German manufacturing and distribution company with two vinyl pressing plants, a tape duplication plant, and a CD plant. Operating under this name from February 1978 (registered June 1978) until December 1985, and from September 1991 (registered November 1991) until December 1992. Full name: PolyGram Record Service GmbH.
VinylLacquer cuts (from February 1978 until December 1985, and from September 1991 until December 1992):
- Stamped 320 or 3 20 in the matrix: Lacquer Cut At - PRS Hannover. 320 is not a PPID.
Note: S1 and S2 are side identifiers, but S1=1 or S1=2 etc. stand for the number of transfers to tape, so S1=1 means original master tape, and S1=2 stands for a tape copy.
Pressings (between February 1978 and December 1985)
Pressing rings:
- 12"s/LPs: single narrow pressing ring of 20mm in diameter. The labels usually have GEMA and Made in West Germany or Made in Germany.
- 7"s: injection moulded in various colours, with a wide centre ring and a black ring around it. Made in W. Germany on the labels.
Stamper IDs:
- Stamped and tilted 90° to the left (e.g. Ш for E).
- One or two letters: A=1, B=2, C=3, ..., Z=26, AA=27, ..., AG=34, etc.
They should be added in the runout fields as A, AA, etc., without any orientation remarks in the runout or description fields. It is not required to add an additional Plated At along with Pressed By.
Contract pressings
- 0703.###: Used by PRS Hannover for Metronome (incl. sub-labels), MPS, MCA, etc., between 1979 and 1981. Do not add as LCCN numbers.
- "G15" (may appear as 615): contract pressings made by Polygram Industries Messageries for PRS Hannover.
- "V79" (often in combination with 020): contract pressings made by Sonopress for PRS Hannover in 1985.
Other specifics:
Labels carry "Made in West Germany" and German copyright text and GEMA: PRS Hannover was a full service provider for the German market, i.e., records were usually also pressed in Hannover. However, exceptions exist and therefore the plant should not be credited when one of the characteristics is missing.
All injection moulded 7"s from the Polydor and Philips families of labels, and carrying Made in Germany, were pressed by PRS Hannover (in Langenhagen).
Debossed colourless "PRS Hannover" stamp on the back cover. This does not mean that the cover was printed or pressed by PRS (many covers were printed by e.g., Gerhard Kaiser GmbH). The stamp was also used by PDO between 1986 and 1991. Do not credit with Printed By. This stamp is not a PPID.
Compact DiscsCD pressings (between September 1991 and December 1992):
(1) Matrix Symbol:
The cat# and stamper numbers are usually followed by a symbol, being either
# (hash)
+ (plus)
> (greater than)
* (asterisk)
/ (slash), or ˙/ (high dot and slash) or /. (slash and low dot)
(e.g. 825 245-2 02 +, 964 025-2 01 ˙/, etc.)
And
(2) Mould Text:
MADE IN GERMANY
And
(3a) Mould Letter:
Yx (ranging from YA to YZ) and/or
Y# (ranging from Y1 to Y9)
x(xx) - one or two single letters, starting from A.
Or
(3b) Matrix Letter, stamped to the right of the matrix string: Yx (e.g., YA), G, O, etc.
Important notes:
There were longer transition periods before the plant names became legally official and the machinery was adjusted, so please consider the following:
- Only add the plant when all three above mentioned indicators are found. If one indicator is missing, ask in this forum, if the other identifiers still allow for crediting the plant.
- If you are unsure about the actual release date, do not add the plant.
- Pressing identifiers can also appear later than December 1992 - there are known examples of PRS glass masters pressed several months later by PMDC. Any role should in these cases only be added with caution and when the dates are confirmed.
CD contract pressings:
- 5012x ### (e.g., 50126 980)
- 50127 ### (e.g., 50127 360)
Notes: the series were continued from PDO, so numbers must be higher than 50126 700 or higher than 50127 300.
The codes can be added as LCCN number for Pressed By.
Plant history:
"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 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 (since 1990 in Langenhagen).
The very first CD was pressed in August 1982 and commercial CD manufacturing commenced on August 17, 1982 in the Langenhagen plant. However, CDs are usually credited as "Made by Polygram, Hanover, West Germany" (between August 1982 and December 1985). Do not credit any CDs made between 1982 and 1990 to PRS Hannover!
In January 1986 (legally effective May 1986), the Recording Centre, both plants with all respective vinyl, cassette and CD manufacturing and the distribution activities are transferred to PDO, Germany (Philips And DuPont Optical GmbH).
When PolyGram regained control over the plants in 1991, the Recording Centre and the CD plant were transferred back to PolyGram Record Service GmbH (PRS Hannover). Werk I was subsequently closed and all respective vinyl pressing was outsourced to PRS Baarn or other plants (only lacquer cutting continued in the recording centre).
Renamed to PMDC, Germany, effective January 1993.
Previously operating as Phonodisc GmbH (until 1978) and PDO, Germany (until 1991).
