Price Codes and Identifiers in the consolidated CBS/Columbia 30000 Series: In the United States, CBS/Columbia introduced a new numbering system for their album releases in the summer of 1970, the "30000 Series," that was in place until the early 1990's. New releases from its two main imprints, Columbia and Epic, all direct subsidiaries, and especially also all CBS-distributed labels in the United States used the same consolidated system with consecutive numbering from 30000 upwards. These catalog numbers had a prefix to identify the specific label, the suggested retail price (price code) and if applicable also the type of release (double album, box set, half-speed, quadraphonic). And most albums in the 30000 Series have been issued with several different prefixes, so it can be tough to identify an original first pressing, and this guide should help.
> CBS/ Columbia Consolidated Discography
The label identifiers are pretty straightforward: "C" stands for Columbia and all direct subsidiaries such as American Recording Company (ARC). The letter "E" stands for Epic Records and all of its sub-labels as Cleveland International and Ode Records. An exception is the British label Stiff Records, that was published in the United States alternatively as Stiff/Columbia and Stiff/Epic, so both label identifiers can be found. Harmony used the "H" in the early 1970's and Portrait the letter "R" from 1976 on. With very few exceptions (Fillmore) all other CBS-distributed labels, and there were many of those, used "Z" (CBS Associated Labels) as their label identifier.
Two more exceptions were Classical and Original Cast or Soundtrack releases which both got their own "label identifiers." Classical (and closely related) albums were released on Columbia Masterworks (later CBS Masterworks) and used the "M" identifier. And for movie soundtracks and Broadway cast albums the letter "S" was used, first with Columbia Masterworks labels, later on also in the regular Columbia series.
The label identifier was usually preceded by a price code letter, and this was consistent throughout the 30000 series. So you can find "PC" for Columbia, "PE" for Epic, "PR" for Portrait or "PZ" for any other CBS-distributed label such as Philadelphia International or Virgin. In the early years of the series, albums without a price code ("C 30007", "H 30019", or "E 30030") were releases with a regular list price of $4.98. The first price code was the letter "K", adopted from Columbia's late 1960's KCL/KCS series, and those albums were usually sold for an extra dollar ($5.98). Over the years many more such price codes followed, and the suggested retail price was also adjusted with time; you can find all the details about the price codes in the tables below.
It gets tricky with the "P" price code (PC, PE etc.): PC was used for regular Columbia releases in the mid-1970's, then replaced with the "JC" price code in late 1976. However, in 1980 CBS decided to revive the PC prefix and use it mostly for budget-priced reprints of older records, but those reissues should all have a barcode printed on the back sleeves when the original pressings from the 1970's don't have one! A good example would be Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album "Born To Run":
There have been reprints of this album in the 1990's and 2000's using the "PC 33795" number, but those were 180g audiophile pressings and can be easily identified as such. We don't believe there was an American budget reissue in the 1980's in the PC-series for this particular album, but if it were, then it would have a barcode printed on the back sleeve just as the "JC 33795" third pressing.
To complicate matters even more, sometimes a third letter identifier was used additionally to the label and price codes. The letter "N" (as in NJZ, NFC, etc.) indicates "non-returnable product." Those records were sold to retailers at a lower wholesale price, but usually with the same suggested list price (which doesn't mean the street price was lower). The idea behind this was probably to promote new and unknown artists, because if such an album became popular it was usually re-released without the "N" (JZ, FC, etc.) and at a higher price. There might have been some exceptions, but generally an "N" album should be the original first pressing.
The story behind the identifier "B" (BFC) is pretty much the same. BFC albums were initially sold cheaper and with a lower list price to promote the album, and if there was enough demand the next batch of records was printed without the "B" (FC) and sold at a higher (regular) price. That makes BFC albums generally the original first pressing.
