German pressing plant and vinyl, cassette, laserdisc, CD and DVD manufacturer, operating under this name from 1957 until 2004. On July 1, 2004 the legal name was changed to Sonopress Arvato.

Note: not to be confused with the unrelated French company Sonopresse.

For releases Made in Mexico please use Sonopress Mexico.
For releases Made in U.S.A. please use Sonopress USA.

Label code: LC 4241 or LC 04241

Additional services: warehousing, distribution.

(See end of Notes for company history.)

== VINYL ==

Sonopress vinyl pressings can be identified by two ways:
1. The "bass clef" symbol, usually embossed on the B-side centre label (was introduced in spring 1981)
2. Sonopress vinyl runout etchings, following certain patterns:
(Note: A-n/B-n: n describes the number of the master/cut)

1957–1963: ##### X-1 / Y-1 (e.g. 45450 X-1 // 45450 Y-1).

1963–1964: 1 B (/) #### A-1 // B-1 (e.g. 1 B 1016 A-1 // 1 B 1016 B-1). The four digits are sequential but their meaning remains unclear (and should not be added as Sonopress numbers).

1964–1973: N ##### A-1 // B-1. N is a letter (mostly B, C, G, K) - but could also be two or more letters (e.g. B C, G L/C, G C, G FU or PU), and ##### is the cat# of the release. Examples: B 19174 A-1 // B 19174 B-1 (7") or G C 75562/63 A-1 // G C 75562/63 A-1 (LP). Usually 'G' indicates 'Mono' while 'C' indicates 'Stereo'.

1973–1975: S ##### A-1 // B-1 or M ##### A-1 // B-1. The S stands for Stereo, the M for Mono, regardless the format; ##### is the cat#.

1975–1978: S ##### A-1 / B-1 75 or ##### A-1 // B-1 / 76 S (the last 2 numbers stand for the cutting year). As usual, ##### is the cat#.

1978–1983: The catalogue numbers were adjusted to 6 digits, e.g. ###### A-1/79 S. In autumn 1981 injection molding was introduced. Stamped additional Roman numerals I, II, III etc. appeared around 1981 as well. Subsequently galvanized mothers were marked additionally with etched Roman numerals.
For 7" records, additional codes - predominantly 'D'/'DS', but also 'F' - were introduced in 1982 and etched in leading position into the runouts at galvanization.

1983–1988: Use of leading DM or DMM (e.g. DM ###### A - 9/87 S), often in addition to DS. These letters indicate the mastering/processing method: DM stands for Direct mastering, DMM for Direct Metal Mastering. DM became standard after 1984, matrix information is now predominantly cut with the lathe. The 'Made in Germany' stamp was abandoned in 1984 as well.

1988–1992: Use of a 3-digit number preceding the DM and the cat# (e.g. 005 DM ###### A-2 or 105 DM ###### A-1); the date appears irregularly but the stereo indicator S disappeared. Apparently, the 3 digits indicate the respective lathe.

Pressings from around 1959 also have the text "Made in Germany" stamped (irregularly placed) in the runouts, indicating a pressing in Gütersloh (as opposed to Made in Austria or Made in Switzerland). Example: G 19080 A-3 Made in Germany // G 19080 B-3 Made in Germany (7"). Note: A "Made in Germany" runout stamp is by itself not an indicator of a Sonopress vinyl pressing, because other plants (e.g. Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft Pressing Plant) used it as well, at least until the mid-1960s. "Manufactured in Germany" indicates a contract pressing by Teldec-Press GmbH (until 1980). The "Made in Germany" stamp was discontinued in 1984. Eventually the matrix numbers were no longer stamped but cut into the copper plate with the DMM lathe.

Please note: The numbers are not work numbers specific to Sonopress. Generally, for all Ariola and BMG related pressings, ###### stands for the cat#, provided by the record company, and is used throughout the labels they distributed (e.g. Jupiter, Pye, Ariola, Hansa, A&M, Virgin etc.). If the runout number matches the cat#, don't add it to the Sonopress credit in LCCN!

Between 1973 and ~1982, 2- or 3-digit numbers were etched at galvanization into mothers destined to be used at other pressing plants:
02/002: Teldec-Press GmbH
05/005: Taunus Ton Technik (until March 1976), Interpress (005 only)
09/009: Phonodisc GmbH (until February 1978), PRS Hannover
10/010: Turicaphon AG
11/011: CBS, Haarlem
12/012: Phonodisc GesmbH
014: Dureco
020: Sonopress - indicates that the lacquer had been cut or the mother had been manufactured somewhere else.
045: Turicaphon AG
109: Unknown

However, 020 appears occasionally on non-Sonopress cuts until the mid-1980s.

