Understanding Release Dates

More than one kind of date
Although discographies commonly provide a precise release date, the surviving evidence does not always justify that degree of certainty. A date found in a company document might refer to when a record was approved, scheduled, manufactured, advertised or dispatched—not necessarily when it first became available to the public.

Record-company documents are usually the logical starting point, but they are not infallible. These documents may pass across many desks, and in the process become prone to transcription/typographical or interpretation errors. It could be that important information may be copied from earlier versions of the paperwork without being corrected, when or if schedules or plans are changed.

Later company catalogues and databases can also perpetuate an earlier mistake. The repetition of a date in several later sources does not necessarily provide independent confirmation if they all drew their information from the same original record.

Delays and Rush Releases
A scheduled release date represented the company’s intention at a particular point in time. It did not guarantee that the record appeared on that date.

Problems with mastering, pressing, label or sleeve printing, stock shortages and distribution could all delay a release after its proposed date had been circulated. A last-minute change to the record itself, its packaging or its promotional campaign might also cause an unexpected postponement.

The opposite could occur when a company decided to "rush release" a record into production. Unexpected radio interest, strong public demand, an artist’s forthcoming visit or the need to compete with another release could bring a record forward from its original schedule.

In either situation, genuine contemporary documents may provide conflicting dates because they record the plans that existed when each document was prepared.

Availability around Australia
During the vinyl era, releasing a record was a physical process. Masters had to be prepared, records pressed, labels and sleeves printed, stock packed and copies distributed to retailers.

Australia’s size added another complication. Stock did not necessarily reach every state, city or retailer at the same time. A record available in Sydney or Melbourne might not appear in another capital city or regional area until several days later.

There may therefore be no single date on which every Australian buyer could obtain a particular release. The official release date and the date of local retail availability were not always the same.

Advertisements and press reports
Contemporary advertisements, trade publications and newspaper reports provide valuable evidence, but they must also be interpreted carefully.

Publications were often prepared several days before they appeared. A record advertised as “out now” might subsequently have been delayed, while some shops could already have received stock before the advertisement was published.

Phrases such as “released this week”, “available shortly” and “out now” are useful in narrowing the likely period of release, but they do not always establish a precise day.

Radio airplay and advance copies
Radio airplay is another frequent source of confusion. Stations often received demonstration or advance copies before commercial stock was distributed, allowing a song to be heard before the public could buy it.

A song’s appearance on a radio survey does not necessarily prove that the single was already on sale. Surveys could reflect airplay, listener requests or anticipated popularity as well as actual retail sales.

Radio stations also played imported records and tracks taken directly from albums. The first known broadcast of a song therefore cannot automatically be treated as evidence that an Australian single had been released.

What the charts can tell us
Chart dates require similar caution. A chart was normally compiled from information gathered before its publication date, and different charts used different combinations of sales, airplay and retailer reports.

A first chart appearance shows that a song was circulating by that time—not necessarily the single or EP—but it rarely identifies the precise day on which it was released. Chart evidence is most useful when considered alongside advertisements, company documentation and radio surveys.

Evidence from the records
The physical record can sometimes help establish the sequence of events. Matrix numbers, mastering information, label variations, printer markings and sleeve details may indicate when an edition was prepared or where it belongs in the manufacturing chronology.

However, a mastering, cutting or pressing date is not itself a release date. Stock might have been manufactured well in advance and held for later distribution, while a rush release could move from production to the shops very quickly.

Overseas dates
British or American release dates should not automatically be applied to Australian editions. During the 1960s, EMI (Australia) generally lagged behind EMI UK by around three months for LPs, one to two months for EPs and four weeks for singles. These were broad patterns rather than fixed rules, however, and important singles were sometimes rush-released in Australia, allowing them to reach local shops at or near the same time as their British release.

Local manufacturing, distribution and marketing decisions could all affect the timing. As a result, an Australian release might appear considerably later than its overseas equivalent—or not be issued locally in the same form at all.

How dates are presented on this website
The release dates presented on this website are based on the combined weight of the available evidence. Record-company documents always take precedence, however, advertisements, newspapers, trade publications, radio surveys, charts and manufacturing details are compared wherever possible rather than relying upon a single source.

Where the evidence supports only a month, the date is given as a month rather than assigning an unsupported day. Where reliable contemporary sources disagree, the date may be described as approximate or the conflicting evidence explained.

Historical discography remains an evolving field of research. As further documents and contemporary reports are discovered, some dates may be refined or corrected to provide a more accurate account of how and when these records reached the Australian public.