Pathé Marconi EMI, Chatou

French vinyl pressing and tape manufacturing plant. Operating under this name from 1972 until February 1990.
Previously operating as Pathé Marconi, Chatou

The Chatou plant as of March 1972 included 40 manual presses for LP records and 6 for singles, replaced by automatic presses by December 1972, which were manufactured and previously developed by ultimate parent Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI) and worked on the compression principle. The plant also included a large research laboratory which studied e.g. the most efficient mixes of raw materials and systems to control the thickness of masters with the aid of beta rays.

Vinyl matrix schemes :
Mx ######
Mx ###### y

where x is the format identifier :
'3' for 7" and 10"
'6' for 12" or LP
'9' for DMM 12" or LP (between 1984 and 1990)

and where y is a number, the meaning is unknown at this point.

The 6 digit numeral code is a unique plant identifier and can normally be added as LCCN number with Pressed By. However, it should be noted that Pathé Marconi EMI occasionally also serviced foreign sister companies from the EMI Group without full manufacturing capacities or in order to satisfy demand. When a release explicitly states it was made outside of , this indicates a local pressing using Chatou plates, in those cases please credit with Mastered At.

Only enter the 6 digits, without the Mx, y, commas, dashes or blanks.

Usually (but not always) both runouts share the first 5 digits and the last one is incremented.
Example : Deep Purple - Machine Head
284890
284891

Various other strings can be found beside this matrix scheme, referring to the label's cat# or other mastering information. They shall not be entered as LCCN information.

Note on PART :
The actual meaning of this string is not yet clear but the strings allow to further identify the medium, format, and other information.
1. XPART indicates Vinyl mono
2. YPART indicates Vinyl stereo.
3. PARTX indicates 30 cm

There are :
X PARTE = Mono Vinyl 7" 33rpm
7 PART = 7" Vinyl 45rpm (Mono) - 2 tracks
7E PART = 7" Vinyl EP 45rpm Mono - 2 to 7 tracks
7X PART = 7" Mono Vinyl 45rpm - 2 tracks
7Y PART = 7" Stereo Vinyl 45rpm - 2 tracks
7YE PART = 7" Stereo Vinyl EP 45rpm - 4 tracks
Y PARTE = 7" Vinyl Stereo 33 EP - more than 2 tracks
X PARTX = Mono Vinyl 12"/ LP
Y PARTX = Stereo Vinyl 12"/ LP

Besides PART, there's also CT or ECT on some records :
7CT = Vinyl 7"
7ECT = Vinyl 7"

Pressing rings of their 12” : 28,5 mm to 31 mm diameter, which were changed with a single 33 mm ring on both sides, later.

Vinyl manufacturing ended on February 28, 1990 - the last record pressed was called "La Derniere Cire" ("The Last Wax").
Cassette manufacturing started 1972 and lasted until the final closure in 1992.
The plant was closed down in 1992 and demolished in 2004.