Why cuts into vinyl covers?

The hole or corner cut was to denote a not for sale promo copy.

or records that were returned by the stores to the distributor/manufacturers as dead inventory that didn't move- a/k/a "cut outs." (Labels don't take returns from stores like they used to, except possibly for defects- but stuff that didn't sell? They're stuck with it these days). 
Occasionally, on counterfeit copies of rare records, you'll see the punch hole reproduced in the artwork of the clone copy. The originals were overlooked in the marketplace when released but became collectible later. 

There's a pretty good story associated with MCA and a massive amount of returned inventory that was brokered for resale through Morris Levy.(It amounted to over 60 tractor trailer loads if memory serves). The skim, the scam, the sting and the threats over a wire were what finally led to Levy's conviction in a court of law. And that's really the least interesting part of Levy's life story. Worth reading about if this stuff interests you. 

As far as value, it depends. Nothing in vinyl is cut and dried. SQ wise promo copies tend to be early run and sound better. Except when they don't. Value wise they could be worth more- or less. Personally I buy for sound quality and all other things being equal will go for the sealed cut corner promo over a normal copy. But that's just me.

Thanks guys.  All my questions were answered and my curiosity satisfied.  And got an education to boot.  I knew the music industry was corrupt, but I was not aware of Morris Levy.  What a sleazebag of an individual.  He doesn't need to glorified, but you have to admit, that is a Netflix worthy biopic waiting to be written.  

Richard Carlin wrote what is probably the best bio of Morris that was published a few years ago, entitled Godfather of the Music Business. It has lots of stories and backs up some of the stuff I heard about as a young lawyer in NYC who was doing a fair amount of work in the industry. The record industry definitely had a "mob" issue-- from payola to distribution to pressing plants to various behind the scenes figures. And it wasn’t confined to the States, either. There was money to be made, and in many cases, it was a cash business, as was concert promotion, so when you stand back and look at the business you can see why it presented a lot of opportunities for the criminally minded.
FWIW, Carlin’s portrayal of Levy is pretty even-handed- Levy was in some ways a genius- he had the first integrated jazz club in NYC, got into the rock and roll craze early on, signed unknown acts, then promoted them at rock and roll shows (Alan Freed was one of his promoters- famously went to prison for payola). Everybody was afraid of Morris Levy-- there are some great stories in Carlin’s book about how unwitting young employees would be sent to his office to "collect" not realizing who they were dealing with. Sorry to derail your thread on cut-outs, but Morris Levy was the first person who came to mind. BTW, one of the famous tax scam labels,Tiger Lily, was also a Morris Levy affiliated business. A copy of one of the albums on the label, Stonewall, sold a few years ago for 14k-- the guy who found the copy knew exactly what he had: [url]https://www.brooklynvegan.com/stonewall-lp-se/[/url]

Growing up I lived two blocks for a RCA record plant in NJ workers on the loading dock would give albums and singles and told us if it had a hole in the cover it was returned from the stores and if it had a cut into the vinyl it was defective I have some promo albums and they say on them for promotional use only and I got those from a friend who work in NYC radio
Don't know how many of those records we sailed on to the roof of the plant from the hill behind it  

When I worked at Tower Records in the early 1980's, I just loved the LPs  we affectionately called Cut Outs.  Mostly they were promotional copies sent to the record stores in the hope they'd be played on the store's record player and perhaps garner a couple of sales.  Cut outs were almost always among the first copies generated at the pressing plant so they sounded wonderfully fresh and quiet.  We almost never saw defective ones.  When the store manager got to know your tastes, he/she'd sneak 'em into your in-box to take home.  I still own more of my share of 'em. And oh yeah, several of the other record stores I frequented had cut-out bins where stuff was heavily discounted.  I'd see one that caught my eye and just take a chance.  After all, they never cost very much.

There used to be this thing called the budget bin in record stores. The records in there were much cheaper, just a dollar or few, and often the covers were notched or a hole punched to designate them as budget bin and keep the value down permanently.

Interesting read but many different takes. More confused  than ever.

I can imagine your getting confused here as there is some misinformation. 
A cut out is not a store play copy but overstock that is sold in bulk at a low price to resell to stores. The mob pretty much controlled this business to the extent I worked in a store in NYC (owner by some guys that worked at Strawberry’s, Morris Levy's Boston chain) that had set up an operation to press cut outs. In other words, bootleg the remaindered records as once it was a cut out no one noticed if someone was making more of them. Since some of them sold pretty well it was like printing money. Cut outs are cut so they can’t be returned to the distributor.

Records that also have a cut, or a hole punched through the bar code are promos or store play copies. These are indeed the first albums off the stampers and can sound better then those from later in the run. 
In the old days stampers would press 15,000 copies before a new set was made from a mother. These days they rarely press more then 3000 before replacement. In the old days also way overstocked records would be ‘reground’ that’s is melted back into being vinyl ‘pucks’ to make new records from. When they did this the labels were not removed. After 30 years or so of regrounding vinyl things were getting pretty noisy. 

