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Find your pressing by its runout

2-minute read

The top half of a record: grooves on the outside, then a smooth ring outlined in blue, then the paper label. A code is scratched around the smooth ring; a magnifier enlarges its middle part, BD11929-01 A2. AL88883716861-2 BD11929-01 A2 Chab.☆ Grooves (the music) Label Runout: the smooth ring BD11929-01 A2

Quick version

  1. Check the center label first. Some print the matrix number, the first long code in the runout.
  2. Then read the smooth ring by the label under your phone’s light, held low.
  3. Note side A and side B in full, suffixes included, and match both.

What’s in a runout

Side A of a 2013 pressing of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, as listed on Discogs:

  1. ALSide A; side B of this record reads BL. Other records write A, SA or -A.
  2. 88883716861Catalog number, the same as on the spine.
  3. -2A2Cut and stamper numbers: which lacquer cut or metal stamper pressed this side. ◆ Changes between pressings
  4. BD11929-01Plant job number: the pressing plant’s order for this disc (-01 is disc 1). ◆ Changes between pressings
  5. Chab.The engineer’s signature.
  6. ☆A hand-drawn mark.

Which parts tell pressings apart

A reissue often keeps the barcode and catalog number. This album’s 2021 reissue has both, but its side A reads BH72536-01 A2 and a different signature.

  • Narrow it most: the plant job number and the side and stamper suffixes.
  • Only confirm with: signatures and studio names. They are shared: one mastering studio’s mark is on more than 150 Discogs releases.

Where else to look

  • Center label: some print the matrix number, often in small type near the edge.
  • Spine or back: the catalog number.
  • Barcode: finds the album, but reissues can share it.
  • Inner sleeve and hype sticker (the sticker on the shrink-wrap): the year, vinyl weight or colour of a reissue.

Matching it

  • Read side A and side B exactly, suffixes included. Two pressings can match on one side and differ on the other.
  • Note what is etched (scratched by hand) and what is stamped (neat machine letters).
  • Start at the longest code and read around the ring. Some parts are upside down.
  • In Teca, open the album and tap the pencil by its pressing. If it asks “Pressed where?”, check the runout.

Tips for reading it

  • Hold your phone’s light low, from the side, and tilt slowly until shadows catch the letters.
  • Take a photo, then zoom in.
  • Lay the record on something dark and matte, so glare doesn’t wash out the letters.
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