| CD | Compact Disc - Is the current standard for releasing albums for general sale |
| CDR | Compact Disc (Recordable) - Used for samplers, bootlegs - where the CD has been produced by a CD Writer rather than pressed. |
| LP | Long Play - The format for album released prior to cassettes and CD's. They were made of vinyl, used on a turntable, and spun around at 33.33 rpm's (revolutions per minutes). Sometimes referred to as 33's for that reason. They were also 12" in diameter. |
| 12" | vinyl that is 12" in diameter. All LP's were 12". Several singles were produced in 12" format also as collectables or had extended versions of songs. |
| SP | Short Play - The format for a single released prior to cassettes and CD's. They were made of vinyl, used on a turntable, and spun around at 45 rpm's (revolutions per minutes). Most commonly referred to as 45's rather than SP's. They were also 7" in diameter. Also commonly referred to as 7" singles. Rarely actually referred to as SP's. |
| 45's | Most common name for Short Play (SP) |
| 7" | Common name for Short Play (SP) |
| EP | Extended Play - The term given for either a 7" or 12" that either wasn't a full album, or a single. It was a few songs only |
| PD | Picture Disc - The term given for either a 7" or 12" that was printed with a picture on the vinyl rather than the standard black or coloured vinyl |
| cassettes | Cassettes (tapes) - were the format for album releases in late 70's and 80's. Prior to CD's. It made music portable. As magnetic tape, they did not normally last long. |
| tapes | Cassettes |
| Reel-to-Reel | Early form of magnetic tape, often seen in old detective movies ... prior to cassette tapes. |
| 8-track | Early form of magnetic tape. Offered hifi sound |
| VHS | Video Home System - magnetic tape used to distribute/record video format. Quality was bad, but allowed movies etc into the home. |
| VCD | Video Compact Disc - was a CD sized disc holding video & audio. Quality was like VHS tapes. Prior to DVD. |
| LD | Laser Disc - These were 12" sized CD's - used to hold digital data - as is video and sound. The fore-runner to DVD's. |
| DVD | Digital Video Disc - The format for SD (Standard Definition) Video format. |
| Bluray | The format for HD (High Definition) Video format. |
| HD-DVD | Another format for HD (High Definition) Video format. It was an alternative - but gradually disappeared. |
| jewel case | term given to the plastic casing that most CDs were packaged/sold in |
| super jewel case | CD case that had rounded corners and the artwork had the corners removed to fit the old shaped case |
| Digipak | CD's packaged in cardboard casing rather than the jewel case |
| slip cover | For CDs. CD is packaged in basic cardboard sleeve and nothing else. Similar to how SPs (45's) were sold |
| Bootleg | Unofficial recording. Normally a collection of songs or a concert that never made it as an official release |
| mono | prior to stereo. Play something recorded in mono, and whatever came out of one speaker was identical on the other (or multiple speakers). Equivalent to AM Radio. sample singles (45's) were often sent to Radio hosts as mono - as AM radio wasn't capable of anything else |
| stereo | mono evolved into stereo. The ability to hear a variation of sound between two of more speakers. Though if had 4 speakers for example, two would play identical for one part, then two identical for alternative part. |
| hifi | stereo evolved into hifi. The ability to hear a variation of sound between two of more speakers. up to eight varying tracks could be heard (if you had eight speakers I assume) |
| label | first meaning - the printed middle of vinyl LP's or 12" or 45's |
| label | second meaning - the Record Company the Singer/Group distributed with. i.e ABBA were on the Atlantic label in the USA, Epic label in UK, RCA in NZ and Australia. |
| jacket / sleeve | for vinyl. LP's were sold with album covers, singles came with jackets or sleeves |
| gatefold | Where an album (LP) opened up (like a book). It was normally used for double Albums ( 2 x LP's) |
