Cinram Commerce

US pressing plant founded in 1949, located in Commerce, Los Angeles, CA. Manufacturing of vinyl records, compact cassettes and optical discs. Closed in 2006.

History

In 1933, the Allied Phonograph and Record Manufacturing Company took over Columbia's vacated West Coast pressing plant. By 1940 the company dropped "Phonograph" from its name and continued to operate under the name Allied Record Manufacturing Company until 1962, when it changed to Allied Record Company. In the 1930s-40s Allied produced high quality laminated pressings for dozens of independent labels.

In 1949, when Allied switched to vinyl exclusively, the plant in Commerce was opened.
The plant was purchased by Warner Communications Inc. in 1979 to become part of WEA Manufacturing Inc.. WEA operated the pressing plant under the Allied name until the plant was officially renamed WEA Mfg. Commerce at the end of 1996.

CD pressing at this plant started in September 1986.

Vinyl pressing assets were sold to Music Connection, Inc., and moved to Pennsylvania to form 33 ⅓ RPM in 2002. (Vinyl manufacturing in Commerce possibly until 2003)

The plant was purchased by Cinram International in Oct 2003. Cinram closed the plant in 2006.

Identification

Sometimes the company is credited on artwork. (NOTE that other plants were owned by those companies too and e.g. 'Allied Record Company' alone does not indicate it was manufactured in Commerce)

• Vinyl Records (1949 to 2003)

1949 to 1962 - Allied Record Manufacturing Company:
Common Identifiers:
- etched E-#### in runout
- center labels on styrene 45s are 3.5" in diameter

1962 to 1996 - Allied Record Company:
Common Identifiers:
- ɑ stamped/etched in runout (The Allied machine-stamped logo in the runout etchings can be easily mistaken for a "Q" or a "Ω", but is actually lowercase Greek alpha, after 1979 sometimes with a Warner 'W' within)
- On Polygram label releases (Casablanca, Mercury, Polydor, etc): 22 on label
- Atlantic/Elektra/Nonesuch/Asylum: AR at end of label matrix or printed somewhere else on label by itself (unless record is a club edition - if so, check runouts for correct plant).
- an lone A embossed into the label near the spindle hole (An 'E A S T' embossed around the center hole like this would indicate it was pressed at Specialty Records Corporation using metal parts that were originally made for use at Allied Record Company based on the etchings. NOTE that usually the 'T' is the most visible, sometimes the only really visible letter.)
- a pointed circle, sometimes with a logo in the center, other times, too faint to see anything but the circle.

- LP/12" pressings have a catalog number B-##### etched in the runout. (# is a digit)
- 7" pressings have X-###[#] (mid 1960s), R-##### (early-mid 1970s) or K-##### (by the end of the 1970s) etched in the runout.
- after 1966/67, center label diameter was 3.5625"
- LPs from the mid 1970s have a 1" pressing ring

The processing of lacquer disc metalwork / plating was often subcontracted out to Sheffield Lab Matrix and is denoted by 'SLM △ 00000' / 'SLM △ 00000-X' or '△ 00000' / '△ 00000-X' etchings in the matrix/runout area.

1997 to 2003 - WEA Mfg. Commerce:
There are only few documented records from this periode. The B-##### type matrix may have been discontinued and the plant can only be identified by artwork credits.

• CD (1986 to 2006)

Sep 1986 to 1997 - Allied Record Company:
CDs pressed at Allied will have an ARC in the matrix. If there is both "ARC" and "SRC", then the CD was pressed at Allied but the glass master came from Specialty Records Corporation. CDs with an Allied Record Company logo means the glass master also came from Allied Record Company in the mid-90s before the plant was renamed WEA Mfg. Commerce around 1997.

1997 to Sep 2003 - WEA Mfg. Commerce:
Wea Mfg. Commerce pressings may often be credited on releases with a wea mfg. Commerce, wea mfg. CA or wea CA in the CD matrix or stamped on the clear plastic hub. Furthermore the plant can be identified by SID codes. (see below)

Some CDs show the WEA Mfg. Olyphant logo in the matrix area but also have 'WEA mfg./CA' stamped on the hub/clamping ring. These discs were glass mastered in Olyphant and pressed in Commerce.

Oct 2003 to 2006 - Cinram, Commerce, CA:
A machine-stamped looking CI/CA indicates that the disc was pressed at Cinram, Commerce, CA. (but a machine-stamped 'CI' only indicates it was pressed in Olyphant, PA)

Discs manufactured at this plant can easily be identified by SID codes. (see below)

SID Codes:
Discs glass mastered in Commerce have mastering SID codes IFPI L911, L912 or L913

Discs pressed at this plant have assigned mould SID codes IFPI 2V**