Queen + DonTømåsi

Grading System


12 inch single	(12") The 12" single is the same size as an LP, but contains only a few songs and usually plays at 45 RPM. It offers a better sound quality than conventional 7" Singles.Polydor claim to have issued the worlds first 12" single in the UK, with The Who's "Substitute" in 1976. In fact it seems likely that Jamaican Reggae artists beat them to the idea; most dance music is still released on 12".

180 gram vinyl	(180g) This is based on the weight for a 12 inch vinyl record. Most 12" records weigh around 125 grams, the 180 gram pressing gives better sound reproduction. 180g pressings are more expensive and are usually reserved for audiophile recordings or dance records where a high bass response is required. 180g is the most commonly used weight for audiophile records, 160 gram pressings also exist.

3 inch Compact Disc Single	(3"CDS) A single CD that is only 3 inches in diameter as oppose to the standard 5 inches. 3" CDs were among the first CD singles to be released and are highly collectable, they kept the distinction between album and single and were widely welcomed by the record buying public. They were however doomed. Shortly after they bought CBS, Sony announced that the "extra expense" of making CD players that could accommodate 3" and 5" CDs was unacceptable and, being one of the largest makers of both players and discs, they easily killed the format. It is interesting to note that Sony then began research on the Mini Disc.

33¹/₃ RPM record	(33 1/3) Refers to the number of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) that the record should be played at. The 33 1/3 RPM speed is predominantly used on the LP format. The slower a record revolves the slower the needle moves on its surface, this increases the length of the record but reduces the sound quality. 33 1/3 is the slowest speed used for music. LP's were manufactured to revolve at 16 RPM, but these were predominantly spoken word educational discs.

45 RPM record	(45) Refers to the number of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) that the record should be played at. The 45rpm speed has been predominantly used on the 7" format, however most modern 45s are dance 12". The 45 was introduced by RCA in 1948 and the growth of the new format coincided with the rise of Rock 'n' Roll and modern popular music.

78 RPM record	(78) Refers to the number of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) that the record should be played at. The 78rpm speed dates back to the earliest flat records (as oppose to cylinders), which were manufactured around 1900. Initially there were several speeds for flat records, but 78 became the standard speed. 78s were made from shellac, a brittle substance derived form the Lac Beetle. 78's were phased out in the 1950's, following the introduction of the 45rpm record.

7 inch single	(7") A British term which refers to the size of a record. There is some confusion over the definition of the 7" and it's difference from the 45; in reality there is a lot of overlap. While most 7 inch singles play at 45 RPM some play at 331/3. The line has been further blurred by the rise in the use of 12 Inch Singles, most of which play at 45 RPM. Generally sellers offering records as 45s are selling 7" singles from the 50's and 60's, this is not a solid rule, if in doubt, check!

8 track tape/cartridge	(8-track) The 8 Track cartridge is an enclosed magnetic tape format. Introduced in the 1960's it was the first commercially available music cassette. 8-tracks were a success in the US where they are still popular. In the UK and Europe the format never caught on and was superseded in the 1970's by the compact cassette.

Acetate	(AC) An acetate is a transitional stage between the master tape and the finished vinyl record. It is metal plate covered in a layer of acetone. Very few are made and they are distributed to people directly involved with the recording in order that they can approve the sound before the record is cut. Usually less than a dozen acetates are made, expect to pay high prices for acetates from established artists!

Backed With	(B/W) The flip side of a single. The A side is Backed With the B side .

Barcode Number	(-) The Universal Product Code is a unique number allocated to every manufactured item on sale, you probably recognise it as the string of digits below the vertical lines of a barcode. Unfortunately it is far from Universal as both Japan and Europe have their own, slightly different numbering systems (JAN & EAN).

Bootleg	(Boot) A Bootleg is an illegal recording of material not commercially available Notes. Usually bootlegs contain live shows or unreleased studio out-takes. Bootlegs first appeared in the 60s and reached their heyday in the early 90's when the manufacture of CDs became widespread. They are collectable but it is hard to prove the rarity of a particular release as the bootlegger may simply press a few more!

Box Set	(B/S) A box set is 2 or more records, CDs or tapes enclosed in an outer box or case. Box sets are normally reserved for releases comprising several discs or tapes, where a conventional sleeve or case will not suffice. They are also used as a way giving releases more striking packaging. When a single disc or tape is packaged in this way it is not truly a box set and is referred to simply as 'Boxed'.

