# Pocket Disc
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_Disc
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[[File:PhilcoHipPocket.jpg|thumb|[Otis Redding](/source/Otis_Redding) Philco Hip Pocket Record (with standard {{convert|7|in|cm|abbr=on}} 45rpm record for comparison)]]
'''Pocket Disc''' was a type of [flexidisc](/source/flexidisc), made by [Americom Corporation](/source/Americom_Corporation) and experimented with in the late 1960s, small enough ({{convert|4|in|cm|abbr=on}} in diameter) to be carried in one's pocket or shipped in an envelope and not as fragile as a standard record, but playable on the standard manual-only [phonograph](/source/phonograph) or record player (at 45 [rpm](/source/revolutions_per_minute) for Philco Hip Pocket Record or {{frac|33|1|3}} rpm for PocketDisc). The PocketDisc was cheaper than the Hip Pocket Records manufactured by [Philco](/source/Philco) that sold them to be played on portable record players, which were specially created for the disks.
Twenty-eight major record labels participated in the trials, not including [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records), [RCA Records](/source/RCA_Records), [Motown Records](/source/Motown_Records), and [MCA Records](/source/MCA_Records).[{{cite book | last = Spitzer | first = Bruce | title = The Beatles on Apple Records | publisher = 498 Publications | year = 2003 | location = New Orleans, Louisiana | pages = 81–84 | isbn = 0-9662649-4-0 }}]
Artists who appeared on these disks included [Aretha Franklin](/source/Aretha_Franklin), [Steppenwolf](/source/Steppenwolf_(band)), [Jimi Hendrix](/source/Jimi_Hendrix), [Neil Diamond](/source/Neil_Diamond), [The Five Americans](/source/The_Five_Americans), [The Doors](/source/The_Doors), [Sonny and Cher](/source/Sonny_and_Cher), [Merrilee Rush](/source/Merrilee_Rush), and [Joan Baez](/source/Joan_Baez).[{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgoEAAAAMBAJ&q=hip+pocket |title=Billboard |date=1968-04-06 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |language=en}}] The disks were sold in vending machines for 50 cents or counter displays at stores for 49 cents,[{{Cite web|url=http://www.rarebeatles.com/photospg/flexiad.htm|title = Beatles and others Hip-Pocket records}}] Each disk had a capacity of about 3.5 minutes of music per side. This meant songs like The Beatles' "[Hey Jude](/source/Hey_Jude)" could not be played in their entirety.[http://www.rfidvidensbank.dk/sw30567.asp {{Dead link|date=March 2022}}]
The disks were first released on September 15, 1968[{{cite magazine | title = Pocket Disc to Debut September 15-Simulrelease Pacts Set Up | magazine = Billboard | date = 1968-05-25 | first = Paul | last = Ackerman | pages = 1, 74| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rAoEAAAAMBAJ&q=Pocket+Disc+Americom&pg=PA1 | access-date = 2010-10-07}}] and [test marketed](/source/test_marketed) in several major cities in the United States, but did not catch on.