The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Can anyone confirm or deny that these Victor labels were from "Special Orders"? I seem to recall a blurb in a catalog or supplement that one could order discontinued records and they came on this label... ? I'm sure Sherman/Nauck's book addresses but I can't find mine... thanks in advance!

Confirm. Custom order pressings those were. Confirm to the sun and moon. Confirm to your ol'granny when she gave you 5 cents for the ice cream truck driving down your street. It's the real mccoy.

I have one of those sitting on the other side of the room in a crate--a Nellie Melba pressing, actually. These are the white whale of Victor batwings at least to me...way cool.

I have seen the same label used on test pressings. They were, however, used mainly for special order out of print records.

So here we are 100 years later, and the same process actually exists today. Arkivmusic and others have arrangements with the major labels to produce previously "out of print" classical CDs on demand. You get a CD newly manufactured including artwork/liner notes for CDs that are not worth stocking in quantity. It's much like print on demand books. I like that I have access to excellent performances that would not have been available in earlier times.

AZ* wrote:So here we are 100 years later, and the same process actually exists today. Arkivmusic and others have arrangements with the major labels to produce previously "out of print" classical CDs on demand. You get a CD newly manufactured including artwork/liner notes for CDs that are not worth stocking in quantity. It's much like print on demand books. I like that I have access to excellent performances that would not have been available in earlier times.

Now that's just too cool.

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:

AZ* wrote:So here we are 100 years later, and the same process actually exists today. Arkivmusic and others have arrangements with the major labels to produce previously "out of print" classical CDs on demand. You get a CD newly manufactured including artwork/liner notes for CDs that are not worth stocking in quantity. It's much like print on demand books. I like that I have access to excellent performances that would not have been available in earlier times.

Now that's just too cool.

...except that the modern "on demand" copies are CD-Rs burned in a computer drive, not factory pressings from original masters like the white label Victors. The CD-R copies are somewhat controversial in some circles, because they are physically difficult or impossible to distinguish from original pressings, particularly from a so-so photo on a website, and those who pay a premium for the latter on the secondary market (e.g., Amazon Marketplace resellers) get upset when what they receive is the former.

drh wrote:...except that the modern "on demand" copies are CD-Rs burned in a computer drive, not factory pressings from original masters like the white label Victors. The CD-R copies are somewhat controversial in some circles, because they are physically difficult or impossible to distinguish from original pressings, particularly from a so-so photo on a website, and those who pay a premium for the latter on the secondary market (e.g., Amazon Marketplace resellers) get upset when what they receive is the former.

I guess that's possible, however, the ones I have purchased directly from Arkivmusic are clearly marked. If a reseller is passing off a CD-R copy as an original, they are either being dishonest or incompetent.