to have been released with both KC- and PC- prefixes but the same numerical cat#. Anyone know why? |
| 2nd Aug 2014, 3:24 AM | #2 REPORT | |
 | Jock_Girl A girl who looks good in vinyl Member since Dec 2012 1544 Points Moderator | I think it had to do with pricing .. for example KC meant $5.99 and then the price increased to $7.99 and the new PC prefix was used Amy |
| 2nd Aug 2014, 3:43 AM | #3 REPORT | |
| Jock_Girl A girl who looks good in vinyl Member since Dec 2012 1544 Points Moderator | Aha! I was correct. Here is a quote from here: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/columbia-album-prefixes.87545/ Originally, when Columbia started the 30000 series in 1970, the prefix was simply "C"; list price of those albums was $4.98. "KC," which actually had its roots in the 1960s with the occasional "KCL" (mono) or "KCS" (stereo) prefix, had a list price of $5.98. "PC" was first used in 1973 when some big-name artists' LPs were issued with a $6.98 list price. Columbia later revived the "PC" prefix when it began to issue mid-priced LPs (usually reissues) with a $5.98 (later $6.98) list, but these later PCs can almost always be identified because they have a bar code on the back cover. Original PCs from the 1970s do NOT have a bar code on them. "JC" was first used in late 1976, this time with a list price change to $7.98. The next change in Columbia prefix was to "FC" ($8.98); later still, "TC," "QC" and "OC" were used for $9.98 and even $10.98 list LPs. Also, Columbia's Half-Speed Mastered LPs of the 1980s had an "HC" prefix. Quadraphonic LPs added a letter to the end of the prefix rather than the beginning, thus most were "CQ" or "PCQ." Multi-record sets also added things after the "C," usually a number that indicated the number of records (2, 3, etc.) and an "X" if it was a box set, but for budget-priced two-record sets, the extra digit was usually not a number but the letter "G." In the 1980s, there also were albums with three letters, usually "BFC"; these are early pressings of certain LPs that were released at a lower list price. If they became popular, they were re-released without the "B" (as "FC") with a revised bar code (usually adding an "02" to the number on the back) and a higher price. I've seen other prefixes as well, including "NJC" (same general idea as "BFC"), "3C" (lower list price than PC) and "XM" (reissues of classical Christmas albums; I don't think I've ever seen an "XC"). Again, the best way to see if a Columbia 1980s album is an original or reissue is to check the bar code for an extra two digits at the end. All these prefixes apply to other CBS labels as well, including Epic (last letter E), Portrait (last letter R), classical Masterworks (last letter M), soundtrack and original cast albums (last letter S), various labels that became known as CBS Associated (last letter Z), and Chrysalis in most of the 1980s (last letter V). Columbia stopped using multi-letter prefixes on LPs in 1990. From then on, new vinyl records have prefixes of "C," "E," etc. Compact discs are "CK" and cassettes are "CT." |
| 2nd Aug 2014, 10:36 AM | #4 REPORT | |
| YankeeDisc SUBS When in doubt.......accelerate........ Member since Dec 2010 733 Points | As an importer and wholesaler between 1977-1981, and involved with US imports into UK before that time, it was important for me to know the difference between KC, PC, JC prefixes and so on. The JC prefix (and Epic etc. variants JE...) was normally for deluxe albums or big selling artists, rather like Tamla Motown in UK charging a standard price for their standard STML prefix, and then a higher price for STMA series single albums, normally with gate-fold sleeves. The PC prefix albums ($6.98) ran alongside the JC prefix for at least a couple of years, so price comparisons were important. The $7.98 maximum retail price tag, meant that they cost me more wholesale ($4.32, if I recall, pre-shipping), and subsequently cost the retail outlets I sold to more (£3.75, if I recall). To answer the question by TheJudge, some issues had a very long shelf life, and started out as KC prefix ($5.98), went to PC ($6.98) with relevant price info. visible on the album cover spine, and perhaps ended up as JC ($7.98), again the spine had the relevant price information. If you can, take a good look at any US albums by any of the major companies from 1970s vintage, most have a price code on the spine edge, X798, 0798, etc. |
| 2nd Aug 2014, 3:12 PM | #5 REPORT | |
| TheJudge In-house specialist in drive-by moddings. Member since Dec 2012 3715 Points Moderator | Thanks Amy, YD. So if we have entries under various prefixes but the same number, then these should probably be merged? |
| 2nd Aug 2014, 3:23 PM | #6 REPORT | |
| YankeeDisc SUBS When in doubt.......accelerate........ Member since Dec 2010 733 Points |
TheJudge wrote:
Thanks Amy, YD.
