A release order is nearly all standard-rated, and the reason is substrate as much as function. Inlay cards for a cassette, CD or video are listed as standard-rated, and so are record sleeves, record labels, stickers and posters. The zero-rated part is the printed matter that is genuinely read: a booklet of lyrics and notes, a zine, or a leaflet promoting the tour.
Printing for a record or music release
Some 0%, some 20%
Here's the usual print for a record or music release. Tap any item to see why it's 0% or 20%.
Because the booklet is pages of reading matter bound together, and the sleeve is packaging for a record. Where they are supplied together as one package, section 6 decides it: if everything in the package is printed on paper or card you can count the items and let the majority set the rate for the whole thing, and if anything in it is not paper or card, which a record is not, that shortcut is unavailable and each element is judged on the ordinary rules.
Packaging and wrapping aren't reading matter, so they're standard-rated.
Anything made to go on a wall or be displayed is standard-rated. The zero rate is for things you hold and read.
HMRC lists stickers, labels and tags as standard-rated.
Merchandise isn't printed matter in the VAT sense, so it's standard-rated.
Leaflets are zero-rated. A sheet you pick up, read and bin (or one that comes with a product) is exactly what the zero rate is for.
Books and booklets are zero-rated. Pages of reading matter bound together, with or without a cover.
HMRC says postcards are standard-rated, whether written on or not.