Release/Format

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Description

This field describes which medium a Release is distributed on. Normally a release will be distributed on multiple media with different ReleaseCatalogNumbers and BarCodes; each should have a separate release event.

The values may be:

  • CD
  • DVD
  • SACD
  • DualDisc
  • LaserDisc
  • MiniDisc
  • Vinyl
  • Cassette
  • Cartridge (4/8-tracks)
  • Reel-to-reel
  • DAT
  • Digital Media
  • Other

Exhaustive list

Here's an attempt at listing some/most/all (?) known/existing audio physical support, and how we map them to our own list:

Purely audio physical supports

Name Date of creation Rarity Details Picture Map to
Phonograph cylinder 1877 Very rare Mechanical analog; "hill-and-dale" grooves, vertical stylus motion CylinderRecordsWPackage.jpg Wax Cylinder
Piano roll 1883 Very rare Mechanical digital WelteHandnuancierung.jpg/180px-WelteHandnuancierung.jpg Piano Roll
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 Vynil record.jpg/300px-Vynil_record.jpg Vinyl
Wire recording 1898 Rare Analog; magnetization; no "bias" Peirce wire recorder.jpg/250px-Peirce_wire_recorder.jpg Other
Reel-to-Reel 1930s Rare Analog; magnetization; "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity Reel-to-reel recorder tc-630.jpg/300px-Reel-to-reel_recorder_tc-630.jpg Reel-to-reel
Vinyl record / Quad Vinyl 1948/1957/1971 Common 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. Vynil record.jpg/300px-Vynil_record.jpg Vinyl
4 tracks cartridge / 8 tracks cartridge / Quad 8 tracks 1962/1965/1970 Rare? Analog, 1/4 inch wide tape, 3 3/4 inches/sec, endless loop cartridge. Quad: 4 Channel Stereo. 270px-Sexpistols8track 4 Tracks/8 Tracks/Quad 8
Compact cassette 1963 (still) common? Analog, with bias, preemphasis, 1/8 inch wide tape, 17/8 inches/sec. 1970: introduced Dolby noise reduction. Tdkc60cassette.jpg Audio cassette
Microcassette Minicassette 1969 Rare Analog, 1/8 inch wide tape, mostly mono, some stereo. 2.4 cm/s or 1.2 cm/s. CassetteAndMicrocassette.jpg/250px-CassetteAndMicrocassette.jpg Audio 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. Tascam-16Track.jpg/300px-Tascam-16Track.jpg Other
Elcaset 1976 Rare A short lived cassette format. Elcaset.jpg/350px-Elcaset.jpg Audio cassette
Compact Disc 1982 Widely spread PCM, Avaialble in 120mm and 80mm formats. 200px-Typical_Compact_Discsvg CD
DAT 1987 Rare Dat cartridge.jpg/250px-Dat_cartridge.jpg DAT
Mini Disc 1991 Common ATRAC Minidisc Sony MZ1.jpg/250px-Minidisc_Sony_MZ1.jpg Minidisc
Digital Compact Cassette 1992 Very rare DQ Mag DCC IV.jpg/350px-DQ_Mag_DCC_IV.jpg Other? DAT?
DTS-CD a.k.a. 5.1 Music Disc 1992 Very rare DTS Audio CD
DVD-Audio 1999 Rare? Common? DVD
SACD 1999 Rare? Common? CD autolev crop.jpg/200px-CD_autolev_crop.jpg SACD

Video and mixed physical supports

Name Date of creation Rarity Details Picture Map to
Betamax 1975 Common? 'Dolby Stereo' cinema surround sound. Beta Max Tape.jpg/180px-Beta_Max_Tape.jpg Other
Laserdisc 1978 Rare? LDDVDComparison.jpg/250px-LDDVDComparison.jpg Laserdisc
DVD 1997 Widely spread DVD-R bottom-side.jpg/200px-DVD-R_bottom-side.jpg DVD
DualDisc 2003 Common? An audio cd on one side (though not redbook), and a dvd on the other side DualDisc
USB flash drive 2004 (as music format) Common? Other? Digital?
HD-DVD 2005 Rare? ?
Blu-Ray 2006 Rare? ?
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. File:dvd vinyl gr1.jpg Other? DualDisc?
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. Other? Digital?

Partial list of digital audio formats

(*) Rarity is just a rough indication of availability as consumer products - values are: "Very Rare", "Rare", "Common", "Widely spread"

More information


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