TypeTalk: Must-Have Symbols for Audio Packaging

Q. I need a sound recording copyright symbol (the letter P in a circle) for a CD cover I’m designing. I can’t find one anywhere. Can you help?
A. I can! But first, a little explanation for those readers who haven’t yet encountered this situation. The sound recording copyright symbol is similar to the copyright or register symbol and is an internationally recognized symbol of protection of a recording. The P originally stood for “phonograph” or “phono recording,” but today it encompasses all audio-recording technology.
If you look closely at a CD’s or DVD’s packaging, you’ll probably see a tiny circle P in the fine print.
Typefaces with their own circle Ps are far and few between. The most common are Microsoft’s Webdings (a font included with many browsers), Lucida Grande (a Mac OS X system font), and Lucida Sans Unicode (preinstalled on Microsoft Windows versions since Windows 98).
Figure 1. Both Webdings and Lucida Grande have circle Ps, as shown in the glyph palette.

One foundry that does include circle Ps in most of its OpenType fonts is Terminal Design. James Montalbano of Terminal Design has been including circle Ps in most of his. He says, “Given that piracy is such an important issue for type designers, I don’t understand why this glyph isn’t present in every modern font.”
Figure 2. Terminal Design’s Tangent includes the circle P. The glyph palette is the best way to locate circle Ps, as their location varies from font to font.

If you need several of the symbols used in audio packaging, check out Combi Symbols.
You can also create your own circle P as a graphic and insert it in your design (a particularly useful solution for the Web). You can even insert one in a font (if the EULA allows this) in an unused or seldom used position. You’ll need font-editing software to do so; read more about it in “Create Your Own Fonts.”
Love type? Want to know more? Ilene Strizver conducts her acclaimed Gourmet Typography workshops internationally. For more information on attending one or bringing it to your company, organization, or school, go to her site, call The Type Studio at 203-227-5929, or email Ilene at [email protected]. Sign up for her e-newsletter at www.thetypestudio.com.

Ilene Strizver is a noted typographic educator, author, designer and founder of The Type Studio in Westport, Connecticut. Her book, Type Rules! The designer’s guide to professional typography, is now in its 4th edition.
  • dysonswift says:

    The excellent Discmakers CD/DVD dupe & packaging service supplies a font with all relevant glyphs.

  • Anonymous says:

    How many people are laying out album covers with Adobe programs on PCs? Probably not the “98%, sod the rest” this answer’s subtle smug attitude would suggest. At first I thought it was a little strange for such a straight-laced kool-aid lover to cite Righteous Babe Records, but then remembered how boring and heterosexual they’re become. Where in this crazy modern world does a mostly-law-abiding, not-terribly-God-fearing typographer find a Mac-compatible font with a phonographic copyright symbol? (btw, I DON’T “respect” your upper and lower cases. I will acknowledge them, that is all.)

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