I’ve only just seen this thread as I do t come on that often.
I produce proper printed white label promos for “some” of my releases. Not all of them.
I do them to send out to DJ’s, radio stations, magazines etc. And, yes, also to sell as a limited edition collectors item at a premium.
I can’t speak for any other label, but I do no more than 10% of the production run as promos.
in the case of the latest album I put out last month - Garcia Walker & Durrell. There were 50 promo copies made. Over half of these went out to press, radio, bloggers etc. Most of the rest were sold at £30 instead of the normal £20 retail price. Got a couple left if anyone’s interested?
I see nothing wrong with the practice, and neither, it seems, do the vinyl buying public.
Also. To produce a promo with a proper printed label is more expensive than the regular stock copies. You have to get the same number of labels printed (500 pairs). I also had stickers for the album sleeve too. You have to pay an additional origination charge etc. And there is a small run charge from the pressing plant. They have to change over the labels and charge for the privilege
until