Скачать или смотреть Seeburg Music Library, Inc. - Matching Christmas Library - XMAS-3 (1970)

Hello, swimmers. Today we are diving into another record from the Seeburg Music Library, a catalog created for the BMS-1000 background music system that once filled stores, offices, and holiday displays with constant sound. These records were produced for commercial environments rather than home listening, which gives them a very distinct character and a place all their own in the history of recorded music. Settle in with your warm drink and let us glide through one more turn of this unusual format.

The Seeburg BMS-1000 used special seven inch discs that spun at 16⅔ rpm, which allowed each side to hold long, uninterrupted sequences of music. These records look similar to standard singles, but the playback experience is very different due to the slower speed, the tighter groove pitch, and the notch cut into the edge that signaled the system to advance to the next disc. Many releases also used enlarged or nonstandard spindle holes because the BMS mechanism grabbed and dropped records as part of its internal carousel. Since the system was never intended for consumer use, Seeburg pressed these discs through RCA Custom with labels that emphasized property rights, catalog numbers, and library identification rather than traditional album credits. Each disc cycled automatically in the machine, creating a continuous program without the need for staff to change sides or select tracks.

This particular record carries the matrix codes Z4AM-3256 on the side treated as A, and Z4AM-3257 on the side treated as B. These numbers identify the lacquer cut and internal production sequence used by RCA Custom when manufacturing the disc for Seeburg’s Matching Christmas Library. The music on these releases often alternates between holiday selections and gentle background pieces arranged to blend into commercial spaces. Although the BMS-1000 system faded from common use as technology shifted toward tape cartridges and digital systems, these records remain a fascinating artifact from a period when background sound was still a carefully engineered part of the retail experience. Their reduced speed, unique mechanical cues, and compressed dynamic range give them a sonic fingerprint that remains unlike any other format of the era. For collectors and archivists, they offer a rare glimpse at a hidden corner of mid century audio.

Thank you for swimming through another holiday groove with me. More Seeburg reels are on the way as we drift through December, so stay tuned as we explore each one from this unusual archive of seasonal background music. Keep your stylus clean, keep your spirits bright, and may your next listen arrive with the tide.