Hey there everyone... So I'm going to restart this blog because recent research I've done has taught me quite a lot about collecting and variations of media types of albums. For example, sometimes on cassettes you see one of two logos... AR or SR. Have you ever wondered what this actually means? Well, here's the answer. Back in the 80's there were 2 manufacturers who were producing cassette media for the major labels. One was Specialty Records Corporation located in Pennsylvania and Allied Records Company located in California. Cassettes marked SR would have been manufactured by Specialty Records Corporation and would've been distributed on the east coast whereas cassettes marked AR would have been manufactured by Allied Records Company and distributed on the west coast.
Now whether or not this should count at a variation is easily answered... Coins and other types of collectibles that are manufactured, struck or printed at multiple locations often carry a mark or indicator and are considered variations by collectors of those items. A good example are the state quarters. Collectors of the state quarters were struck in two locations, the Denver Mint and the Philadelphia Mint. The Denver Mint quarters show a D under the date while the Philadelphia Mint quarters show a P. For collectors, a quarter from each mint would be considered necessary for a complete collection.
Therefore, I'm going to alter my list of cassettes to include AR and SR variations. Eventually, the manufacturing was consolidated into WEA which printed not only US releases but some international versions as well.
I've also done some research into variant pressings commissioned by music clubs. There were three different clubs that would order special printings for their customers. These clubs were Columbia House, BMG and RCA. Each one of these companies would use unique catalog indicators or barcodes to identify them as club releases and restrict their sales to club members only. Although these releases are more rare than those sold in stores, their prices vary greatly. Although they generally sell for less than their standard counterparts, some sellers ask for higher prices because of the rarity of the item.
RCA music club usually assigns a 7 digit identifier beginning with C followed by six numbers. The code is printed on the cassette cover and on the spine. It also appears on the cassette itself. Another strong difference with these cassettes is they are usually printed on white plastic cassettes while the standard Paisley Park issue at the time was a clear cassette.
Columbia House would add a W4 to the last five digits of the barcode. They would also offer white case variants as well as clear case variants.
Anyway, I'll write more as I get further information. I've decided I'll probably delete all entries thus far and focus on releases as I get them all. We'll have to see what happens. Right now, I need to rewrite my catalog.
