Hello,

I'm wondering if there is a website or other such way to confirm if a release - album, CD single, CD Maxi Single, etc - is a legitimate release or not? I know Discogs lists a lot of releases, but the ones I'm trying to track down don't seem to be listed on there either, so I'm wondering if there's a different way to find out? All of the items in questions are allegedly Japanese Maxi CD-singles with multiple remixes on them. Appreciate anyone's help and insight!

thanks,
VL13

Could you give an example of the releases in question?

Hardly there is a site for all CD releases like the one Jan made for Decca/London LPs.
The good one with a lot of information is running by rollingandre.
[rollingandre.jouwweb.nl]
Here you can find a lot of images and info about CD releases from around the world. But even Andre's site is not complete.

Discogs is generally OK, although it is not error free.

Otherwise, to check if the release is legitimate you should inspect the CD for matrix and IFPI codes.

Japanese maxi singles (at least official releases) are well known. Thus, there should be not too much troubles to find a fake. Just give an example.

Sure thing. Here is one:

IDGAF

There is no record for this particular release in Discogs

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VoodooLounge13

There is no record for this particular release in Discogs

The CD-Label says Promo / Not for Sale. Difficult to tell from the picture if it's genuine or fake.

Hard to tell. The seller has tons of 'promo, not for sale' maxi-CDs. This is rather suspicious from the start.

The other thing - he does not show the play side of the CDs with matrix strings. The one I found
[www.ebay.com]-
is fake for sure.


This one carries copyright note from russia
[www.ebay.com]
Yeah, legitimate 146%, no fake .

I would say, that these are home-made products. But you never can tell without looking at the matrix and details of the imprints. If those are CD-Rs, those would be fakes with 99% probability.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-20 20:59 by ironbelly.

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ironbelly
Hard to tell. The seller has tons of 'promo, not for sale' maxi-CDs. This is rather suspicious from the start.

The other thing - he does not show the play side of the CDs with matrix strings. The one I found
[www.ebay.com]-
is fake for sure.


This one carries copyright note from russia
[www.ebay.com]
Yeah, legitimate 146%, no fake .

I would say, that these are home-made products. But you never can tell without looking at the matrix and details of the imprints. If those are CD-Rs, those would be fakes with 99% probability.

And you say that because there's no details imprinted on the CD?

Quote
VoodooLounge13

Quote
ironbelly
Hard to tell. The seller has tons of 'promo, not for sale' maxi-CDs. This is rather suspicious from the start.

The other thing - he does not show the play side of the CDs with matrix strings. The one I found
[www.ebay.com]-
is fake for sure.


This one carries copyright note from russia
[www.ebay.com]
Yeah, legitimate 146%, no fake .

I would say, that these are home-made products. But you never can tell without looking at the matrix and details of the imprints. If those are CD-Rs, those would be fakes with 99% probability.

And you say that because there's no details imprinted on the CD?

Yes. I can not see matrix numbers. All CDs from that seller are promos that are made using the same pattern. I bet, catalog numbers and barcodes will lead nowhere too.

PS. Wait a minute. The seller is from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Sure, these promo singles are 146%, maybe even 1460%, legitimate. Buy with confidence, nobody would make fakes in Kyrgyzstan . Those people have access to unique mixes and legitimate stuff. They are much better than locals from Reel Stone Trading Group .
Oh boy...

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ironbelly

The seller is from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Second poorest country in Central Asia (after neighbouring Tajikistan).

Got it. Thanks ironbelly. I wonder if these handmade ones gather together all of the various remixes out there. The Brazilian versions seem to do that, but don't have as many as these supposed Japanese versions. The other thing that makes me hesitant is the location of the seller.

But see this particular maxi-single of remixes appears to be a legit release, which had me confused, but like I said, most of all her other singles don't have a lengthy maxi-single with this many remixes on it.

Cold Heart

Quote
VoodooLounge13

But see this particular maxi-single of remixes appears to be a legit release

It's on CD-Recordable (CD-R) and declared as Promo / Not for Sale. Also available from the same seller in Kyrgyzstan - [www.eBay.com] .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-20 22:30 by Irix.

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VoodooLounge13
But see this particular maxi-single of remixes appears to be a legit release, which had me confused, but like I said, most of all her other singles don't have a lengthy maxi-single with this many remixes on it.

Cold Heart

No, it is not.
There are a few misprints in the booklet. Like release date 21.09.10 (21.09). This is not a correct format. <POPS> STEREO is not correct too. It must be POP.

But the main thing is matrix. The scan of the CD hub shows no numbers and/or IFPI codes. That one is as fake as it can be.

Here's a comparison (in German) between genuine and fake CDs of AC/DC in 4 parts: [www.joeroacdc.de] , [www.joeroacdc.de] , [www.joeroacdc.de] , [www.joeroacdc.de] - (scroll down for the pictures).

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Irix
Here's a comparison (in German) between genuine and fake CDs of AC/DC in 4 parts: [www.joeroacdc.de] , [www.joeroacdc.de] , [www.joeroacdc.de] , [www.joeroacdc.de] - (scroll down for the pictures).

Yes, Jörg is a great guy and very experienced collector of AC/DC. His site is very detailed.

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Irix

Quote
VoodooLounge13

But see this particular maxi-single of remixes appears to be a legit release

It's on CD-Recordable (CD-R) and declared as Promo / Not for Sale. Also available from the same seller in Kyrgyzstan - [www.eBay.com] .

Yes I see that Irix. Thru me off being on Discogs.

Thanks Irix and ironbelly for all your help and insight! Much appreciated!!!