Promo Discs

I know that some promo cd's come in jewel cases but only have the back tray insert and no cover. Those that have the back insert have the band name and album title spine paper, right?

I have a a copy of Vader's Impressions In Blood and it as you described. The disc is plain white with the title and band name in black - hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply, Thelemech. I guess my question is more to do with the tray art. If it has tray art then it should have a spine. I just don't like having something in the row of cd's and it is blank. I can do without the front cover art as it's in there sideways anyway.

All of the cover-less promos that I have included full back covers with spine. I am sure there are exceptions, but all of the major label promos without covers seem to be like that.

Cool. Thanks, WF. After reading your blog the other day I started searching around for some more promos and I saw a lot w/out front covers.

That's weird.  I think 95% of the promo CDs I have look just like the regular CDs except there's a warning about it being a promo copy stamped/embossed on the front page of the CD booklet. 

The used CD place where I used to buy all these used to have DJs come in all the time and "sell" their promo copies for store credit so I have a ton of promo copies.  Of course like all the other "ma and pa" shops this store discontinued its used CD sales a long time ago so I have no idea what promo copies look like these days.

I have a few like you described, toho, and I have a few in cheap cardboard slipcases. I don't mind missing front cover art as much as I hate not having a back insert that shows the info on the spine.

I have tons of them, some have a front cover, most don't. The ones that do are 90's CD promos from CMC International Records. But the ones on major labels have no front and are either slim-case with nothing or an insert of some type.

I've accumulated a whole mess o' promo CDs in my travels over the years.

Some are the same as the full retail version, except with the word PROMOTIONAL COPY stamped across the CD or the front of the booklet (or a hole punched in the UPC code). I've got others that came in in plain cardboard sleeves or paper envelopes with the band's name/album title attached by a sticker , and some in cardboard sleeves with front cover art and PR/hype bullsh*t on the back.

I imagine that the type of promo copies depended on the record label, the band, and the size of the marketing budget for that release.

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I have no idea what promo copies look like these days.

Physical promo CDs are a thing of the past. Nowadays if you're lucky they send you a ZIP file containing MP3s of the album tracks and a PDF of the cover artwork and a press release. Otherwise, you're given a link to a special secret "listening area" on the band's/label's web site so you can listen to a streaming version of the album. It's just not the same!!

I figured they were kind of a thing of the past; especially with the rise in vinyl sales. I get why the ones from the 80's were done to send to radio stations and record stores for promotion but I always sort of likened them to "cassette singles" or "45's" in that they are somewhat redundant unless there is bonus content exclusive to that release. Or maybe they are purely for collectors? Or DJ's?
I had a few "cassingles" back in the day, but only for those bands I wasn't totally sold on yet, or wanted only that one song and not the whole album. I see a lot on NLTM and Scott says they are pre release or advance. I wonder the point of it for a band on album 5 or 6 like Helloween or Blind Gaurdian. If you are already a fan and are buying the new album anyway then a promo is sort of superfluous. Maybe in Europe or Japan these are big sellers? And here in the States they are not.
Anyway, thanks for the replies, bruthas.