Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (Sony DADC) is a manufacturer of CDs,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

s, UMDs, and

Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...

s, operating numerous plants worldwide. While primarily serving

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

-owned

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

, and

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

, it also produces discs for other labels, home entertainment distributors, and video game publishers.

History

Sony DADC's first plant, located in

Terre Haute, IN Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

, opened on May 2, 1983, and produced its first CD,

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

's '' Born in the U.S.A.'', in September 1984. It was the first CD manufacturer in the United States and serves as the company's principal CD manufacturing facility and its research and development center. The plant was initially a subsidiary of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

/Sony

Group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

, but Sony acquired CBS's stake in October 1985. When

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

bought CBS Records in 1988, it acquired the company's manufacturing facilities, some of which later became part of Sony DADC. These included plants in Pitman, NJ (closed in 2011),

;

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada (closed in 2011);

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

(closed 2015);

Salzburg, Austria Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Alps mountains. The town occupies the site of the Roman settlement ...

;

Mumbai, India Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

; and

Manaus, Brazil Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2022 population of 2,063,689 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east centre of the st ...

. These plants were originally manufacturers of vinyl

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

s, later transitioning to CD manufacturing: Pitman in 1988, Manaus in 1992, and Toronto and Mexico City in 1994.

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

s, primarily 12-inch prints of feature films and concerts, were manufactured by Sony DADC in the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the laserdiscs made at DADC exhibit laser rot more than those from other manufacturers. Sony DADC currently manufactures the majority of CDs sold in the United States. In November 2008, the company acquired the American disc-manufacturing capabilities of Glenayre Technologies, which manufactured discs for

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. In the summer of 2009, the company assumed the physical distribution of

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

's North American operations. This left

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

as the only major label whose discs were not manufactured by the company, as its discs were manufactured by the operations of the former

WEA Manufacturing WEA Manufacturing was the record, tape, and compact disc manufacturing arm of WEA International Inc. from 1978 to 2003, when it was sold and merged into Cinram International, a previous competitor. The last owner when the plant closed was Techn ...

that were sold to

Cinram Cinram International was a Toronto, Canada-based manufacturer of pre-recorded Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, CD-Audio, CD-ROMs, VHS tapes and audio cassettes. It was an affiliate of the Arizona-based Najafi Companies. History Cinram was established i ...

. On August 8, 2011, a Sony DADC distribution center in Enfield was destroyed during the

2011 England riots A series of riots took place between 6 and 11 August 2011 in cities and towns across England, which saw looting and arson, as well as mass deployment of police and the deaths of five people. The protests started in Tottenham Hale, London, follo ...

. The warehouse was used by

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties aff ...

distributor

PIAS Entertainment Group PIAS is a Belgian corporation that specialises in independent music recording, licensing, distribution, sales, and marketing. The company was founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot in Brussels, Belgium,. Website] Play It Again, SamDiffe ...

to distribute CDs, LPs, and DVDs for over 100 European independent labels. The total stock loss in the fire was reported to be between 3.5 million and 25 million units. On January 17, 2018, the DADC plant in

, announced the layoff of 375 employees, shifting audio disc manufacturing to Arvato Entertainment, Sonopress. It was later determined that most audio discs would be manufactured by CDA Inc. Currently, the majority of audio discs manufactured for

US and

US are produced by CDA Inc, while packaging and assembly into

jewel case Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

s are completed in the US.

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

also sometimes assists in disc manufacturing for Universal Music Group US. On January 13, 2022, the DADC plant in

, announced the layoff of 100 employees, moving gaming and disc manufacturing capacity from Terre Haute to

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Austria. Assembly and distribution will remain in

Manufacturing plants

Manufacturing codes

Printed on the discs or packaging of Sony DADC-manufactured CDs are codes indicating master copies (matrix numbers) of discs. These codes begin with a 4-letter prefix followed by a series of digits. Common prefixes include the following: * DIDC – Classical recordings released on Sony-affiliated record labels. * DIDP – Popular (i.e., non-classical) recordings released on Sony-affiliated record labels. * DIDX – Recordings pressed by DADC for release on non-Sony-affiliated record labels. * DIDY – Recordings pressed by the US division of DADC for the

Columbia House Columbia House was an umbrella brand for Columbia Records' mail-order music clubs, the primary iteration of which was the Columbia Record Club, established in 1955. The Columbia House brand was introduced in the early 1970s by Columbia Records ...

Record Club. * DIDZ – Recordings released on

Japan (only used from 1983 to 1985). * CDRM - CD-ROM titles * LDVS - Standard Laserdiscs * LDTA - THX & AC-3 Laserdiscs * LDTX - THX Laserdiscs * LDAC - AC-3 Laserdiscs * DVSS - Single-layer DVDs * DVDL - Dual-layer DVDs * DDLD - "CD" side of DualDiscs * DDHD - DVD side of DualDiscs * AULD - "CD" side of DualDiscs containing DVD-Audio * AUHD - DVD side of DualDiscs containing DVD-Audio * SUSS - Single-layer Super Audio CDs * SUDL - Dual-layer Super Audio CDs * STLD or SULD - CD layer of hybrid Super Audio CDs * SUHD - Super Audio CD layer of hybrid Super Audio CDs * BVSS - Single-layer

s * BVDL - Dual-layer Blu-ray Discs * BHSS - Single-layer Hybrid Blu-ray Discs (discs containing both Blu-ray video and PlayStation 3 format software) * BHDL - Dual-layer Hybrid Blu-ray Discs (discs containing both Blu-ray video and PlayStation 3 format software) * USDL - Dual-layer

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...

Discs * USTL - Triple-layer Ultra HD Blu-ray discs * DRSS - DVD-ROM software titles * PSRM -

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

titles * PTRM -

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

CD-ROM titles * PDSS - PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM titles * PDDL - PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM Dual-layer titles * UPSS -

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

UMD Single-layer titles * UPDL - PlayStation Portable UMD Dual-layer titles * BPSS -

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

Blu-ray Disc Single-layer titles * BPDL - PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Dual-layer titles * B4SS -

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Blu-ray Disc Single-layer titles * B4DL - PlayStation 4 Blu-ray Disc Dual-layer titles * P5DL -

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Blu-ray Disc Dual-layer titles * P5TL - PlayStation 5 Blu-ray Disc Triple-layer titles

References

External links

Official Sony DADC−Digital Audio Disc Corporation website
{{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1983 Compact disc Electronics companies established in 1983 Electronics companies of Japan Manufacturing companies based in Indiana Manufacturing companies of Japan Digital Audio Disc Corporation Companies based in Terre Haute, Indiana

History

Manufacturing plants

Manufacturing codes

See also

References

External links