Not really, unless you can explain why. If they are going to mark product for the reason you describe, why would they then not mark product for the reason you describe?
I love this thread. Don't forget... there's at least one WEA disc with the symbol as well. The John Coltrane disc on Atlantic that someone posted many pages ago.
I just found this thread a few days ago. What a h00t! I don't know the answer, but I'll watch until the question is answered.
The question will never be answered the way that we are asking it. We really need to rephrase the question in order to get the answer we want.
If the CBS logo used for tv is an eye, ¿can that triangle for the records relate to the "play" (music) logo? Other than that, ¿could it be related to a kinda "nice price" logo?
"The “triangle-in-circle” symbol beneath the CD format logo at 3 o’clock also denotes this as a U.S. DADC pressing." Here's the source link: http://www.keithhirsch.com/cd-gallery/other Check the info for the 5th CD down from the top of the page. Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain. That's where the info is.
I'm pretty sure Keith himself chimed in earlier in this thread to say that this information might not be accurate, as evidenced by the appearance of the symbol on 1) Japanese CD pressings, 2) cassettes, 3) vinyl.
Heh...this is still going. Last time I saw this thread, the conclusion I eventually drew is that there isn't an overarching reason why this symbol shows up. Rather, there were specific reasons in some cases, and elsewhere it was probably a matter of either copying artwork from one thing to another, or emulating the artwork of some other release based on assuming the symbol (whatever it meant) was somehow a relevant inclusion. Years down the line, this combination of factors would pretty much insure that any particular case remains at best ambiguous, and often obscure. Yet, at the same time, the total distribution would look systematic enough to otherwise seem like a purposeful reason could be found which covered all the cases (as opposed to just a convergence of practical and purposeful).
I have read through this entire thread, but it was quite a while ago. (It is an oddly interesting mystery to me.) Sorry is this has been mentioned earlier: When I saw the symbol - way back when - on LPs I thought it was a stylized "stylus tip on a record". When I saw it on CDs I thought "Huh, they carried this over to CDs." This was based on my imagination.
Because they were not concerned with making the masters for vinyl singles "digital masters" like the album masters, they were and are a different format. Two-song 7" vinyl 45s would never be a digital format the way albums and EPs would become. My explanation is still the best! There is not another one that fit the then coming digital age at Columbia/CBS.
Ok, they why mark the discs made for the US, but not ones made for, say, Europe. My DADC made BTR doesn't feature the upside down triangle, but the US version does (similar story for the USforE BITUSA).
Yep, it appears to be something done in the US, as if it was a push for getting digital masters done for everything, as a US initiative. But sometimes the artwork film (they were still using film) was sent overseas and used in other countries, and had the logo. No biggie, so long as the US knew what masters were used at home. I can understand how they would want to know how their tapes are being copied to digital, and with so much product being released on CD, it could get confusing. This logo helped keep it somewhat straight.
But why then is the symbol NEVER on outside packaging, only on the actual tape/LP/CD? And only on Side One. Harry
Read through several pages of this thread but I now have to ask, did anybody ever figure out what that symbol is for?
Right, but they had barcodes on the Columbia 7" labels during this time frame. If this symbol is for returns processing then you wouldn't need it on the 7" singles if you use a barcode reader to process them. For returns processing - seems the most likely explanation to me.
For their purposes, there was no need to have it all over the packaging was there. One mark on the product is all it took to know that the item used the new approved digital master! If it was for returns processing, then it would absolutely be needed on the outside of the package, and not just inside. Many returns are made with unopened packages.
So, let's sum up to date what is known: 1. The symbol appears on US market CDs (some repackaged US CDs with Canadian inserts too). This includes CDs made by Sony DADC USA (Terre Haute, IN), Sony SDM (Pitman, NJ), Nippon Columbia/Denon Japan, Victor-JVC Japan, Shape Optimedia USA, PDO USA, JVC Disc America, Sony DADC Austria for the US market. 2. The symbol appears on US market cassettes and records, 12" singles from mid-85 on. 3. The symbol does not appear on 7" single records. 4. The symbol does not appear on non-US market CDs, etc. unless repackaged for export using US markings. i.e. the media design originated from CBS US. 5. The symbol does not appear on pre-mid -85 CDs.
These are returns back to the distribution centre - where they are re-distributed as cut-outs or are processed and destroyed. If they are destroyed, any tax deductions based on shipped units with digital mastering, would need to be readjusted. Money makes the world go round. Or not.
I think what we mean is that how would anyone at a returns center even know if the symbol is on a piece of product that is still sealed? Not to mention it appears on promos.