Card Sleeve	(-) A slip case is a simple card sleeve for a CD. The difference between a slip case and a masterbag is that most slip cases are printed packaging in which CDs are sold to the public. They are also widely used for promos It is worth noting that CDs are easily scratched by card, and those kept in slip cases rarely survive unscrathed.

Cassette	(MC) The Cassette is an analogue tape format; it emerged in the 60s and rose to a peak of popularity in the 80s before CDs became popular. The format remains widly used for home recordings. Cassettes have the advantage of being easily transportable and fairly durable, however they degrade over long periods of time and hence have very little collector's value. They were the first throw-away music format.

Cassette Single	(MC single) The Cassette Single is a compact cassette with only 2 or 3 tracks; the tracklist is usually repeated on both sides. The format first appeared in the early 80's and was heavily promoted by record companies, it never caught on and production stopped at the end of the 90's.

Catalogue Number	(Cat No) The Catalogue number is the number assigned to a release by the record label. Generally different formats and/or remixes of the same release will each have their own catalogue number. Catalogue numbers are different from the barcode number and usually differ from the matrix number. In most collectors guides the catalogue number is used, this may change as many seller sites are now utilising barcode numbers and will expect sellers to list them.

CD-Acetate	(CD/AC) When mastering to CD, the Recordable CD (CDR) is used in a similar way to acetates, with the sound being checked from a CDR. In the early days of the CD, some dealers sold these CDR's for very high prices and referred to then as 'CD Acetates'. The ease with which they are forged has killed the market for rare CDR's and the term CD Acetate is no longer widely used.

CD Video	(VCD) There are various forms of CD Video, but the one most music collectors will know was marketed in the late 80's. CD singles were released on gold discs with a bonus video track. Viewing the track required a special player that few people had and the format soon failed. Late 80's CD Videos are highly prized by collectors and fetch good prices, particularly at auction.

Coloured Vinyl	(-) Vinyl is nearly always black, however like any plastic it can be manufactured in any colour including colourless (clear). Black vinyl appears to be more durable and also to give the best sound quality, this is why it is most popular. Nowadays coloured records are mostly special editions or gimmick items, however it is worth noting that when RCA introduced the 7" in 1948 all the early issues were on coloured vinyl, coded by genre. Grading coloured records is difficult, it may be necessary to play grade such items.

Compact Disc	(CD) The Compact Disc, the first mass-market digital format, was introduced in the Early 1980s. It has grown to become the dominant format, accounting for up to 90% of music sales. CD's have now gained full acceptance in the collectors market and many early CD's have become highly collectable.

Compact Disc Single	(CDS) As CD's replaced vinyl the need remained to have a singles chart; initially singles buyers had to stick with vinyl, as the first CD singles were not issued until 1986. Maintaining the single created a problem for formatters, the single is vital for marketing and the chart, however CDs singles soon appeared with 6-8 remixes and up to an hour of music. Singles are now strictly regulated as to the number of tracks they can have and even the length of a song! CD singles are often packaged in thinner boxes to make them more easily distinguishable from albums.

Deleted	(Del) When a record or CD is deleted it means that the record label has deliberately removed the title from its catalogue and ceased to distribute it. Labels will usually delete any title that is no longer selling well. Most releases are quickly deleted particularly singles which have a short chart life. The fact that a title is deleted does not necessarily make it valuable!

Die-cut	(-) A card or paper sleeve with a cut out centre to expose the label on a record or CD, many company sleeves are die-cut.

Digipak	(Digi) Digipak is a brand name for a form of CD packaging, it is heralded on the Digipak website as 'The replacement for the traditional plastic jewel case. In fact it is the tray of a jewel case glued into a foldover card sleeve. Digipaks were introduced in the early 90s and have been heavily copied with many, mostly inferior versions on the market. Collectors generally refer to any similar packaging as being a Digipak.

Digital Audio Tape	(DAT) A magnetic tape on which the information is digitally recorded. Introduced in 1987 the DAT was trumped as the replacement for the compact cassette. The format failed in it's goal but has become the industry standard for recording studios. Pre-recorded DAT's were discontinued in the 90s following poor sales, the few titles that made it to DAT are quite collectable.

Digital Compact Cassette	(DCC) Philips introduced the DCC at the start of the 90s as a rival to the DAT; like the DAT information on the tape is digitally recorded. There was initially a lot of interest, as the format had the advantage of being compatible with conventional analogue compact cassette players, interest was, however short lived and Phillips discontinued the format in 1996.

