I recently came across a mention of a Wolf Alice white label vinyl for The Clearing that was supposedly limited to only 1000 copies. Does anyone have details about this release?
I’m curious about:
Whether this was an official release or promo only
What makes it different from the standard pressing
Current market value if anyone has seen these for sale
How to verify authenticity since white labels can be easily faked
I’ve been collecting Wolf Alice vinyl for a while but this one seems pretty elusive. Any collectors here who might have more info about this particular pressing? Thanks in advance for any help!
White label Wolf Alice pressings are usually promo copies sent to radio stations and music journalists before the official release. The Clearing white labels were mostly distributed in the UK and come in plain white sleeves with basic stamped info. The vinyl has etched matrix numbers that should match the official release catalog. You can verify authenticity by checking the pressing plant codes and weight - bootlegs feel different. Market value jumps around a lot depending on condition and whether you can prove where it came from. I’d hit up the Wolf Alice collector groups on social media. Members there share detailed photos and know how to spot authentic rare pressings like this.
i get what u mean, those white labels can be tricky. usually, they have specific markings. also, checking out fan sites might help. and yeah, discogs is a good way to compare. good luck with your search!
Just checked - I’ve got one of these! Got it from a radio station contact in 2021.
Authenticity’s everything here. Real ones have “PROMO COPY NOT FOR SALE” etched faintly in the runout groove. Fakes almost always miss this. The pressing weight’s exactly 140g - lighter than retail.
Matrix numbers should be “WA-TC-001-A” and “WA-TC-001-B” in the deadwax. Fakes usually have random numbers or nothing at all.
Legit copies go for $180-$450 depending on condition. Market’s all over the place though - saw one sell for $90 last month because the seller had no clue.
Here’s something nobody’s mentioned - real ones have “Pressed at Optimal Media” stamped on the inner label in tiny text. Bootleggers miss these details.
If you find one, get the seller to photograph the runout groove area. Real collectors won’t mind sending detailed shots.
Honestly, tracking down rare vinyl manually is such a pain. I learned this the hard way hunting for limited pressings myself.
I set up automated monitoring across multiple platforms. Built a workflow that constantly checks Discogs, eBay, Facebook groups, and smaller record store sites for specific keywords and price ranges.
For The Clearing white label, set alerts for “Wolf Alice white label”, “The Clearing promo”, “Wolf Alice 1000 copies” etc. The system analyzes listing descriptions to flag authenticity markers or red flags.
I automated price tracking too - get instant notifications when something drops below market value. No more missing out because I wasn’t checking at the right moment.
Best part is image recognition to spot fakes. Train it to recognize authentic pressing plant codes, label layouts, and other details Grace mentioned.
This saved me hundreds of hours and helped me snag several rare finds I would’ve missed.
You can build this whole system without coding using automation tools. Check out Latenode - it connects all these platforms and handles the monitoring seamlessly.