Thanks a lot. So from now on, for best sound I should look for holes punched, side cuts or promo stamps or labels and forget about the corner cut offs.
Got it.

I never looked for hole punched records to find early pressings- I usually looked for white label promos or went by the matrices in the dead wax. 
@yaluaka- I don't think I disagree with anything you wrote- I'm aware of one distributor who will go unnamed that was known for releasing counterfeit copies of records they otherwise had legitimate copies of, either as cut outs or as normal distribution copies. The other thing I was aware of was so-called 'back-dooring' by less scrupulous pressing plants-- pressing more records than called for by the label which was basically unaccounted for inventory that got sold without the involvement of the label and without paying the artists. 

The first time I came across this in Chicago, occurred right at the point in time where the record industry was breathing it last breath. All of the record retailers were heavily discounting almost all of their inventory to dispose of everything. I guess you could say it was like "the mark of Cain"
"Be gone you foul LP's and make way for tomorrows technology ". And look where we are now. Who would have thought it. 
I took advantage of all the LP's I could afford at the time, as long as the contents were untouched. I really didn't care about the album covers. Every once so often I go to used LP shows (so to speak). But surprisingly, I rarely see any punched or cut album covers. I guess the practice wasn't as wide spread as  some might think. I'm not certain what effect the "marks" might have on resale value. Frankly, I am only concerned about the content, and not the container. I don't think you will have to worry about any dealers punching holes in CD packaging, when they are finally on their way out. Just a thought

I never looked for hole punched records to find early pressings- I usually looked for white label promos or went by the matrices in the dead wax.

Right. White label promos were the first off the stamper. These went directly to record exec’s and producers. Hole-punched albums were also early releases, very different from a cut-out.
Sometimes on Ebay you may find a white label promo or a hole-punch album autographed by a recording artist. There are also promo copies with radio station library numbers written on the jackets. Imagine how worn out these copies are, they might be cool as a conversation piece but have little value.

"For promotional use only" branded records had nothing to do with being early stampers. These were sent to radio stations so the music director could preview the tracks. The ultimate goal was to put these albums or singles in the "Hot Box" for Heavy Rotation. Club DJ’s and significant record stores would also receive promos. The promotions reps from the labels had relationships with the various outlets that could influence airplay and sales.

Hi,
i believe any cuts or holes on covers are overstocks or returns. Nothing wrong with their quality but their value is dropped. Checking the matrixes is a good guide for value.

edcyn:

When you worked @ Tower did you know Jay (very long hair) who had a girlfriend named CiCi?

If so, he/they were neighbors for a number of years (great couple).

DeKay

dekay -- sorry but no.  I got to say, too, that Tower Records has always been a true revolving door when it comes to clerks & floor managers.  But did I mention that I met my wife while working at a Tower?  She's the cyn in edcyn.

Hence the term "cut-out".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut-out_(recording_industry)

edcyn:

Great place to meet a wife (met mine while shopping @ Trader Joe's).

Was posting with tunnel vision/thinking before as I was referring to the Sunset store in Hollywood/West Hollywood.

Though Jay didn't look old enough @ the time think he said he'd worked there for 15 years (this was in the early 90's).

Maybe he lied about his age to enlist in Tower Records?

DeKay

twoleftears;

Thank you for the link.

I just found a slit cut-out copy of a Philips classical LP among my vinyl. Nielsen and Sibelius Symphonies. Recorded live at the famed Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Of course, I hadn’t listened to it in probably 20 years. I barely knew it existed. It has a $4.69 price sticker from what I believe was Freak Beat Records on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks CA. Anyway, it sounds absolutely excellent despite being a digital remastering. Compelling music and compelling live recording, including applause. A typically dead silent Philips pressing. What can I tell ya?

I recently purchased a record, Joni Mitchell Mingus, on eBay from a record dealer. When received it had a hole-punch in the corner. I looked back at the ad, and the front pic had a price sticker on the outer sleeve covering the hole. The sleeve it came with, no sticker. The other pic showed the gatefold open with the front  and back corners (with holes) conviently out of the pic. I messaged the seller and he explained that pic was an old pic of an other (same) record he sold previously. 🙄

I have seen label covers stamped promo ,but the album itself was not a white promo.I think different companies did there own thing.Back in 1977 I worked in LIC and there was a Record Store who sold promo  copies.He sold them cheaper so I didn't  care if they read not for sale .

Sorry if this has been asked before.  In my search to purchase vinyl I come across albums that have holes drilled or half inch cuts into the corners of the albums.  I've come across this on CD cases as well.  Does anybody know, who does this and why?  And do you think it devalues the album https://100001.onl/ https://1921681254.mx/?
Thanks in advance.

 

I got this,..

They are promos and the covers are disfigured in some way so that they cannot be returned to the record company as defective and get credit for it.