A vinyl pressing without commercial labelling — historically used to distribute pre-release promos and bootlegs to DJs.
Definition
A white label is a vinyl pressing released without standard commercial labelling — a plain, often white centre label printed only with handwritten or stamped track information. Historically, white labels were the primary way pre-release promo records were distributed to club DJs and radio hosts before official release, allowing producers to build buzz around tracks before they hit retail. They were also the standard format for unauthorised bootlegs and edits, since the lack of identifying marks made tracking difficult. In the digital era the term has become more metaphorical: pre-release promos now circulate as private SoundCloud links, downloads from labels' artist managers, or shared files between DJs, but the term "white label" still describes any pre-release or unauthorised material that has limited official identification.