Collecting
How to spot a first pressing (and why the cover can't tell you)
Runout etchings, label variations, barcodes and catalog numbers: the evidence that actually identifies a pressing.
"First pressing" is one of the most valuable phrases in record collecting, and one of the most misused. A popular album can be repressed dozens of times, often with identical cover art. Telling an original from a later copy means looking at evidence on the record itself, not at the picture on the front.
Why the cover isn't enough
Labels reused the same artwork for years, sometimes decades. A 1980s repress can look exactly like the 1970 original from the front. Some reissues even reproduce original details on purpose. So Music Ed Cafe never identifies a pressing from artwork. A record page states pressing details only when the listing explicitly documents them.
1. The runout groove (dead wax)
The smooth band between the last track and the label usually carries hand-etched or stamped markings: a matrix number, often with a letter or number suffix showing which lacquer or stamper was used, plus plant codes, engineer initials or other symbols. These are the strongest single piece of evidence. Compare them, side by side, with documented pressings in a database such as Discogs, where collectors record the runout details of each known variant.
2. Label design
Record companies changed their label designs over the years: colours, logos, rim text, the wording of the legal notices and the company address. Because those changes can usually be dated, the label style alone can often rule a pressing in or out. A label design that wasn't introduced until years after the album's release means you're holding a later copy.
3. Barcodes and other giveaways
- Barcodes. Printed UPC barcodes didn't appear on US album jackets until around the end of the 1970s. A 1960s or early-1970s album with a printed barcode is a later pressing.
- Catalog number prefixes and suffixes. Labels often changed price-code prefixes or added suffixes for reissues, so the same album can carry slightly different catalog numbers on different pressings.
- Jacket construction and printing. Changes such as laminated covers, the printer credited on the back, or a club edition marking all help narrow the date.
- Mono and stereo. For 1960s titles, mono and stereo versions were separate releases, often with different catalog numbers and very different values.
4. Put the evidence together
No single clue settles it. A convincing identification lines up the runout markings, label design, catalog number and jacket details with a documented pressing. If any of them doesn't match, treat the "first pressing" claim with caution.
How Music Ed Cafe handles pressing details
- Pressing year, country and edition are shown only when the eBay listing explicitly states them.
- A year that appears only in a listing title is shown as "Year (as listed)", because a title can't tell a release year from a reissue year.
- Unknown details are left blank, not guessed. If a detail matters to you, ask through eBay before buying, and photos of the runout can usually be provided.