iLounge.com: Sony BMG, EMI offer iPod-incompatible CDs
Thru a discussion on iLounge.com I was aware of copy-protected audio CDs not being compatible with iPods and iTunes for a while. This kind of protection is targeted at Microsoft Windows-based computers (and perhaps Apple Macs, but I don't know since I don't have a Mac). When inserted a copy-protected audio CDs on a computer, it won't recognize the CD as an audio CD. We need to use a special software located on the CD to play it. Since Windows won't recognize the CD as an audio CD, iTunes won't be able to "import" it for playbacks on an iPod. Also, duplication or backup of CDs won't be difficult, if not possible, because the copy-protection technique creates a number of tracks that CD copying software thinks as bad tracks and simply skips them. Duplicated CDs will give extremely skipping playbacks.
I thought these kind of protection is only used CDs produced by the U.S. records giants, like Sony BMG and EMI. But I was wrong: G-MM Grammy, Thailand's records giant, has adopted it in the latest album of Endorphine, one of my favorite Thai pop/rocker artists. I expect them to adopt this scheme of copy-protection on all of the forth-coming albums. And this has pissed me off!
I feel that people buy original audio CDs rather than pirated MP3's because they like the music so much that they want to support the artist. And for iPod owners like me, it is also because they want to keep the music on their favorite musical instrument -- the iPod -- for them to listen to their favorite music everywhere they go. I'm sure iPod music lovers are one of the largest group of customers who still support the artists by paying them, rather than going on the MP3 way.
And, ungratefully, these companies do not spare us iPod owners with this protection scheme.
I can feel their necessity for a copy protection measure: To discourage people to rip music off the CDs, or make duplicated copies, to share with friends and colleauges or to sell in the black market. But are they sure this is the way to improve sales?
Copy-protected audio CDs are effective on Windows, the computing platform the majority of buyers use. But there are some other platform like Unix-based Apple Mac OS X and Linux. Tech-savvy people will find eventually find a way to rip the music perfectly off the CD and share among their peers. And iPodders, who were annoyed by record companies not allowing them to import the music from the CD they *own* into their very own iPod, will likely go to this tech-savvy channel.
The result:
I am sorry G-MM Grammy, my favorite Thai records company do this to me.
Resources:
Keywords: ipod, itunes, audio-cds, copy-protection, ripping, annoyance, controversy, thailand
Update: Nov 3, 05: I recall from a discussion thread some where on the net that these so-called copy-protected enhanced audio CDs do not actually conform to the Red Book audio CD standard proposed by Philips and Sony in June 1980. This Red Book standard is the one adopted worldwide to produce Compact Disc digital audio media and playback devices. An issue were raised among consumer-rights enthusiastic group that copy-protected audio CDs shouldn't have been marketed as "Compact Disc audio CDs" because they are actually not -- because they do not follow the Red Book standard -- and consumers should be warned about this.
Update: Nov 3, 05: There are a number of threads on Pantip.com, Thailand's most famous and most active online community, that mention about this issue. Here are some of them (in Thai):
Update: Nov 3, 05: A friend of mine recommended Exact Audio Copy (EAC), a high-fidelity "exact" CD ripper for Windows. It was reported that EAC could rip music off Thai copy-protected audio CDs.
Update: Nov 4, 05: I downloaded "Exact Audio Copy V0.95 beta 3 (including CDRDAO package)" from here and went ahead to rip the CD with my Windows XP notebook. Bravo!! It works. The whole copy-protected CD is defeated.
EAC is also a lot faster than CDDA Paranoia, which I used on my Linux box to rip the very same CD. CDDA Paranoia took almost *ONE full day* to rip all 10 tracks from the CD but EAC did it in 2 minutes. Anyway, I guess what makes the difference is that CDDA Paranoia rips the CD in paranoid mode in which it reads audio data from the CD again and again and again to make sure that we've got a *perfect* and *exact* copy of the content typical preferred by serious hi-fi listeners (like me, sometimes, but not always). I found that EAC also supports paranoid mode but it was not recommended unless we really need it because it may take extremely long time to rip a CD -- and yes I have witnessed it from the experience with CDDA Paranoia!
Thru a discussion on iLounge.com I was aware of copy-protected audio CDs not being compatible with iPods and iTunes for a while. This kind of protection is targeted at Microsoft Windows-based computers (and perhaps Apple Macs, but I don't know since I don't have a Mac). When inserted a copy-protected audio CDs on a computer, it won't recognize the CD as an audio CD. We need to use a special software located on the CD to play it. Since Windows won't recognize the CD as an audio CD, iTunes won't be able to "import" it for playbacks on an iPod. Also, duplication or backup of CDs won't be difficult, if not possible, because the copy-protection technique creates a number of tracks that CD copying software thinks as bad tracks and simply skips them. Duplicated CDs will give extremely skipping playbacks.
