User:Jacobbrett/How to Identify Release Details

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Revision as of 01:13, 23 March 2010 by Jacobbrett (talk | contribs) (New page: ==Identifying Release Details== ===Via CD liner=== Most CDs released by commercial labels will have some identifiable information on various parts of the cover and liner notes. * The barco...)
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Identifying Release Details

Via CD liner

Most CDs released by commercial labels will have some identifiable information on various parts of the cover and liner notes.

  • The barcode is usually found on the back cover.
  • The catalogue number is usually found on the back cover and spine of the case.
  • Identifying the release country may be confirmed by copyright remarks such as "Marketed in Australia by Universal Music Australia under exclusive licence." The two previous bolded instances are likely give-aways of the release country.
  • The label is usually identifiable on the back cover and spine. If there are two or more labels present, use the label that corresponds to the catalogue number (for example, CDCBS 66012 is obviously a catalogue number of CBS Records). This may be tricky if it is simply a string of numbers, it may help to lookup the release on both label websites for further clue.

Via label or discography websites

  • Official label websites may contain varying amounts of release event data depending on the website, and are considered a reliable source.
  • Discography websites, such as Discogs, or even fan-sites that attempt to list details on every release by an artist are useful in checking data consistency.

Via barcode

The release details may additionally be identified by looking up the release's EAN/UPC barcode via a search engine, finding a release of matching EAN on an Amazon domain, or using Luks' EAN/UPC barcode checker (this last method is not always accurate, eg Frances the Mute uses the same barcode for the Australian, Canadian and European release, which comes up as "U.S. and Canada" in the barcode checker).

  • This is usually an effective method of finding the release date for a particular release.