Release/Format
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This field describes which medium a release is distributed on. Normally a release will be distributed on multiple media with different catalog numbers and barcodes; each should have a separate release event.
The values may be:
Name | Date of creation | Rarity | Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compact Disc | 1982 | Widespread | PCM, Avaialble in 120mm and 80mm formats. | |
DTS-CD | 1992 | Very Rare | a.k.a. 5.1 Music Disc -- DTS Audio | |
Data CD | ||||
Enhanced CD | 1995 | Common? Rare? | a.k.a E-CD, CD-Extra, CD-Plus & CD+ -- combines music and data tracks | |
HDCD | 1995 | Rare? | High Definition Compatible Digital - Enhanced sound recording compatible with the standard Audio CD. In 2000 there were over 4000 releases available, in 2008 there were about 4000 releases. [1] | |
CD-R | 1995 | Common? | Record-able CD | |
8cm CD | ||||
Blu-spec CD | 2008 | Common | PCM | |
SHM-CD | 2008 | Common | (english) (Super High Material CD) PCM | |
HQCD | ||||
CD+G | 1985 | Rare | Audio CD with Graphics, usually used for karaoke | |
Vinyl | 1948/1957/1971 | Common | Vinyl / Quad Vinyl -- Is a simple evolution of gramophone record: Analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques (LP, RIAA). Lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. Monaural were created in 1948, then stereo vinyl came later in 1957 and Quad in 1971: analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques. Combination lateral/vertical stylus motion with each channel encoded 45 degrees to the vertical. | |
7" Vinyl | Common | 17 cm | ||
10" Vinyl | 25 cm | |||
12" Vinyl | Common | 30 cm | ||
Digital Media | Widespread | All born-digital releases, in any file format | ||
Cassette | 1963 | Common? | Analog, with bias, preemphasis, 1/8 inch wide tape, 17/8 inches/sec. 1970: introduced Dolby noise reduction. | |
DVD | ||||
DVD-Audio | 1999 | Rare? Common? | ||
DVD-Video | 1997 | Widespread | ||
SACD | 1999 | Rare | Intended as successor to CD; generally regarded as a failure except by audiophiles | |
Hybrid SACD | Rare | SACD which also contains audio playable in normal CD players | ||
DualDisc | 2003 | Common? | An audio cd on one side (though not redbook), and a dvd on the other side | |
8cm CD+G | ||||
MiniDisc | 1991 | Common | ATRAC | |
Blu-ray | 2006 | Common | ||
HD-DVD | 2005 | Rare? | ||
Videotape | 1951 | Rare | Use for forms of videotape other than VHS or Betamax | |
VHS | 197X | Common | ||
Betamax | 1975 | Common? | 'Dolby Stereo' cinema surround sound. | |
VCD | 1993 | Rare | Video CD -- Digital format, precursor to DVD | |
CDV | 1987 | Rare | CD Video -- Mixed analog/digital video/audio format; began to disappear by 1991 | |
SVCD | 2000 | Rare? Common? | Super Video CD -- Chinese-developed alternative to DVD-Video; intended as successor to VCD; didn't succeed | |
UMD | 2004 | Rare | Universal Media Disk -- a proprietary format used only by the PlayStation Portable; some movies were released on it | |
Other | Rare | Use for formats not otherwise listed | ||
Cartridge | 1962 | Rare? | 4 track (in 1962) / 8 track (in 1965) / Quad 8 track (in 1970) -- Analog, 1/4 inch wide tape, 3 3/4 inches/sec, endless loop cartridge. Quad: 4 Channel Stereo. | |
Wax Cylinder | 1877 | Very Rare | Mechanical analog; "hill-and-dale" grooves, vertical stylus motion | |
USB flash drive | 2004 | Common? | 2004 was earliest use as a music format | |
LaserDisc | 1978 | Rare? | ||
Piano roll | 1883 | Very Rare | Mechanical digital | |
DAT | 1987 | Rare | ||
Reel-to-Reel | 1930s | Rare | Analog; magnetization; "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity | |
DCC | 1992 | Very Rare | Digital Compact Cassette | |
slotMusic | 2008 | Common? | slotMusic is a type of microSD memory card developed by SanDisk preloaded with music in DRM-free MP3 format and other content. The current selection of songs comes from EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. |
(*) Rarity is just a rough indication of availability as consumer products - values are: "Very Rare", "Rare", "Common", "Widespread"
Other items from the list I'm not sure how to fit in
Name | Date of creation | Rarity | Details | Map to |
Wire recording | 1898 | Rare | Analog; magnetization; no "bias" | Other |
Microcassette Minicassette | 1969 | Rare | Analog, 1/8 inch wide tape, mostly mono, some stereo. 2.4 cm/s or 1.2 cm/s. | Cassette |
4 tracks/8 tracks/multitracks recording | ? | Very Rare? | This is not in itself a physical format (may be performed on a variety of equipments, from tape based equipment to digital equipment and hard disks). Likely to be only available in studios, as professional equipments. | Other |
Elcaset | 1976 | Rare | A short lived cassette format. | Cassette |
VinylDisc | 2007 | Rare? | It is made from two fused layers; the silver layer contains the digital information (either in CD or DVD format) and the upper layer has a record groove, meaning it can be played on any record-player. | Other? DualDisc? |
SD card | ? | ? | Any type of SD card can be used for music. If slotMusic is just a branded form of SD card, then perhaps that should just be renamed. | Other? Digital? |
Gramophone record | 1895 | Common | Mechanical analog; lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. The terms LP record (LP, 33, or 33-1/3 rpm record), EP, 16-2/3 rpm record (16), 45 rpm record (45), and 78 rpm record (78) refers to specific types of gramophone records | Vinyl |
Partial list of digital audio formats
- 1985 Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)
- 1985 Sound Designer (by Digidesign)
- 1992 WAVEform (WAV)
- 1992 Dolby Digital surround cinema sound (AC-3)
- 1992 Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC)
- 1993 Digital Theatre System (DTS)
- 1993 Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS)
- 1995 MP3
- 1999 Windows Media Audio (WMA)
- 1999 The True Audio Lossless Codec (TTA)
- 2000 Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
- 2001 Advanced audio coding (AAC)
- 2002 Ogg Vorbis
- 2004 Apple Lossless (ALE or ALAC)
More information
- The original ticket that led to our implementation is 2565
- Mailing list discussion is here
- Wikipedia has a list of Audio Formats
- https://musicbrainz.org/statistics/formats -- How many of each format are used, with links to lists of them.