The "Does my copy match this release?" game: Serenity

MusicBrainz
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The weird thing about this game is that the more you learn, the harder it gets. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Let´s dive right in, shall we?

Round 1

I am comparing my copy to this release:

This looked like a good match: barcode, catalog number and track list were identical. My DiscID matched. Editor chba uploaded some artwork which I carefully scrutinized and found to be the same. There seemed to be no discrepancies, so I provided the missing scans of the booklet and the sticker and added the release to my collection.

Round 2

A while ago I returned to the release to add the matrix/runout information. My copy reads:

12-474101-10 63 C3 (DADC Austria logo)

This is a pre-1994 release, so there are no SID codes. We can compare our pressing info to the uploaded art work by reading the matrix/runout from the medium scan. The uploaded scan reads:

12-474101-10 14 B1 (MASTERED BY DADC AUSTRIA)

Some minor differences, but nothing crazy. Pressing was done at the same plant.

So far so good. As a final check, I decide to follow the Discogs link. I find my matrix/runout information there (It’s Variant 5), but also read:

This version has a price code of "CB 811" which is easily confused with a similar version (Culture Beat - Serenity) which has a price code of "CB 791" printed on the rear of the traycard.

Negative, my copy has price code “CB 791” on the back (it’s in the lower right corner). The “similar version” indeed shows the “MASTERED BY DADC AUSTRIA” matrix/runout information. It looks like the MB release is associated with the wrong Discogs release, so we should at least correct the link, I suppose.

But where does my copy go? On the face of it, my copy is a combination of disc and packaging of the two Discogs releases. So is Discogs wrong? Is my copy a chimaera (possible, since I didn’t buy it new)? Is this an undocumented release, perchance? If the latter, should it go into a new release? It quite closely resembles the existing MB release.

How would you proceed?

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Discogs’ database guidelines includes the following:

One edition of a release may have many different matrix numbers on individual copies - especially for major label releases. These are considered manufacturing variations for the purposes of cataloguing on Discogs, and not unique releases, so one Discogs ‘release’ may contain multiple variations in matrix numbers etc. For smaller releases, or in special cases, the matrix variation may indicate a unique release / edition, so please ask in the Database Forum Topic if in doubt.

Based on that, I tend to discount the matrix/runout information if the rest of the release matches up. If your release matches the Discogs release with the matching price code down to the fine print on the artwork and CD (excluding matrix/runout), I’d say you have the correct match, and the matrix/runout is just a manufacturing variation.

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The “different price code” thing is a printed difference on the rear that drops right into the “separate releases” categories for MB.

Whereas these two “different” matrixes are the same, just a different era of production from the factory. It came out of the same building. Same factory is usually same Release.

I would just update the link to Discogs. To match the CB791 price code on your artwork.

Did you “hijack” a CB811? We will never know. Maybe you did? Maybe the previous editor never noticed.

I doubt you have a “chimera”. The same Austria factory made it. Paperwork comes out of one building, CD come out of another. May just have come off the production line when the older CB791 code was on some old printed stock while your CD come off the newer CD production line (or vice versa). I would list both of those Matrixes on this same Release.

Yes, I have made new releases when I was not sure in cases like this. But then I like to make a new release where there are lots of discIDs attached.

Oh - and loudly shout about the price code in the annotation. Mainly to help the next person to spot this subtle difference.

Edit: The CB791 artwork has been there since 2014… so you are 100% on the correct release and the discogs link is wrong.

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That’s what I figured. What bothered me is that my copy fell in between two well documented releases at Discogs. But as IvanDobsky suggested it …

True, it wouldn’t be the first time I encountered such a release. Why do I own all these oddballs?

Anyhoozles, I will change the Discogs link, add my hub info to the release and make an annotation calling attention to the price code. Thanks, guys!

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