CD on one side, DVD on the other

[djmattyb]

This sounds really cool. It would be nice to have a movie on one side and the soundtrack on the other.

"With DualDisc, which has CD on one side and DVD on the other, record labels hope to counteract sliding sales."

http://news.com.com/CD+on+one+side,+DVD+on+the+other/2100-1027_3-5322884.html



Some current DualDiscs


Also, the url www.dualdisc.com has a website coming soon.

The article is below for those who don't want to visit the site:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A group of record labels announced on Tuesday plans to introduce a new disc format later this year that combines CD and DVD technology.

The consortium, which includes major labels EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, said the DualDisc product has a full album on a CD side of the disc and the album in enhanced sound--such as DVD-Audio--on the other side. The DVD side also includes a range of features, such as music videos, interviews, photo galleries, Web links, concert footage and lyrics, the DualDisc Consortium said.

DualDiscs are compatible with nearly any device that can currently play a CD or a DVD, and will be available beginning in October, the consortium said.

The announcement comes as traditional music sales are under pressure from online file swapping and legal downloads from the Internet.

Advanced audio disc technology--including the DVD-Audio format--has been around for some time but has not taken off in the market.

DualDisc received an impressive response from consumers in test markets conducted earlier this year, according to the consortium.

"By combining video, surround sound and Web connectivity in a single disc, we are presenting our artists with a broader palette to express their creative vision, while at the same time giving consumers what they told us they want--greater value driven by unique content that brings them closer to the artist," said a statement from Andrew Lack, CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. "We're confident that this groundbreaking new initiative will help to re-energize traditional music retail."

[gitreel]

The riaa is running into legal problems with these flipper discs though.

The story is still unfolding.

[yoda313]

Hello,
Now we'll need dvd burners with lasers on top and bottom so we can backup one disc (soundtrack and movie) without flipping!

Kevin

[indolikaa]

The riaa is running into legal problems with these flipper discs though.

The story is still unfolding.

Please elaborate!

Are you suggesting the RIAA and MPAA can't agree on something? :P

[Shocker Milwaukee]

I bought this one a couple of years ago.

The second disc is double-sided, with video footage of a Miami Beach party on one side (accompanied by a remix from Saeed & Palash), and an audio CD on the other.

http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2330001

[IAIHMB]

Double sided disks are starting to seem pointless, the only idea I really liked was the one where a CD/DVD burner would have a laser encrypter for the top, so you don't have to worry about thick paper labels. :P

[gitreel]

The riaa is running into legal problems with these flipper discs though.

The story is still unfolding.

Please elaborate!

Are you suggesting the RIAA and MPAA can't agree on something? :P

Record Industry Faces Duel Over New 'DualDiscs'
Fri 6 August, 2004 22:41
By Sue Zeidler

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Plans to sell new hybrid CD/DVDs have hit legal and licensing snags that threaten to scuttle a mass rollout that the hard-hit music industry had been counting on to aid its recovery, people familiar with the matter said this week

Record makers are enjoying a rebound after a three-year sales slump blamed largely on online piracy. Efforts to control piracy and the growth of legal Web music services like Apple Computer Inc.'s AAPL.O iTunes have helped.

The labels also have spurred sales by packaging "bonus" DVDs with CDs. In February, several began test marketing the new hybrid discs -- CD on one side and DVD on the other.

They see these "DualDiscs" as a next generation product that marries the booming market for DVDs with declining CDs.

"It's not like the coming of the CD, but we did really well with them," said Greg Harrington, manager of Tower Records in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which took part in the test.

Some 13 titles by artists like David Bowie and Linkin Park were sold in Boston and Seattle. The idea is to put music on the CD side and concert, interview or recording session video on the DVD. They have sold for about $18.99 in retail stores.

But before the products can be ready for mass markets, several issues remain including a contract dispute between a technology developer and manufacturer and questions dealing with the licensing of "CD" and of music rights.

Major labels like Vivendi Universal's V.N EAUG.PA Universal Music Group, EMI Group Plc EMI.L , Warner Music and newly merged Sony BMG Music Entertainment BERT.UL 6758.T have high hopes for the DualDiscs but have stayed relatively quiet about them. They all declined to comment for this story.

Retailers had expected the discs for the fourth quarter, but industry sources said they now believe the labels, which have grappled with playability and thickness issues before, are now targeting early 2005 in light of new snags.

NEW SNAGS

"They're hijacking our technology," said Phil Carlson, North American Division president of German-based DVD Plus International Inc, who said "there are ongoing conversations" between lawyers for his firm and the major music labels.

DVD Plus founder Dieter Dierks claims Warner Music's distributing and manufacturing arm, known as WEA, breached a 2000 contract in which Dierks bought the patent position for hybrid disc technology and perfected it.

That agreement called for the DVD Plus logo to be placed on the discs for a set period of time, but WEA's manufacturing operations were later bought by Cinram International Inc. CRW.TO . Cinram is now making the hybrids and calling them DualDiscs for most of the labels, except for Sony.

A Cinram spokeswoman said there were no issues preventing it from making DualDiscs, but DVD Plus's Carlson disagrees.

"We did have a signed agreement and are disconcerted the industry should attempt to call it by any other name," Carlson said.

Philips Electronics PHG.AS , the licensor of the CD logo, has refused to allow the hybrid discs to be sold with the CD logo unless the labels guarantee to assume responsibility for "read errors" on the CD side, a spokeswoman for Philips said.

Discs involved in the industry's February trials included warnings of possible playback problems on some devices, but retailer Harrington said there were no issues. "We got a couple of emails, but nobody came back to us with them," he said.

Finally, record companies normally license content separately for different formats -- cassettes, CDs, albums or DVDs. The new hybrid discs require new licensing agreements that have yet to be worked out, industry sources said.

[indolikaa]

Thanks, gitreel.

I knew I could count on Philips to bring up their concerns and Sony to sit on the fence. Ah, the more things change...

[axolotls]

OLD NEWS. They've had this stuff in the UK for the past couple of years.

I had a Santana DVD on one side and CD on the other.

[QuaiBoy]

Hypocrites. All we hear about is how sharing music "destroys the industry", and then they pilfer a technology.
RIAA. The largest (apparently) legal monopoly in the history of this country (to my knowledge). I haven't bought a new CD in a year, and haven't downloaded anything either. Here's a business plan:
Less money towards "protecting your interests", more money towards diversification and promotion of talented musicians. What a brainbuster.

-Evan-

[Nilfennasion]

Philips Electronics PHG.AS , the licensor of the CD logo, has refused to allow the hybrid discs to be sold with the CD logo unless the labels guarantee to assume responsibility for "read errors" on the CD side, a spokeswoman for Philips said.

What? You want the RIAA to take responsibility for a poor-design issue that they won't stand to make money out of?