So if we have entries under various prefixes but the same number, then these should probably be merged? I suggest making a note to the effect... "First Issued as KC 30000, and subsequently re-pressed as PC 30000, and JC 30000. All tracks remain unchanged." Mods can alter the notes as more variants emerge. If the album has other detail changes, such as label variation, different sleeve art, then I suggest a new entry. |
| 2nd Aug 2014, 10:49 PM | #7 REPORT | |
| lorangrecords SUBS (Ulf) Member since Jan 2013 5803 Points Moderator | Different prefixes shall be different entries I think. Just link them as we do with other alikes. I think there is a discussion about this somewhere? |
| 3rd Aug 2014, 3:58 PM | #8 REPORT | |
| TheJudge In-house specialist in drive-by moddings. Member since Dec 2012 3715 Points Moderator | No, in these circumstances I think using the Alternate Cat# field would be enough. I'd also say, though, that - so long as the track listing was identical - that label/sleeve variations should be handled in the same way. It's not a big deal to add the necessary detail to the image descriptions. Part of my question remains unaddressed, though: what about the cases where we already have separate entries for each variant cat#? Merge them? |
| 3rd Aug 2014, 6:48 PM | #9 REPORT | |
| YankeeDisc SUBS When in doubt.......accelerate........ Member since Dec 2010 733 Points | ....Yes merge them.....I noticed one today Columbia that had two cat. numbers listed with KC and PC prefixes, think it was BOC, but only one variant was on show. It was http://www.45worlds.com/vinyl/album/pc32858 Blue Oyster Cult.  Edited by YankeeDisc on 3rd Aug 2014, 6:56 PM |
| 3rd Aug 2014, 6:57 PM | #10 REPORT | |
| Jock_Girl A girl who looks good in vinyl Member since Dec 2012 1544 Points Moderator | One interesting thing to note is that it is entirely possibly that something initially issued with a KC prefix, may never have had a JC or PC equivalent because it failed to sell. Likewise, I would think that a slow seller might move from KC to JC and skipped right over PC -- but that is conjecture on my part Amy |
| 3rd Aug 2014, 10:12 PM | #11 REPORT | |
| YankeeDisc SUBS When in doubt.......accelerate........ Member since Dec 2010 733 Points |
Jock_Girl wrote:
One interesting thing to note is that it is entirely possibly that something initially issued with a KC prefix, may never have had a JC or PC equivalent because it failed to sell. Likewise, I would think that a slow seller might move from KC to JC and skipped right over PC -- but that is conjecture on my part
Amy That is perfectly viable. Remember that album sleeves and paper labels were printed in advance of vinyl, and stored until needs arose, so could have been "on the shelf" a while, awaiting vinyl being pressed. Vinyl was pressed strictly on demand, with normally a quick turnaround. However, if the price code was out of sync. (sleeve versus paper labels), the rack jobbers would soon kick up a fuss, because they were charged as per the codings, and would always want the cheaper price, naturally (if that ever occurred). |
| 4th Aug 2014, 6:40 AM | #12 REPORT | |
 | PhilMH Member since Jan 2012 1055 Points | Other labels had different prefixes for different prices codes, Motown's probably being the most self-explanatory, e.g. M6-900S1 (not necessarily a real example) was $6.98, which might then have been renumbered to M7-900R1 for $7.98, or M8-900M1 for $8.98; the last numeral signified whether it was a single LP, or double, or triple, but I have not established the meaning of the letter before it! I'm fairly sure I've seen at least one of Stevie Wonder's Tamla LP's with both T6- and T7- prefixes. RCA had numerous prefixes also, APL1- was $6.98, AFL1- was $7.98, and then I think the next prefix was AQLI-for $8.98. They also had ANL1- for cheapie reissues, and AYL1- for mid-price reissues, but I'm not sure that it was only the prefixes that changed, the actual numbers night have as well. Other companies (notably Atlantic and MCA) just started new numerical sequences when changing prices, in Atlantic's case a bulk renumbering of their biggest sellers into the SD-19000 series in 1977, and don't get me started on MCA's mind-boggling variety of catalogue number series in the early 1980's and beyond, I seem to remember at one point that some reissues had entirely different numbers for LP, cassette, and CD, though MCA did rationalize them later. |
| 4th Aug 2014, 7:19 AM | #13 REPORT | |
| YankeeDisc SUBS When in doubt.......accelerate........ Member since Dec 2010 733 Points |
PhilMH wrote:
......I'm fairly sure I've seen at least one of Stevie Wonder's Tamla LP's with both T6- and T7- prefixes.
....surely the preceding info. answers your observation, with T being a Tamla issue, first at T6 ($6.98), then staying in print with a T7 prefix ($7.98), and so on. I for one am sure that Stevie Wonder's output on album sold for years and years... |
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