Pocket Disc

File:PhilcoHipPocket.jpg Philco Hip Pocket Record (with standard {{convert|7|in|cm|abbr=on}} 45rpm record for comparison)]]

Pocket Disc was a type of flexidisc, made by 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 or record player (at {{frac|33|1|3}} rpm). The PocketDisc was cheaper than the Hip Pocket Records manufactured by 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, RCA Records, Motown Records, and 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, Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Diamond, The Five Americans, The Doors, Sonny and Cher, Merrilee Rush, and 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, was later reduced to 39 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" 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 in several major cities in the United States, but did not catch on. They were discontinued in 1969.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}