Music City Optical Media Inc. (MCOM) was a US optical disc manufacturing company with sales offices in New Jersey, Tennessee, and California, and centralized order processing and manufacturing in LaVergne Tennessee. The plant closed in 2008. The company had been in operation for about 15 years and offered a full line of CD and DVD replication, printing, packaging, and distribution services employing approx. 200 employees.
From early 2004 (approx.) until its closure, MCOM discs have "MCOM" stamped in microtype in the innermost hub/mould ring, opposite the Mould SID Code IFPI ZN**.
Prior to 2004 MCOM-manufactured CDs have no MCOM markings in the disc hub and also lack Mastering SID or Mould SID codes. These may still be credited to MCOM based on the matrix string, which remained consistent throughout MCOM's history, in the following format:
[matrix number] [release-specific information] [date code], where:
I. Matrix number is in the form NNNNNLL-NN (N=number, L=letter):
• NNNNN is a sequential job-number or work-order number. The 'NNNNNLL' portion should be entered in LCCN in the Cat# field with MCOM.
• AD is the LL suffix for most releases with NNNNN ≤37000± (approximate: early/mid 2000). Releases with -AM from that period appear to be replacement masters, but unless an -AD variant is also identified, these may be considered first pressings when the date-code corresponds to the release date.
• AM is the LL suffix for most releases after NNNNN≥37000± or early/mid 2000.
• MCOM releases prior to 1997 (NNNNN≤17000±) are not well documented but the standard suffix for these appears to have been a single letter A.
• -BM and -CM, etc. suffixes are normally assigned to disks 2 and 3, etc. of multiple-CD sets, but examples of "BM" on single-disk releases may designate replacement masters [BM="B-master"?]: compare datecodes to © dates to clarify.
* Trailing digits -NN are usually -01
II. The second segment, "release-specific information", is usually the catalog number of the release from the issuing label.
III. The date-code was assigned at the creation of the 'son' or 'stamper' rather than at the date of the glass master itself, so while the date-code corresponds roughly to the date of manufacture, it does not definitively correspond to the date of the original master (as perhaps in the case where earlier dates not yet have been entered into the Database).
• In or around early 2004 the datecode format changes from YYDDMM (<2004) to MMDDYY (≥2004), although the YYDDMM format occurs on occasional 2004+ releases as well.
Date information, Re-pressings and Reissues:
• Except for the later numbers of any given calendar year, MCOM's NNNNN sequence may be taken in combination with © dates, etc., as corroborative for year-of-release.
• The NNNNN sequence can also be used determinatively to rule out an earlier release date.
* NNNNN catalog/work-order numbers from 36000 to 39100 may have either AD or AM because different projects proceeded on varying schedules and the suffix was added at the glass-mastering stage rather than at the work-order date. Datecodes should provide additional guidance.
LCCN roles:
The 'NNNNNLL' portion should be entered in LCCN in the Cat# field for MCOM.
• Pressed By - with 'MCOM' stamped in disc hub.
• Pressed By - with matrix string NNNNNLL-NN [Label cat#] [datecode]-NN matrix string AND SID mould code IFPI ZN**.
• Made By - with matrix string NNNNNLL-NN [Label cat#] [YYDDMM datecode]-NN matrix string but without SID mould codes.
Do not give a Pressed By credit based solely on the ZN** Mould SID, as the ZN** SID was used by other manufacturer(s) that took over MCOM's equipment after MCOM closed in 2008.
Do not assign any MCOM credit when the MCOM stamp occurs on 2009 and later pressings: these also seem to be the result of inherited equipment. (Notes can explain that after MCOM's 2008 closure its equipment remained in use by other/unidentified manufacturers.)
Please note:
• It is uncertain if/when MCOM began manufacturing glass masters in-house, therefore the Glass Mastered At role should be avoided.
• All discs with MCOM markings or standard matrix strings appear to have been pressed by MCOM, but when SID codes are absent it is impossible to be certain.
