Most recordings made in the last 30 - 40 years have been recorded digitally, that means no tape used. It was recorded to a hard drive or some other type of digital storage.
I’d guess that early on, when digital storage was more expensive, recordings were mostly made at a sampling rate of 44.1khz or 48khz and a bit depth of 16. CD quality, in other words
Now that digital storage is cheaper and more compact, and streaming bandwidth is wider, many recordings are made at higher sampling rates and bit depths, 96/24 192/24. Sometimes DSD recordings are made.
If tape was used to record a new album, that will usually be noted on the sleeve, the booklet (for digital discs) or in the advertising because recording to tape is not the norm anymore.
It is very hard to find out at exactly what sample rate and bit depth a digital recording was made. For some reason the record labels like to keep that information secret. Download sellers like HDtracks sell downloads of the same recording at different sample rates and bit depths, but, in the past, when they have been asked at what sample rate/bit depth the recording was made, they have said they don’t know, they just get the files from the record label without that information.
I’d guess that early on, when digital storage was more expensive, recordings were mostly made at a sampling rate of 44.1khz or 48khz and a bit depth of 16. CD quality, in other words
Now that digital storage is cheaper and more compact, and streaming bandwidth is wider, many recordings are made at higher sampling rates and bit depths, 96/24 192/24. Sometimes DSD recordings are made.
If tape was used to record a new album, that will usually be noted on the sleeve, the booklet (for digital discs) or in the advertising because recording to tape is not the norm anymore.
It is very hard to find out at exactly what sample rate and bit depth a digital recording was made. For some reason the record labels like to keep that information secret. Download sellers like HDtracks sell downloads of the same recording at different sample rates and bit depths, but, in the past, when they have been asked at what sample rate/bit depth the recording was made, they have said they don’t know, they just get the files from the record label without that information.