I've recently received several CD's from the USA with small round holes cut into the bar codes what's the reason for that ? Any info would be most welcome.
Something about preventing re-sale via scanning, but I can't remember, exactly. I know I bought a lot of CDs on eBay 20 years ago with those holes. I don't mind them at all, and if I could get the item a few bucks cheaper, all the better. Those were the days.
Those CDs are called "cut-outs" because they have been cut out of the catalog of in-print releases by the label. The cut-out bar code tells the seller and the customer that they are not to be sold at full price, but discounted instead. They used to do something similar back in the LP (pre-bar-code) days. They would notch the album cover, clip its corner, or sometimes even drill a small hole through the actual label area of the record (a little off-center). For cassette tapes, they would burn a small hole into the case.