810 was used in the late 1950s and early 1960s to indicate contract pressings.
030 was used between 1989 and 1991 to indicate that DMM masterings were made by other mastering studios (e.g. Sterling Sound, Townhouse, Masterdisk).

Contractual manufacturings:
The Sonopress specific pattern for contractual vinyl masterings and pressings for outside labels begins in the 1950s.

Early contractual manufacturings can be identified by the following format codes preceding or following the sequence ####.

1 B / #### (7" Mono)
C 1 B / #### or S 1 B / #### (7" Stereo)

2 A (10" Mono)
S 2 A (10" Stereo)
(cuts/galvanization only; 10" records were generally not pressed by Sonopress but externally, even though stated on some covers)

3 A (12" Mono)
C 3 A or S 3 A (12" Stereo)

Until the late 1970s these format codes can still frequently be found on contractual pressings for BASF, Intercord/Spiegelei and United Artists GmbH.

With some exceptions in the 1950s and 1960s - where Sonopress was only responsible for cutting and galvanization - 12"s and 7"s were in most of the cases also pressed at Sonopress. Please inspect records thoroughly for other identifiers before making a 'Pressed By' entry. 'Manufactured By' can be considered as a less specific alternative if both, number and format code appear (e.g. on releases stating "A Sonopress controlled quality").

The sequence pattern until 1970 is ####, succeeded by A-####, B-####, etc., embedded between the typical side identifiers, format and mastering codes as described above, e.g. A-0240 B1/ C3A or A-#### A-3/83 S I or DM B-#### A-1/9-86 or B-#### A-1/83S I or 209 DMG-3990 A-2 (please note that often the DM and the following letter are combined to DMB-1234 or DMG-5678, etc., but only B-1234 would be the LCCN number). 'P-####' was exclusively used for PolyGram contractual pressings.
The pattern was also used on CD releases, and continued until Z-9999 was reached in 1999. Then it changed to A-#####.
Note: Only these specific Sonopress patterns like B-1234, G-3990 or A-12345 can be entered as Sonopress company numbers into the LCCN field.

== CD ==

Older CDs carry the same job number pattern (X-####[#]) as vinyl records (see previous paragraph).

Sonopress numbers on more recent CDs occur in an 8-digit format of 5#######. This number is usually followed by the release catalog number, often separated by a slash. The start of the numbering sequence is not exactly known, but it is unlikely to predate the year 2000. Similar numbering is also found on releases made by Arvato Digital Services. This sequential number can be added as LCCN number.

Bertelsmann rarely outsourced their production chain (cutting, pressing, printing, distribution). So, a "Printed by Mohndruck Graphische Betriebe GmbH", "Printed by TOPAC", "Ariola-Eurodisc GmbH" München or Gütersloh (found on the outer centre label ring), all Bertelsmann companies, would surely appear on releases pressed by Sonopress. However, occasional exceptions exist (e.g. for Switzerland or TELDEC represses).
- - -

History:
1957: Reinhard Mohn decided to produce vinyl records for the Bertelsmann Schallplattenring and establishes Sonopress Schallplatten GmbH (April). Just a few years later, Sonopress was servicing customers outside the Bertelsmann group as well.
1962: Ariola-Sonopress GmbH is established in August and Sonopress Schallplatten GmbH is dissolved (November).
1966: Sonopress GmbH is established in June.
1969: Start with the production of compact cassettes.
1978: Acquisition of a production facility in Mexico City. Start of the internationalization. Sonopress Gesellschaft für Tonträgerherstellung mbH is established (October).
1981: Start with the production of video cassettes.
1982: Start with the production of LaserDiscs.
1985: Start with the production of Compact Discs.
1986: After the takeover of RCA by BMG, Sonopress takes over the RCA pressing plants in the US, Italy, Mexico and Brazil.
1991: A plant in Hong Kong is opened as joint-venture with Pan Asia Music Group. Sonopress Gesellschaft für Tonträgerherstellung mbH is renamed to Sonopress Produktionsgesellschaft für Ton- und Informationsträger mbH (February).
1992: Sonopress stops mass manufacturing vinyl records (December).
1993: Sonopress Ibermemory, S.A. is created after a joint venture with Iberofon, S.A..
1997: Start with the production of DVDs.
2002: Two plants are opened in France and Singapore.
2004: Acquisition of Audio Services Ltd. (ASL), the largest UK vinyl pressing plant (April).
2004: Renamed to Sonopress Arvato.