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Columbia Japan Music On Demand, On CD-R
jwlidtnet writes "It seems as if Columbia Records Japan has instituted a series of 'albums on demand' -- written on CDR media (warning: page in Japanese). Granted, most of the items currently offered are Japanese in origin, but this is indicative of a record label that realizes how to embrace *some* aspect of the technological revolution! Various industry types have been espousing this method for years as an antidote to artificial concepts of media supply and demand (e.g. that Big Record Label cannot support small acts as it must press x copies of the album), and as Columbia seems to be offering mostly old catalogue items, this is an encouraging solution to the problem of the control of out-of-print recordings. One final note: of course, a system like this is only as useful as its retailer support, and it appears as if both Tower Records Japan and HMV Japan carry these CDR releases."
--Manufactured Sex Gateway
Sex - Find It
http://www.mykaraokecdg.com/xcart/customer/
Soundchoice has been offering custom CDG karaoke cd's for about 1.5 years now. Go online, select your tracks, plop in a credit card number and a magical CD comes to your house from this magical guy named the fed ex man.
The biggest difference is that the Japanese market has really taken to the concept of singles rather than entire albums. It is not uncommon to see unknown artists having their latest single showcased at the music store. It is cheaper for the recording companies to buy off a couple of songs and put it out than to sign the groups to full album contracts and the marketing that goes along with it.
Once a group becomes popular that their singles are flying off the shelf, they usually get signed to an album deal and their first album is a best-of based on their single releases.
This CD-R thing is nothing more than a logical outgrowth of that mentality and business style.
Why the U.S. and the U.K. have such ass-backwards album-first styles makes no sense to those of us in more forward thinking countries like Japan.
Japanese as a first language comes in handy..
The about/FAQ page of the site:
Product Specification
- This product contains audio reproduced from the original CD source to a CD-R, and as a result, the quality remains identical.
- The labels on the product are newly designed for the R-Ban series.
- The instruction manuals (covers, liner notes, etc) have been newly designed, based on scanned copies of the originals.
- The instruction manuals, as a result of the scanning process, may be difficult to read due to errors in font size, printing, etc.
Warnings
[usual warnings, same as CD]
- It is recommended that you use a regular CD Player when playing the R-Ban. Certain models of car stereos and DVD-players may have trouble playing back the media.
(Copy protection? Meh..)
FAQ
1. Regarding purchase
Q: Can I purchase R-Bans of other titles not available in the catalog?
A: Not at this time.
Q: Where can I purchase R-Bans?
A: Through specialty Internet merchants and music stores that support the R-Ban series.
Q: How long will it take to receive the media after ordering?
A: They are created after the order, so it may take up to 2-3 weeks, in addition to other delays.
2. Regarding sound quality
Q: Is there any difference from the original CD?
A: Since the R-Bans are duplicated from the original CD source, there is no difference.
3. Regarding the instruction manual
Q: Are the designs the same from the original?
A: The covers, liner notes, labels, etc. have been newly designed for the R-Ban series, respecting the original design.
4. Regarding playback
Q: Is special equipment needed for playback?
A: It is recommended that you use a regular CD Player when playing the R-Ban. Certain models of car stereos and DVD-players may have trouble playing back the media.
Q: Are there any precautions for playback?
[usual CD warnings]
How quaint!
I already have plenty of coasters, though.
I rotated my CDs into coaster duty a while back.
The 3.5" floppies were moved from coaster duty to table-stabilization.
The 5.25" floppies were moved from table stabilization to roof patch.
The audio data cassettes went from roof patch to birdcage lining.
Thus, I was finally able to burn all those guano-soaked punchcards.
Looking ahead, I'm interested in any information on the permeability of MP3's.
Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing
Shhh... don't tell anyone else this, but I've been able to mix and burn my own CDs from home for years now.
It's still very top-secret-hush-hush, so don't go telling all your friends.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
I read this article and was immediately reminded of a company I bought 2 mix-yer-own CDs from a few years back: CDuctive.com.
... too bad they're not around anymore.
Can't connect to their site now. And a look at their whois record seems to indicate that they were bought out by EMusic, which kinda sucks.
IIRC, CDuctive charged $0.99 per track, or $1.99 for the 10-minute-plus songs. Over all, my CDs cost around $20 and were full of goodness by folks like DJ Food, 9 Lazy 9, Coldcut, LTJ Sound Machine and others (they had several Ninja Tune artists, I believe).
Anyway
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.