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{{Short description|Type of vinyl record labeling}}
{{about|the vinyl records|other uses|White Labellabel (disambiguation)}}
[[File:White-Label-Record-Marcus-Andrews.JPG|300px|thumbnail|right|A plain ''white label'' promo 12" vinyl.]]
 
A '''Whitewhite label''' recordsrecord areis a [[vinyl record]]s with plain white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels.
 
==Test pressings==
Test pressings, usually with ''test pressing'' written on the label, with catalogue number, artist and recording time or date, are the first vinyl discs made at the factory. Such Theydiscs are produced in very small quantities (usually underno fivemore than 5 or 6 copies) to evaluate the quality of the disc before mass production begins. A review of the test pressing may expose problems with the tape to disc transfer ([[Mastering (audio)|mastering]]) and helps to ensure that the defective discs do not reach the public.
 
==Promotional recordings==
In the U.S.United States, the traditional term ''white label promo'' (often abbreviated as WLP) refers to a promotional pressing with a label that has mostly the same text and label logo/artwork as the commercial label, but with a white background instead of the color label or artwork found on the commercial pressings. These are usually pressed in quantities of only a few thousand per title. Such copies may also contain biographies or pictures of the musical artists. Promotional copies are for distribution to journalists, music distributors or radio stations in order to assess consumer opinion.
 
==Plain white labels==
''Plain white label'' promotional recordings were produced in larger quantities by bigger record labels, often containing a biography of the band, to distribute as demonstration discs ("demos") to music distributors, and radio stations in order to assess consumer opinion.
Today,White white labelslabel discs arecan commonlybe used to anonymously promote new artists or upcoming albums by veteran artists. In some cases plain white labels are issued to conceal artist identities (examples of this include songs by [[Traci Lords]] and [[La Toya Jackson]]), whose record companies issued white labels so that DJs would have no pre-conceived notions about the music just by seeing whofrom the artist was)name. Many [[dance music]] [[Record producer|producer]]s press copies of white labels in order to test crowd response in dance clubs to their own musical productions.<ref>[http://liron-music.com/ שיר במתנה], Saturday, 27 January 2024</ref>▼
 
▲Today, white labels discs are commonly used to promote new artists or upcoming albums by veteran artists. In some cases white labels are issued to conceal artist identities (examples of this include songs by [[Traci Lords]] and [[La Toya Jackson]], whose record companies issued white labels so that DJs would have no pre-conceived notions about the music just by seeing who the artist was). Many [[dance music]] [[Record producer|producer]]s press copies of white labels in order to test crowd response in dance clubs to their own musical productions.
 
Aside from [[house music]] and [[hip-hop]], plain white label records are not generally distributed to the public.
 
==Use of white labels in house music and hip hop==
Today, white labels are usually produced in small amounts (fewer than 300) by small record companies or [[DJ]]s and are most popular with house music and hip-hop music DJs. In the early 1990s, hardcore techno and house artists created tracks in home or local studios and had five-hundred or a few thousand singles pressed on 12" white labels, which were easy to sell at dance music record stores.<ref name="Reynolds 1998">{{Cite book| author = Reynolds, Simon| title=Generation Ecstasy: Into the world of Techno and Rave Culture| url = https://archive.org/details/generationecstas00reyn| url-access = registration| publisher = Little, Brown and Co.| year = 1998| isbn = 0-415-92373-5}}</ref>▼
 
Steve Beckett of [[Warp Records]] recalls that "shops would take fifty white labels off you for five pounds each, no problem. Dance music was all imports, then people in Britain started doing it for themselves, and their tracks started to get better than the tunes in America." <ref name="Reynolds 1998"/> Record labels like Warp, and Shut Up and Dance, were begun as white-label enterprises, providing cutting-edge dance music to pirate radio stations and music stores.<ref name="Reynolds 1998"/><ref name="BBC">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A987627|title=Editors review: Warp Records|accessdateaccess-date=2007-10-31|work=BBC|publisher=bbc.co.uk}}</ref>▼
▲Today, white labels are usually produced in small amounts (fewer than 300) by small record companies or [[DJ]]s and are most popular with house music and hip-hop music DJs. In the early 1990s, hardcore techno and house artists created tracks in home or local studios and had five-hundred or a few thousand singles pressed on 12" white labels, which were easy to sell at dance music record stores.<ref name="Reynolds 1998">{{Cite book| author = Reynolds, Simon| title=Generation Ecstasy: Into the world of Techno and Rave Culture| publisher = Little, Brown and Co.| year = 1998| isbn = 0-415-92373-5}}</ref>
 
▲Steve Beckett of [[Warp Records]] recalls that "shops would take fifty white labels off you for five pounds each, no problem. Dance music was all imports, then people in Britain started doing it for themselves, and their tracks started to get better than the tunes in America." <ref name="Reynolds 1998"/> Record labels like Warp, and Shut Up and Dance, were begun as white-label enterprises, providing cutting-edge dance music to pirate radio stations and music stores.<ref name="Reynolds 1998"/><ref name="BBC">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A987627|title=Editors review: Warp Records|accessdate=2007-10-31|work=BBC|publisher=bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
 
==Copyright and royalties==
ManySome white labels may contain unauthorized [[remixes]] or tracksother thatrecordings which are not yet licensed for release. Recordings not authorized by the artist or releasedlabel (alsoare often called "[[Bootleg recording|bootlegs]]"). White labels are referred to as "promos" (short for "promotional copies") that many top-name DJs receive and play weeks or months prior to the day of general release to the public. As artists using [[sampling (music)|samples]] pay high fees for the privilege of such, they must be able to gauge the market potential of their tracks prior to approval. Recently,{{when|date=July 2024}} smaller promo services offer record companies a more economical means of distribution although these companies may not have the means to properly protect releases from illegal copying.
 
The industry itself seems to be aware of this necessity and white labels are commonly accepted as a necessary evil within the industry, which has only prosecuted a small number of those artists using white labeled pressings of uncleared samples and compositions.{{Citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=August 2021}}
 
==See also==
{{portal|Record production}}
* [[White-label product]]
*[[Private label]]
* [[Generic brand]]
* [[Production of gramophone records|The record mastering and pressing process]]
* [[Record label]]
* [[Music industry]]
 
==References==
Line 39 ⟶ 41:
[[Category:Musical terminology]]
[[Category:Music industry]]
[[Category:Record labels]]
[[Category:Entertainment industry]]
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