Digital Versatile Disc	(DVD) It's all in a name, the disc we all know as the Digital Video Disc is now officially the Digital Versatile Disc, but don't fear, your discs are just the same. The DVD is a CD like disc, that can hold 10 times more information than a CD. This enables a full length movie to be put on a single disc. While DVDs can carry audio (and has been marketed as DVD-Audio), they are primarily used for video. Some music videso are released on DVD, both as full-length concerts and as DVD singles, Expect these to become collectable in years to come.

Electronic Press Kit	(EPK) A now rather outdated term for a press kit released on video or computer interactive format.

Extended Play	(EP) EP's usually have 4 or more tracks and play at 45rpm; they came onto the market very soon after the advent of the single and offered a middle priced item somewhere between the cost of an album and a single. Most 50's and 60's EP's also came in picture covers, however as more and more singles were given picture sleeves in the 70s the EP went into decline. The 90s saw a revival of the name with 12" EP's released, particularly by indie bands trying to profile new material.

Inner Sleeve	(Inner) The Inner Sleeve is the second cover inside an LP sleeve. On most LP's the inner sleeve is plain paper, however from the 70's onwards many LP's were sold with printed inner sleeves. Records should always be returned to the Inner sleeve and it should be inserted with the opening at right angles to that of the outer; this will prevent dust getting in.

Jewel Case	(-) Put simply this is nothing more than plastic case used to package most CD's and CD singles. Slim jewel cases come with the pins to hold the CD attached the back cover and are mostly used for singles. Most albums come in thicker cases with a clip in tray that holds the CD. Buyers should note that the term is often used for CD's packaged imaginatively in the plastic box and nothing else! Many early CD promos came in this form of packaging, or in clear fronted boxes.

Label	(-) 1. The record company is often referred to as the Label or the Record Label. This term is used for all music formats. E.g. Parlephone is the label for most Beatle releases. (-) 2. The piece of paper stuck at the centre of a vinyl record is also the label. Some 80s and 90s records came with the label printed onto the vinyl rather than being affixed later.

Limited Edition	(Ltd. Ed.) Limited Edition releases are those where a finite number of copies are manufactured, this differs from most releases where the record company will keep making new copies until demand is met. Limited editions are often pressed with collectors in mind and may be on coloured vinyl, picture disc, numbered or otherwise specially packed. This said, the fact that a release is limited does not mean it will become valuable.

Long Box	(-) The Long Box is an extra outer cardboard package surrounding CD cases. It extends the size of CD packaging to 12 inches. Long boxes were exclusive to the US where retailers insisted on them so that CDs could be displayed in conventional LP browsers. They represent a low point in common sense regarding acceptance of new formats and were soon phased out. As CD cases were complete inside long boxes most people threw away the outer packaging, this means that original CDs in long boxes are now rare.

Long Play	(LP) The LP resulted from the arrival of vinyl in the 1940's. Using vinyl as oppose to shellac it became possible to press records that played at 33 1/3 RPM and could hold over 20 minutes of music on each side. The LP format changed forever the way music was sold to the public as it was now possible for artists to release collections of music rather than single songs. LP's quickly became a standard format for and remained so until the introduction of CD's 40 years later.

Matrix Number	(-) The Matrix number is used during mastering of vinyl records and is actually cut into the master copy, usually in area of the run-off groove. It can therefor be seen on every copy of the record that is pressed. The Matrix number usually differs from the catalogue number and UPC Number. As each master has a different matrix number it is a useful tool in identifying particular pressings of titles that were re-released many times.

MiniDisc	(MD) Introduced in the early 90s by Sony the Mini Disc is digital format similar to the CD, discs are approx. 3 inches (6.5cm) in diameter. Trumpeted by Sony as the obvious successor to the CD, Minidisc had the advantages of being recordable and small while able to hold as much music as a conventional CD While recordable Minidiscs were a hit with music fans, mirroring the decline in home taping, sales of pre-recorded discs were disappointing and Sony stopped production in 2001. Recordable Minidiscs are still widely used both for music and computer data.

Misspressing	(-) A mispressing is when a record or CD is pressed with different music to what is stated on the label. Mispressings are actually quite common, particularly on CD. If the labels are simply stuck on the wrong sides of a record it is not strictly a misspressing. For example the labels should denote a different release to the music that is actually on the record. Many people believe that mispressings are valuable, this is not really the case. Some vinyl records by famous artists sell for extra if mispressed but with CD's there is almost no added value.

