German record company with two vinyl, a CD and a cassette manufacturing plant. Operating under this name from January 1986 until end of August 1991.
PolyGram transferred control of their West German manufacturing and distribution activities from PRS Hannover to a joint venture between Philips and DuPont Optical, that was operative by January 1986 (registered in May 1986). PDO stands for Philips and Du Pont Optical.
"Werk I", located in Podbielskistrasse, Hanover (spelt "Hannover" in German), housed the Recording Department (Recording Centre), the pressing plant for 10" and 12" records, and the tape duplication.
"Werk II", located in Klusriede, Langenhagen, pressed all 7" vinyl records (incl. injection moulded) and did the mastering and pressing of CDs. Also done in Langenhagen were the printing and assembly of records, cassettes and CDs. The CD pressing plant in Langenhagen was previously operating under the name Polygram, Hanover, West Germany, between August 1982 and December 1985.
The manufacturing division was responsible for galvanization, pressing, label and cover printing, as well as for the cassette and CD manufacturing.
A separate division called "PolyGram Recording Centre" was responsible for the recording, mastering and cutting of lacquers (until 1990 in Hannover, then they relocated to Langenhagen).
When PolyGram regained control over the PDO plant in 1991, the Recording Centre and the CD plant were transferred back to PolyGram Record Service GmbH (PRS Hannover).
Werk I was closed and all respective vinyl pressing was outsourced to PRS Baarn or other plants.
How to identify lacquer cuts (January 1986 - August 1991):
Lacquer cuts show a stamped 320 (or 3 20) in the matrix. Use Lacquer Cut At - PDO, Germany in these cases. 320 is not a PPID and does not automatically infer also a pressing by PDO.
S1=1 or S1=2 etc. (not to be confused with side identifiers S1 and S2) stand for the number of transfers to tape, so S1=1 means original master tape, and S1=2 stands for a tape copy.
How to identify vinyl pressings (January 1986 - August 1991):
12"/LPs: one single pressing ring of 20mm in diameter. The labels usually have GEMA and Made in West Germany or Made in Germany.
7"s: injection moulded with a wide centre ring and a black ring around it. Made in W. Germany on the labels.
Away from the 3 20 are numbers and letters: an upside down 1 (⇂), and one (or occasionally two) letters turned 90° to the right (e.g. ᗆ or ᴒ) for the stampers. The 1 often appears very faint and can be -in reading direction- before or after the letters (e.g. 1 and K, or S and 1). Please add them as 1 and A into the BAOI, respectively.
"V79" (often in combination with 020) in the runouts stands for contract pressings made by Sonopress.
A non-ink embossed "PRS Hannover" stamp is often found on the back covers, even though the company name wasn't existing between January 1986 and August 1991. Obviously, as the pressing plant location didn't change, the stamp was continuously used by PDO. Do not add "PRS Hannover" as company in these cases but add a release note.
How to identify CDs (January 1986 - August 1991):
Until the end of 1986, CDs may have a credit on the disc label: "Made In W. Germany By Philips And Dupont Optical" (e.g., Be Altitude: Respect Yourself) but this plant is mostly credited in the CD matrix string starting with 'MADE IN...'. Please use the Made By credit in the LCCN section, not Pressed By. Please also add the full line in capital letters in one matrix field after the rest of the matrix. Don't add "West" in full when it only reads "W."
Known sequential matrix strings are:
- MADE IN W. GERMANY BY PDO HANOVER, used approx. 1986 - early 1987 (ex. Vespro Della Beata Vergine);
- MADE IN W. GERMANY BY PDO, used approx. 1986 - early / mid 1989 (ex. The Party's Over);
- MADE IN W.GERMANY BY PDO, used approx. late 1988 - late 1990 (ex. Woman in Chains);
- MADE IN GERMANY BY PDO, after the German reunification, used approx. late 1990 - August 1991 (ex. The Soul Cages).
Note that CDs pressed by PDO are still possible even after the transition to PRS (e.g. due to delayed releases).
These string changes are manufacturing variants not unique entries. However, when the matrix change coincided with a distinctive change of the AA-number or CC-stamper letters (see below), these variants should be separated into dedicated submissions. There's no obligation to either merge or split variants that are already or not yet split. In either case, please mention the differences in the Release Notes. Dates can be helpful in dating or anti-dating an entry. Also note that the inner hub matrix change may coincide with the deletion of a preceding PolyGram tag (e.g., Control vs. Control), where the difference requires a unique release).
The matrix scheme mostly is ###### XXXX XXX AA B CC, where:
- ###### is the cat.no. of the release, which may have multiple letters and digits;
- XXXX XXX is a 7 (later 8) digit sequential numbering scheme (see below), which is not present on PolyGram and associated labels, but only on CDs for other labels;
- AA is a sequential number 01, 02, 03 etc;
- B is either not present on early CDs, or on later CDs most often a punctuation mark, e.g., #, +, >, * or ˙/ (where the small upper dot is easily overlooked and incorrectly added as a normal / slash sign);
- CC are 1 or 2 stamper letters, easily overlooked because they are a bit further in the mirror ring.
The sequential numbering scheme can be added as LCCN number, when present:
- 289x xxx (1986 - 1990) (inherited from preceding plant), starting higher than 2896 820. Followed by 2897 in 1987, 2898 in 1988, 2894 in 1989 and 2890 in 1990 (e.g. Rap House Volume 3);
- 0xxx xxx (1990 - 1991), e.g., 0013 123 on A Pocketful Of Dreams;
- 50xxx xxx or 50xxxxxx (1991), e.g., 50127 234 on LoonyChip Classics. The scheme changed from 0123 xxx to 50126xxx by February 1991. Note: this sequence was continued by succeeding plants.
Don't credit PDO based on those numbers alone.
Don't credit PDO when there is "Made by Polygram, Hanover (or Hannover)" or "Made by PolyGram" only - these belong to Polygram, Hanover, West Germany.
Don't credit PDO when there is MADE IN GERMANY in the matrix string only - these may belong to the succeeding plant PRS Hannover.
Don't add PDO variants to preceding plants.
When there is PDO and PolyGram, please credit PDO, Germany and Polygram, Hanover, West Germany.
Please also consider using PDO, France, PDO, UK, PDO, USA, or PDO, when the exact plant cannot be derived.