Vinyl glossary
Updated 30 Sep 2026
Terms you’ll come across on sleeves, in online shops and in second-hand listings. If you’re just starting, see also how to start with vinyl.
Formats
LP
Long Play: a regular album on a 12-inch (30 cm) record, played at 33⅓ revolutions per minute. One side holds about 20 minutes of music; a longer side needs a narrower groove, and the sound suffers.
2LP
An album on two records. Longer albums are spread over more discs so that each side has enough room and sounds better. They often come in a fold-out sleeve (gatefold).
EP
Extended Play: fewer tracks than an album, more than a single. Comes on 7" and 12" records.
Single
A 7-inch (17 cm) record, usually with one track per side, played at 45 revolutions per minute.
12" single
A single on a large 12-inch record, often with remixes and at 45 rpm. Typical for dance music: a wide groove at 45 rpm plays louder and is easier for DJs to work with.
33⅓ and 45 rpm
The speeds records play at: LPs at 33⅓, singles at 45. Some audiophile albums are cut at 45 for better sound. The speed is always printed on the sleeve or the label.
180g
The weight of the record. A regular LP weighs 120 to 140 g; a 180-gram one is thicker. It warps less and feels more solid, but doesn’t guarantee better sound by itself – that depends on the mastering and the pressing.
Coloured vinyl
A record made of coloured plastic instead of black. Labels give the variants their own names (such as “Moonstone Blue Marbled”), with effects like marble or splatter. Today’s coloured records mostly sound the same as black ones, sometimes with slightly more surface noise.
Picture disc
A record with an image inside the playing surface. Mostly a collector’s item: because of the layers it’s made of, it usually has more surface noise than a regular record.
Releases
First pressing
The first batch of records made when an album was originally released. Collectors recognise it by the catalogue number, the label and the codes in the runout groove. For old albums it’s usually the most valuable.
Reissue
A new release of an older album, years later, often with a new master, a new catalogue number and sometimes bonus tracks.
Repress
Another production run of the same release once the first batch sells out. It usually has the same catalogue number and barcode; the colour of the record, for example, may differ.
Remaster
A new mastering from the original recordings. It can sound better or worse than the original release, depending on who did it and how.
Limited edition
A release made in a fixed number of copies, sometimes numbered on the sleeve. Once it sells out, it’s only available second-hand.
Record Store Day
An annual day for independent record shops, held every April since 2008. Limited releases come out for it and are sold only in participating shops. There’s a smaller Black Friday edition in November.
Half-speed master
A release whose lacquer was cut at half speed. The cutting stylus has more time, so the groove tends to be more precise. Mostly found on audiophile releases.
AAA
Every step from recording through mixing to mastering was analogue, with no digital stage in between. Some audiophile labels use the mark.
Test pressing
The first few copies from the pressing plant, used to approve the sound before production. They usually have a plain white label and are valued by collectors.
Bootleg
A record released without the consent of the artist or the label. The sound quality varies a lot, and the money doesn’t go to the artist.
On the sleeve and the record
Catalogue number
The number the label gave the release, printed on the spine of the sleeve and on the label. It tells apart the different releases of the same album.
Barcode
The EAN or UPC code on the back of the sleeve. Every release has its own, so it finds exactly the record you’re after.
Gatefold
A fold-out sleeve that opens like a book. Common for double albums and special editions, often with photos or lyrics inside.
Inner sleeve
The sleeve the record sits in inside the outer sleeve. Paper ones scratch records; anti-static ones are gentler.
Obi
A paper strip down the left edge of Japanese releases, with the title in Japanese. Collectors value it; a record without it is worth less.
Runout groove
The smooth band between the last track and the label. It carries codes engraved by the pressing plant and the mastering engineer, which tell which pressing a record comes from.
Turntable
Cartridge
The part at the end of the tonearm that turns the stylus’s movement into an electrical signal. MM cartridges are the most common and have a replaceable stylus; MC ones sound more detailed but have a weaker signal, need a preamp that supports them, and usually can’t have their stylus replaced at home.
Stylus
The tip of the cartridge that follows the groove. It usually lasts a few hundred hours of play. A worn stylus distorts and damages records.
Tracking force
How hard the stylus presses on the record, in grams. The cartridge maker gives the right value, around 2 g for common ones. It’s set with the counterweight at the back of the tonearm.
Anti-skate
A setting that balances the force pulling the tonearm towards the centre of the record as it plays. Without it, the stylus presses harder on one side of the groove.
Phono preamp
A device that boosts the weak signal from the cartridge and corrects it so a regular amplifier can use it. It can be built into the turntable, into the amplifier (a PHONO input) or be a separate box.
Record condition
M, NM, VG+, VG
The scale second-hand sellers use to grade a record and its sleeve. M (mint) is new, NM (near mint) close to new, VG+ plays well with light signs of use, VG has audible crackle, and G or worse isn’t much good for listening.
Warp
A record that isn’t flat. The stylus copes with a slight warp; a bigger one is audible as wobbling pitch. It’s caused by heat or by storing records flat.