GL | 1951 - 1953 | Columbia mono releases (GL 500 - GL 524) several of these early albums have been reprinted in the CL-Series with the same number. |
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CL | 1953 - 1968 | Columbia mono releases (CL 525 - CL 2930) |
CS | 1958 - 1970 | Columbia stereo releases (CS 8000 - CS 9999, CS 1000 - CS 1069) numbers for the early stereo releases in the CS-8000 series have been randomly assigned and do not correspond to the mono number. From CS 8310 on the last two digits of both releases match and there is a difference of 6800 between those two. So CS 8310 is the stereo release for CL 1510, and CS 9399 would be the stereo release for CL 2599. When the CS-8000 series reached CS 9999, Columbia continued it with the CS-1000 series which was used until CS 1069 in mid-1970. From there on the consolidated C-30000 series replaced the old catalog system. |
KCL | 1967 - 1968 | Premium Columbia mono releases those releases had a higher list price ($5.98) than regular albums in the CL-Series. Only very few such releases exist. |
KCS | 1967 - 1969 | Premium Columbia stereo releases those releases had a higher list price ($5.98) than regular albums in the CS-Series. |
C | 1970 + | Regular Columbia C-30000 series standard albums from mid-1970 with a regular list price of $4.98. |
KC | 1971 + | Regular Columbia KC-30000 series standard albums from 1971 on with a regular list price of $5.98. |
PC | 1973 - 1976 | Regular Columbia PC-30000 series standard albums from 1973 on with a regular list price of $6.98. The PC-prefix was later revived as a budget series and those early PC-albums can be easily identified as they don't have a barcode printed on the sleeves. |
JC | 1976 + | Regular Columbia JC-30000 series standard albums from late 1976 on with a regular list price of $7.98 (later $8.98). 1970's releases in the JC-30000 series do not have a barcode printed on the sleeves! |
NJC | 1976 + | Promoted Columbia JC-30000 series original releases (not reissues), initially offered at a lower list price ($5.98) than regular JC-30000 series albums. The first letter "N" indicates that the album was non-returnable |
FC | 1978 + | Regular Columbia FC-30000 series standard albums from 1978 on with a regular list price of $8.98. |
BFC | 1980 + | Promoted Columbia FC-30000 series original releases (not reissues), initially offered at a lower list price ($5.98) than regular FC-30000 series album. |
PC | 1980 + | Budget Columbia PC-30000 series From 1980 on, the PC-prefix was used for both original releases with a lower list price than standard albums, first $5.98 and later $6.98, but more commonly for re-releases of earlier albums with a reduced list price. Budget reprints in the PC-series should all have a barcode printed on the sleeves. |
3C | 1980 + | Budget Columbia 3C-30000 series this was a sparsely used special budget series, even cheaper than the PC-30000 albums. |
TC | 1981 + | Regular Columbia TC-30000 series standard albums from 1981 on with a regular list price of $8.98. |
QC | 1983 + | Regular Columbia QC-30000 series standard albums from 1983 on with a regular list price of $9.98. |
C | 1984 + | Regular Columbia C-30000 series standard albums from 1984 on with various list prices (as far as we know). The 1980s/1990s Columbia C-series albums all have a barcode printed on the sleeves, contrary to the early 1970s C-series albums. |
OC | 1986 + | Regular Columbia OC-30000 series standard albums from 1983 on with a regular list price of $10.98. |
GP | 1968 - 1970 | Regular Columbia 2LP-Sets (GP 1 to GP 30) used for Columbia double albums before the 30000-series was introduced |
G | 1970 - 1974 | Regular Columbia 2LP-Sets G-30000 series in the consolidated Columbia 30000-series, the letter "G" stands for a double album, either used as a single letter prefix or in connection with the label identifier, eg. KG, CG, JG. The "G" was later replaced by a number, "2" for a double album, "3" for a 3LP-Set etc., and in several variations such as J2C, PC2, CX2, C2, C2X, C5X and so on. The "X" at the end of the prefix indicates that this release was a box set. The difference lies in the suggested retail price (list price): In the early 1980's CG and KG albums were budget releases ($9.98), C2 and PG were standard double albums ($11.98), C2X and KC2 a premium product ($13.98) and PC2, PE2 and PZ2 even more expensive ($15.98). |
