I wrote about a short Line Out entry regarding matrix messages last year called The Message of the Matrix. It was a fun bit nodding to the silly messages some groups scratched into the dead wax of their records, but today’s post has to do with what the official matrix numbers mean, so IF YOU DARE, dig this (kinda dense) page dedicated to how one should decode major-label matrix numbers. [Editor’s note: “Dense” is an understatement.]
- If you’re wondering what in the fucking fuck I’m talking about, look at this picture. This is a matrix number.
Most likely if you passively buy records, these numbers don’t mean shit to you—however, to heavy collectors the numbers can mean a lot (of money). Deep collectors and audiophiles pay close attention to the matrix numbers as they’re often the key to knowing which plate or stamper any given LP was cast from. Like, if you want a guaranteed FIRST PRESS of, say, Pink Floyd‘s Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the matrix will tell you whether your copy was pulled from the first, fifth, or ninth stamper plate. Also, it’s hoped the closer you get to the first stamper, the better the album will sound, or at least how the band/engineer/whoever wanted it to sound. Too, knowing how to read the numbers can help uncover bootleg/pirate copies and suss out the occasional different/withdrawn mix.
There are also the handful of collectors/historians who use these numbers as a way to track down locations of pressing plants or sort out the dates when certain records were pressed. Those matrix numbers help flesh out the story of unknown garage and soul/funk groups from the ’60s and ’70s as many of those groups, if they pressed their singles privately, didn’t leave any other trail. SHEESH! Had enough, non-nerds? OKAY, I’ll stop there, BUT those are some of the big reasons matrix numbers are important to some folks, like me.