NewsClassic Rock & Pop acts feature in ‘white label’ vinyl charity auction
Grab a vinyl rarity for a good cause
Next month, The White Label Auction will see rare vinyl test pressings sold off to the highest bidder in aid of recorded music charity The BRIT Trust.
‘White labels’ are so-called because they are vinyl test pressings of an album with no sleeve/label artwork; they literally have a white/blank label. Normally only a small number (perhaps 5 to 10 units) are produced for artists/management to listen to and approve for large scale vinyl pressing.
A number of the UK’s major and independent record labels led by Universal Music UK/UMC (including A&M, Chess, Island Records, Motown, Polydor and Virgin), Sony Music Entertainment UK (Columbia), Warner Records (Atlantic), BMG, Cherry Red, Cooking Vinyl, Domino Records and others, have joined forces to pull together an extensive selection of white-label items for auction.
Among the discs that fans will be able to bid for are various recordings released/reissued in recent years, including some that are artist-signed and annotated by Robert Smith (The Cure – Acoustic Hits, Disintegration, Pornography, Seventeen Seconds, and Head On The Door), Dio (Holy Diver), Howard Devoto (Magazine – Correct Use of Soap), and Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys (OMD – Souvenir and OMD).
Other featured lots include catalogue repertoire from artists including ABC, The Buggles, Eurythmics, The Cranberries, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, The Moody Blues, The Police, Rory Gallagher, Roxy Music, Simple Minds, Sparks, The Who, T-Rex and Paul Weller.
The auction is hosted live onside and online by Omega Auctions, the music memorabilia and vinyl records specialists, and funds raised go to music industry charity The BRIT Trust, which since 1989 has donated around £28 million to charities and causes that promote education and wellbeing through the power of music and the creative arts, such as the BRIT School and Nordoff-Robbins music therapy.
The White Label Auction takes place on 7 June 2022. Head over to Omega Auctions and peruse all the lots.
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17 thoughts on “Classic Rock & Pop acts feature in ‘white label’ vinyl charity auction”
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I’m the current top bidder on Dio. Wish me luck.
A bit off topic I know, but seeing that image of the white label of ‘Lexicon of Love’ makes me wonder if there has been any news of a 40th anniversary physical reissue? Would love to see ‘Mantrap’ included in any capacity.
Anality: Test pressings give the best possible standard pressing sound as they are first of the pressing plates before the plates start to deteriorate later in the run. Bear in mind: Recently artists have been getting upwards of 50/100 test pressings to sell most of them on. The days of just half a dozen copies for artist/management/label to approve for general release are often long gone these days. Still very nice items to own though!
True, at least, when it is a ‘definitive’ test-pressing, which is kind of contradictory. But then, that ‘best possible sound’ stays that way if you don’t play the record … And what is the point of having that best possible sound if you can’t put it under the needle ? When I was younger, I could hear if the difference between a really new (unplayed) record and one which was played, even if it was only a few times. The same went for the stylus: there was a even bigger difference between an unused new needle (as we called them) and one which was still good (meaning: it didn’t damage the record) but had been used for a few months. We used to have our needles checked every few months at the lending library where somebody looked at it with a microscope.
I acquired a double Scorpions white label album …. Side A on one disc with a 1khz test signal on the other side. The second disc was Side B with 1khz signal on the other…. Can’t remember which album it was, I gave it to a girl that I fancied who loved the Scorpions in the hope I could “get my leg over” very shallow I know, anyway I failed as she was way ahead of me and introduced me to her boyfriend!
Lot #39 Tears For Fears ‘The Seeds Of Love’ – You bidding on this one Paul?
I want a cd test pressing!!!
It’s good that they’re auctioning them, to get the best possible price, for the cause, instead of selling them at, say, £100 each, first-come, first-served, only for the buyer to then stick them on eBay for £1,000 the next day… Nothing for the scalpers here : )
Hi Paul,
After what, a year now? I am finally able to log in to leave a comment.
So hi to you, and thanks for all the hard work on reporting.
Anyways, even if these are the current remasters, they’re still something
cool to own for collectors.
Good luck to bidders.
later
-1
As long as I live, I will never understand the appeal of test pressings. Fair enough if they’re signed or something, but otherwise, it’s just paying over the odds for a record without a cover, just because there’s not many of them.
That said, it’s all for a good cause so good luck to anyone who bids.
Because you’re not a collector. People that have the regular boring albums, and remasters, and limited editions, and picture discs, and colored vinyl need more than just that.
When you get to the next level, you look for test pressings, and then acetates, and more.
later
-1
Hello, I recognise your name from Hoffman :)
I am a record collector (I have several hundred LPs) but no, test pressings/ coloured vinyl/ picture discs/acetates hold no interest for me, so I suppose I’m just not that sort of collector. One copy of an album on vinyl or CD is enough for me!
Hello,
Yes, i also forgot to mention promos too.
Sometimes they are different masterings, have different tracklists,
different artwork.
The really cool promo 12 inches from some groups even have
unreleased material. I have quite a few from the pet shop boys,
abc, bjork, depeche mode, underworld, and many more, that
have never come out on commercial releases.
later
-1
Ha. An excellent description of addiction. Regular mass produced vinyl is the soft gateway drug, by the time you’re on to white labels, well that’s the white stuff. The really hard stuff is acetates. I have a few.
Would have been much more interested, salivating even, if they had been white labels of original albums rather than what could seem to be a UMC clear out of the shed. I would be far more interested in an original white label of something like Incantations than the 1984 suite as everything seems to come from a narrow window of 2016 – 2020 -ish. Good cause and all that but the thread through most of the lots is “leftovers”. If it had been original 1970s / 1980s white labels then that would have been a tad more interesting
I am ashamed at my own negativity. But would be surprised if I am too far from the truth.
Two points on test pressings.
1. They are a test and not concrete if they passed a play test and were approved! Could easily be a reject!
2. They are though going to be the first pressings from the plates, so could technically be the best sounding from that release cycle.
I agree totally they are white labels of represses ,so have limited collectability.
The only ones of interest are the Robert Smith ones as they have hand annotation
and looking at current bids for the cure other collectors must agree.
If they had the relevant artists do the same across all of them you would have generated
10 times the money for the cause. A missed opportunity i think.