[rcag_ils]

why there are holes in the corner of DJ lps?

[Bob in St. Louis]

For the same reason some CD jewel cases have what look like saw cuts in them?
Somebody is marking them as some sort of second hand, non-returnable, red-headed-stepchild, never to be sold at full retail sort of thing.

But that's just a guess.

[MaxCast]

those are promo's.  given to radio stations, etc. not for retail sale.

[PSB Guy]

Back when we had record stores, these were called "cut-outs", they were previously returned stuff that was sold at a discount. Sigh, getting misty-eyed.

Cornelis

[FullRangeMan]

those are promo's.  given to radio stations, etc. not for retail sale.

In my country these holes also are used to identify promo free samples;

[Devil Doc]

Cut-outs are discontinued records, sold by distribution companies to B$Ms at a significant discount. This was done to prevent the unscrupulous record stores from selling them at full price or worse, returning them for full wholesale. There's a lot of thieves in the music business. Promos are a completely different thing. They were distributed to radio stations and have a white label, and supposedly not for sale.

Doc

[rcag_ils]

I understand cut-out were discounted. I am talking about the radio station promo, they have no cut out slot, or clipped corner, always a small hole. Radio station promo don't always have white label, some are just regular LPs, my guess is at the later stage of the LP era, record companies shut down the white label department to save cost. Am I correct?

We need someone who know the history of record companies. I've heard bits and pieces, but I don't want to post what I've heard, the info may not be correct.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I don't want to post what I've heard, the info may not be correct.

Oh come on, go ahead. This is the internet after all, you could tell us you're an expert in the industry. 

[no1maestro]

I share St. Louis with Bob and I can help a bit. In the later years of the LP each company ran it's own rules. Promos came w/wo white or other non-normal labels. Some promos had promo stickers, some had embossed covers, some had corners lopped off while others had a drill hole. Distributors often did the "saw" notch on them. No one wanted them returned. I got many from company reps with all of the above varieties. Some were given to radio, some to folks like me , a buyer, and many more were sold to dealers for discount sale but not for return.
 Many of the Mercurys given to me were stamped with "inspected by" and a number. I always assumed that these had been returned and not for sale. In the last years gold embossing or stamping was popular but by then all rules were off and it was every company for themselves.
 
I hope this helps but I suspect that no one has all the correct answers.

[rcag_ils]

From what I've heard, there were three LPs manufacturing facilities in the country back in the days, two at the east coast, one at the west coast. New York, Pennsylvania and California. They all have machines to manufacture just the radio station promo LPs (white label with track list on the cover). In the late 70's, when CD about come onto the market, LP companies start shutting down some machines to save cost and to prepare for the CDs. Hence the radio station promo LPs from the late 70's only had a gold stamp on the cover with a regular LP inside. White label were no more. These facilities also made the jukebox 45 with the "gripping circle" in the center. That's the story I've heard.