Beatles' Canadian promotional L.P.'s

It was Capitol of Canada's practice to issue stock L.P.'s as promotional copies to radio stations and reviewers.  Only one Canadian Beatles' L.P.'s, "Reel Music" was issued with a special promotional designation.  In Canada 2000 copies of this album were issued in yellow vinyl with an embossed sequential number on the back cover. 

Copies of "The Beatles 1962-1966" and "Hollywood Bowl" have been found with a "Promotional Copy For Broadcast Only" Capitol sticker adhered to the cover.  The sticker has been found on a number of "Hollywood Bowl" covers indicating it is a genuine promotional album.  One copy of the Beatles' "1962 - 1966" compilation album has been found with this sticker, however, the sticker may have been added by a third party.

    
A number of 1970's and 1980's re-issue L.P.'s have been found with a "Sample Copy Not For Sale" stamped on the front or back cover.  However, it is likely this stamp was added by a third party and not by Capitol Records.

George Martin's "Help" instrumental album has been found with a promotional stamp on the back cover as have copies of the United Artists album "A Hard Days' Night".  Again, it is difficult to determine if these stamps were added by the record company or by a third party.

Fantasy Canadian Promotional "Yesterday and Today" L.P.  

Beginning in the later 1970's record companies began identifying promotional copies with a "hole" punched through the L.P. cover.  The punch holes were both small and large. 

At times deleted or discounted albums were given a similar punch hole making it difficult to distinguish between a possible promotional copy and a deleted copy. In Canada some deleted L.P.'s were identified with a small round punch hole through the cover, with Yellow submarine on the Apple label being a common example.

The most common deleted L.P.'s appear to be late 1970's and early  1980's purple label releases which were marked with a delete "cut" in the edge of the cover.  

Deleted albums with a punch hole are sometimes sold as promotional copies with a premium value. However, it is often difficult to determine if the record is a promotional copy or a deleted copy and really not worthy of a premium value.  

A few stock copy Canadian Beatles albums released in the 1980's, including "Hollywood Bowl", were distributed as promotional copies as they included multi-page media releases. Some copies of the Anthology series were distributed with a "Press Release" folder that included background information, biographs, photographs and badges. 

EMI Music Canada promotional tape for Anthology I