Mono	(-) A mono recording is one that has been made on a single channel, so on your hi-fi the output from each speaker is identical. Mono recordings were the standard from the first recorded music until the popular introduction of stereo in the 1960's. During the extended changeover period between mono and stereo, records were releases in both. Some were the same recording electronically altered while on other occasions entirely separate recordings were taken for the mono and stereo versions.

Original Band Intact	(OBI) OBI is actually an abbreviation, meaning Original Band Intact; the 'Original Band' is the paper sash wrapped around most Japanese LP's. In a strange twist the abbreviation has become the verb and the original band is now referred to as an OBI, whether it is intact or not! The OBI usually carries information in English and Japanese. OBI's are easily damaged so an LP where the OBI is intact will sell for a premium.

Original Soundtrack	(OST) An Original Soundtrack is a release of the score from a musical or film, it may be full recording of a musical show or full versions of songs, often heard only in part on the film. Finally it may be the incidental music from a film. Most Soundtracks are only available for a very short period and are swiftly deleted. This means that many are now hard to find and sell for high prices.

Picture Disc	(PD) This is a vinyl record with a picture design inside it. It is manufactured by pressing 2 sides of clear vinyl onto printed paper. The first picture discs reportedly date back to the 1920's but did not become popular until the 1980's. Many picture discs are valuable, but beware of forgeries. Grading picture discs is difficult, it may be necessary to play grade such items, particularly as many give poor sound even when new.

Picture Sleeve	(PS) Simply put, a sleeve that has a picture on it, the term is usually used in reference to singles. In the 60's most UK sleeves had generic company sleeves, it was not until the 70's that the use of pictures on sleeves became commonplace. Early picture sleeves are highly prized by collectors, especially those from mainland Europe where many singles from the 60's came in unusual picture sleeves with artwork not seen anywhere else.

Pop-Up Sleeve	(-) Where the gatefold cover of a record or CD is made so that part of the design rises (pops up) as you open the sleeve.

Press Kit	(-) Used to promote artists to newspapers and radio, press kits usually include a biography and photos to assist journalists in writing their articles. Recently the need to stand out from the crowd has resulted in more and more elaborate press kits, with special packaging, CD's, videos and interactive content. These are highly collectable.

Promotional Item	(Promo) A promotional item is pretty much anything sent out to DJ's, radio stations or the press in order to plug a new release. Most are marked 'for Promotional Use only' hence the abbreviation to 'promo'. Strictly speaking it is illegal to sell promos, however there is a thriving collectors market in all nature of promotional items.

Re-release	(-) A re-release (or re-issue) is a new run of a record or CD that has been out of print. A re-release is very likely to have both a different catalogue number and matrix number than the original release. It may be on a completely different label. Many re-releases are budget issues of back catalogue stock and are usually worth much less than originals.

Shaped CD	(-) The shaped CD has the areas outside the playing area cut away to create an unusual shape. It was reportedly discovered by someone who attacked a CD with a pair of pliers and then found it would still play! There were reports that shaped CDs could damage CD players, these were never verified but seemed to stop widespread production. The format is now mainly used for digital business cards.

Stereo	(-) Stereo is two different channels of audio signal, usually recorded with two microphones spaced apart or sometimes usung a single microphone with two elements. Stereo records date back to the 1950s and have the advantage of allowing different sounds to come from each speaker. Stereo was not widely introduced until the early 1960s and it was not until the early 70s that Mono recordings were phased out.

Super Audio CD	(SACD) In 1999 Philips and Sony teamed up to produce a new higher quality CD, Billed as a new sound for the new millennium, this is Super Audio CD. The benefits of the new format are a greater range of sound and the ability to carry surround sound recordings. Sony have been actively issuing new titles as well as re-issues on SACD however take up has been slow and it seems likely that the format will fail.

Uncut	(-) An uncut disc is a shaped disc that has been pressed but has not been cut to shape; this leaves a large area of clear plastic outside the design. Uncut discs are usually test pressings produced during manufacture, only a few are made and they sell for much more than a finished shape.

White Label	(WL) The name white label comes from the fact that most promo records used to be sent out in an unfinished state, with the label completely white. The term incorporates any record that is not a finished product, including promos, test pressings and dub plates. Strictly speaking the label should be white, however many modern promo have printed labels.

Withdrawn	(-) When a release is deliberately removed from sale it is said to have been withdrawn. Labels may do this for a number of reasons; most commonly there is a legal challenge such a sample that has not been cleared. Less often the label will pre-announce the withdrawal in order to increase sales in a particular chart week.


	21.JUL.2006 \|\| ©2006 Thomas Hagens