Cirque du Soleil’s music has been released on a variety of labels over the years. Didyaknow you can tell which label released what title?
This is often tricky to determine at face value, as generally the album cover artwork, insert booklet contents and general packaging visuals did not change from label to label (although the recent incarnations by Cirque du Soleil Musique do sport changes in visual), but differences can be discerned by examining the album’s catalog number, located on the spine of the album or on the album’s back cover.
This number will generally be displayed in a string of letters and numbers, hyphenated into three sections: a prefix, a selection code (often also denoting the product number) and a suffix. The album’s prefix helps determine the lablel and the suffix helps determine in what medium the album was released.
All RCA/Victor releases are denoted with a Catalog Number prefix of 09026. Example: Mystère Live (09026-68596-2) Also note that the suffix (-2) denotes a Compact Disc release. There are also (-1) Vinyl and (-4) Cassette notations where applicable. An RCA/Victor Logo is also promanently displayed on the album visual.
All BMG/CDS Musique releases are denoted with a Catalog Number prefix of 40000 or 74321. The suffix here is omitted as all releases were in Compact Disc format. A Cirque du Soleil Musique logo is promenantly displayed on the album back cover.
All Cirque du Soleil Musique releases are denoted with a Catalog Prefix combination explained as follows:
-
Prefix:
C Cirque
D du
S Soleil
M Musique
C Core Music (Show Music)
N New Music
J Jewel Case
D Digipak
P Promo
L Limited Edition
Selection:
10 Canadian Release (Zing)
20 US Release (RED)
xxx Product ID
Suffix:
-1 Vinyl
-2 CD
-4 Cassette
Therefore, as an example, the Saltimbanco (2005) album is denoted: CDSMCJ-10005-2 in Canada and CDSMCJ-20005-2 in the United States accordingly.
{ Source: The Cirque FAQ by Richasi }