I thought these kind of protection is only used CDs produced by the U.S. records giants, like Sony BMG and EMI. But I was wrong: G-MM Grammy, Thailand's records giant, has adopted it in the latest album of Endorphine, one of my favorite Thai pop/rocker artists. I expect them to adopt this scheme of copy-protection on all of the forth-coming albums. And this has pissed me off!
I feel that people buy original audio CDs rather than pirated MP3's because they like the music so much that they want to support the artist. And for iPod owners like me, it is also because they want to keep the music on their favorite musical instrument -- the iPod -- for them to listen to their favorite music everywhere they go. I'm sure iPod music lovers are one of the largest group of customers who still support the artists by paying them, rather than going on the MP3 way.
And, ungratefully, these companies do not spare us iPod owners with this protection scheme.
I can feel their necessity for a copy protection measure: To discourage people to rip music off the CDs, or make duplicated copies, to share with friends and colleauges or to sell in the black market. But are they sure this is the way to improve sales?
Copy-protected audio CDs are effective on Windows, the computing platform the majority of buyers use. But there are some other platform like Unix-based Apple Mac OS X and Linux. Tech-savvy people will find eventually find a way to rip the music perfectly off the CD and share among their peers. And iPodders, who were annoyed by record companies not allowing them to import the music from the CD they *own* into their very own iPod, will likely go to this tech-savvy channel.
The result:
"Dear record companies, please think carefully whether you will likely improve your sales or abolish it!"
I am sorry G-MM Grammy, my favorite Thai records company do this to me.
Resources:
CDDA Paranoia -- Unix-based audio CD extraction utility with extra verification features.
iLounge.com discussion on iPod-incompatible CDs
An analysis of a copy protection scheme by Princeton University
Keywords: ipod, itunes, audio-cds, copy-protection, ripping, annoyance, controversy, thailand
Update: Nov 3, 05: I recall from a discussion thread some where on the net that these so-called copy-protected enhanced audio CDs do not actually conform to the Red Book audio CD standard proposed by Philips and Sony in June 1980. This Red Book standard is the one adopted worldwide to produce Compact Disc digital audio media and playback devices. An issue were raised among consumer-rights enthusiastic group that copy-protected audio CDs shouldn't have been marketed as "Compact Disc audio CDs" because they are actually not -- because they do not follow the Red Book standard -- and consumers should be warned about this.
The fact is that there is no single trace of warning on the label of the G-MM Grammy CD I bought last night and thus I wasn't even aware that it is copy-protected -- that I won't be able to use it with my iPod -- when I was paying for it!
Update: Nov 3, 05: There are a number of threads on Pantip.com, Thailand's most famous and most active online community, that mention about this issue. Here are some of them (in Thai):
On G-MM Grammy's Endorphine Album: mentions about how to convert Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected WMA audio files on the Endorphine CD to the unprotected ones with a software called Tunebite.
A complaint on the trouble caused by G-MM Grammy so-called Enhanced CDs
Another complaint on CDs made by RS Promotion, G-MM Grammy's primary rival
Update: Nov 3, 05: A friend of mine recommended Exact Audio Copy (EAC), a high-fidelity "exact" CD ripper for Windows. It was reported that EAC could rip music off Thai copy-protected audio CDs.
Update: Nov 4, 05: I downloaded "Exact Audio Copy V0.95 beta 3 (including CDRDAO package)" from here and went ahead to rip the CD with my Windows XP notebook. Bravo!! It works. The whole copy-protected CD is defeated.
EAC is also a lot faster than CDDA Paranoia, which I used on my Linux box to rip the very same CD. CDDA Paranoia took almost *ONE full day* to rip all 10 tracks from the CD but EAC did it in 2 minutes. Anyway, I guess what makes the difference is that CDDA Paranoia rips the CD in paranoid mode in which it reads audio data from the CD again and again and again to make sure that we've got a *perfect* and *exact* copy of the content typical preferred by serious hi-fi listeners (like me, sometimes, but not always). I found that EAC also supports paranoid mode but it was not recommended unless we really need it because it may take extremely long time to rip a CD -- and yes I have witnessed it from the experience with CDDA Paranoia!
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