CBS LPs - US unified numbering system
In 1970 CBS US started a new numbering system for their LPs that included at least ARC (American Record Company), Barnaby, Blue Sky, CBS, Caribou, Columbia, Columbia Masterworks, Epic, Gamble, Golden Fleece, Great Western Gramophone, Harmony, Invictus, Kirshner, Monument, Mums, Odyssey, Philadelphia International, Portrait, Sound Stage, Spindizzy, Stiff, T-Neck, TSOP and many others.

Prefixes consisted of 2-3 letters with the first letter generally indicating the price. Exceptions to this are mostly quadraphonic records that sometimes began with a Q.

The second letter was generally either a C (Columbia), an E (Epic) or a Z (all the other labels).

If there was a third letter it generally was a G or else a 2 or 3 that indicated it was a double LP. The way the numbering on double LPs worked was that the whole package receive a number and the two LPs that made up the package received the next two numbers in sequence. For example...


Columbia
G-30217
(2 LPs)
various artists
[LP] "Fill Your Head With Jazz" Dec-1970
Columbia
30218

30217 - Record 1
Columbia
30219

30217 - Record 2

A lot of the listings are derived from Schwann catalogs. Dating is mostly from Schwann and could be off by a month. When Schwann listed reissues they skipped the price code and listed only an "E" or a "C" for example. It is very likely there would have be a price code included. From January 1970 to December of 1980 we are only missing four Schwann catalogs. Columbia House (their record club) used the original label and numbers for their reissues. Earlier popular LPs later issued on cassettes was an entirely different numbering system though there were a few classical issued in this numbering system. A few 10" EPs are in this numbering system and one Chicago box set of 4 LPs was also issued as 2 cassettes with different numbers.
30000 - 30499 series
30500 - 30999 series
31000 - 31499 series
31500 - 31999 series
32000 - 32499 series
32500 - 32999 series
33000 - 33499 series
33500 - 33999 series
34000 - 34499 series
34500 - 34999 series
35000 - 35499 series
35500 - 35999 series
36000 - 36499 series
36500 - 36999 series

This is a work in progress, additions and corrections are most welcome.
AL and BL numbers are the A side and B side numbers,
please email the actual LP prefixes which generally begin with F, H, J, K, M, P, Q or Y


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