CQ | 1972 - 1974 | Columbia Quadraphonic CQ-30000 series the letter "Q" at the end of the prefix indicates a quadraphonic release, also used in combination with a price code (KCQ, PCQ). |
HC | mid-1980s | Consolidated Half-Speed Mastered series Columbia's CBS Mastersound half-speed mastered releases of older albums used the HC prefix (HE for Epic, HR for Portrait, and so on) and usually a by 10000 higher number in the 40000 series. So HC 47408 is the half-speed mastered version of TC 37408, and HC 47998 that of C 37998. The "H" generally stands for half-speed mastered albums (HE, HZ). |
ML | 1948 - 1967 | Regular Columbia Masterworks mono releases (ML 4000 - ML 6999) used for Classical and closely related releases. |
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MS | 1958 - 1970 | Regular Columbia Masterworks stereo releases (MS 6000 - ML 7999) used for Classical and closely related releases. For the MS series, the last two digits of the number match those of the corresponding mono release, but there is a difference of 600 between those two. So MS 6476 is the stereo release for ML 5876. |
KL | 1955 - 1968 | Regular Columbia Masterworks mono releases (KL 4000 - KL 6999) used for Original Cast, Original Soundtrack and few Classical releases. |
KOL | 1959 - 1968 | Premium Columbia Masterworks mono releases (KOL 5000 - KOL 8000) this was probably a premium series. |
KOS | 1958 - 1968 | Regular Columbia Masterworks stereo releases (KOS 5000 - KOS 8000) this was probably a premium series. |
KS | 1958 - 1968 | Regular Columbia Masterworks stereo releases (KS 4000 - KS 6999) used for Original Cast, Original Soundtrack and few Classical releases. |
OL | 1955 - 1968 | Regular Columbia Masterworks mono releases used for Original Cast and Original Soundtrack releases. |
OS | 1958 - 1968 | Regular Columbia Masterworks stereo releases used for Original Cast and Original Soundtrack releases. For the OS series, the last two digits of the number match those of the corresponding mono release, but there is a difference of -3600 between those two. So OS 3180 is the stereo release for OL 6780. |
BOS | 1967 - 1969 | Premium Columbia Masterworks stereo releases those releases had a higher list price than regular albums in the OS-Series. |
M | 1970 - 1980 | Regular Columbia Masterworks M-30000 series used for Classical and closely related releases. |
MG | 1970 - 1980 | Regular Columbia Masterworks MG-30000 2LP-Sets the letter G stands for a double album. Alternatively the prefix M2 was used for a 2LP-Set, and M3, M4 etc. for box sets with more albums. |
MQ | 1972 - 1974 | Columbia Masterworks Quadraphonic MQ-30000 series |
S | 1970 - 1980 | Regular Columbia Masterworks S-30000 series used for Original Cast and Original Soundtrack releases. |
C | 1970 + | Columbia Records used for all releases by the parent label Columbia Records and direct subsidiaries like ARC. |
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E | 1970 + | Epic Records E-30000 series (E, KE, FE, PE, JE, QE, OE, EG etc.) In the consolidated Columbia catalog, the label identifier "C" (for Columbia) was replaced by "E" for Epic releases (and Epic subsidiaries like Cleveland International and later Ode). The price codes and everything else (double albums, box sets) are identical throughout the 30000-series for all consolidated labels and Columbia subsidiaries. |
F | 1970 | Fillmore Records used only for the first batch of releases in the 30000-series, later moved into the group of CBS Associated labels with a "Z" prefix. |
H | 1970 - 1973 | Harmony Records |
M | 1970 + | CBS/Columbia Masterworks |
R | 1976 + | Portrait Records |
S | 1970 + | Original Cast and Original Soundtrack albums |
Z | 1970 + | CBS Associated Labels used for minor labels in the group of CBS Associated labels, including Bang, Barnaby, Blue Sky, Calla, Caribou, Coast To Coast, CTI, Douglas, Fillmore, Gamble, Golden Fleece, Invictus, Jet, Johnston, Kirshner, Lifesong, Monument, Mums, Nemperor, Pavillion, Philadelphia Int., Playboy, RAK, Spindizzy, T-Neck, Tommy, TSOP, Uncle Jam, Unlimited Gold, and early US Virgin releases. |