Commercial, Industrial, Product-Promotional & PSA

While all records are commercial products and many are "promotional" (advance copies), only some records are purely advertising vehicles for non-record products. Records produced to help the Waffle House chain sell more waffles, for instance, are supposed to have no commercial appeal [as musical recordings] themselves. The Waffle House regular who hears the same jingles every morning probably loves or hates them.

It is tempting to believe that more attractive products will have better records, but that is not always the case. Often the joy is in discovering how absurdly overly enthusiastic the shill is about the most mundane of products. Some interesting records are of tours of factories that make extremely tedious parts. The various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces made quite a lot of records for recruitment purposes (see separate page). Most are totally square and dated, some are interesting and timeless, and a handful are on the wantlists of funk deejays.

Commerce records sometimes overlap with documentary and field-production records. Major historic events, for instance, may involve an invention or exploratory milestone (such as a nuclear submarine crossing the polar ice cap for the first time). And there are many records devoted to train sounds. While there is no commodity to buy, a consumer market for such intangibles as travel or train enthusiasm (or even model railroading) is being served. Recordings of "sounds of nature" may promote environmental awareness or relaxation. And there is even "music to grow plants by."

The "PSA" (Public Service Announcement) is a special form of advertisement deemed non-profit and in the public interest. Federal Government agencies, for instance, issue advice on preventing forest fires, not littering, hiring the handicapped, etc. The relationship between PSAs and product promos is close, with much overlap in content and style. Both are "filler" between sets of music or talk, and both typically use the same formats (usually compact-33 but also 45). Like the product promo, the groovier PSA will try to appeal to its target audience through use of trendy background music (e.g., "School House Rock").

Buying: Product-promo and PSA vinyl is not for the faint of heart. Most examples predictably are rare. Some can be found only where bottom-of-the-barrel records are sold. The price will be right.