Copy Protected CDs: Resounding Dud

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Inspired by the Kraftwerk box set thread.... Releasing "copy controlled" CDs seems to be a creeping evil, particularly in Europe, although I'm sure it's happening here in the USA with increasing frequency. I absolutely refuse to buy any discs that won't allow me to rip them. No, not to place on P2P sites but rather for legal uses such as itunes and ipod.

EMI Europe and its sister labels (Virgin, Mute) are by far the worst offenders. I just won't ever buy another EMI product again unless they change this asinine policy.

Do you have a problem with this, or is it just me? I'd expect more people to be complaining about this, actually.

― kjoerup, Monday, 26 April 2004 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

to be honest the biggest inconveniece Copy Protection has created for me is a big ugly logo on my CD covers.. i haven't had so much as a single CD not let me rip the sweet sweet contents within.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 26 April 2004 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

as to whether the music is lesser quality as a result, i've not noticed it at all.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 26 April 2004 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

It sucks. That said I can't think of one CD I own that won't let me play or rip it for copy protection reasons.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 26 April 2004 03:49 (twenty-two years ago)

My work computer actually reacts really strangely with CDRs and freaks out whenever CDs open straight into those crazy Quicktime/Enhanced Play thing-ys but since it's older than Methusaleh so I pay it no mind.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 26 April 2004 03:51 (twenty-two years ago)

My copy of BMRC's "Take Them On, On Your Own" is copy controlled -- it's the only one I have.
Dud, of course.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 26 April 2004 03:53 (twenty-two years ago)

My PC rips CopyControl discs, but I still refuse to buy them. If they're deliberately corrupted so they don't work, I'm not paying for them. Simple.

I realise EMI's concerned about losing massive chunks of its market share, but as its way around that is to corrupt the only way it offers music, it's lost my business. I won't buy a book that's only readable when held under ultraviolet light, so why should I buy a CD that only works under some conditions?

Music companies need to move with the times, not force everyone to live in the 1980s. If people can't rip their music to MP3 for walkman use ,they will stop buying the corrupted music, and EMI will go down regardless.

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 26 April 2004 03:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it sucks. The Kevin Ayers reissues are copy protected, and I want to burn them for a friend who'd otherwise never listen to Ayers.

― otto, Monday, 26 April 2004 04:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Following up on AA's post ... does EMI supply songs to iTunes? If so, anyone could get around the copy protection by downloading from iTunes. Is that what they want? Then you'd be forced into essentially "using" iTunes as the middleman to rip music for you, which is a long-winded and convoluted way to do business.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 26 April 2004 04:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd use ITunes if it were available in Australia and I had cheap reliable broadband.

I can see EMI suddenly expecting everyone to have an ultra-cheap high-speed internet connection and going, 'wah wah, you don't have to buy CDs now, you can buy it on the web, wah wah.'

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 26 April 2004 04:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I only have four of these - all by Kevin Ayers. I bought them as imports mail order. (Forced Exposure should warn you about these crippled discs!) Had I known they were copy protected I wouldn't have bothered. OK, it was trivial ripping these on my Plextor burner, but it still sucks. I won't buy these damn things on principle!

I've read too many reports about these discs not working in normal CD players. In fact, my Discman goes crazy skipping when one of these Ayers discs is inserted into it. So I have to use one of my CD-R rips to play it properly in that. Crazy!

And screw Itunes music store. 128 kbs AAC is (too) low quality. And, er, not that they have the Ayers tracks anyway.

― kjoerup, Monday, 26 April 2004 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not buying those CD, as simple, the COPY PROTECT logo bore me, worst, make me angry... and i don't really burn much cds. The Kevin Ayers thing is ridicuolus. First, they ruined the cover art. Second: I can't belive EMI would loss millions on some reissue of an not so famous artist if somebody burn some song... the contrary, one can make another Ayers fan by lend a compilation... (they are making the same for Blue Note reissues) 3: why should i pay for an incomplete product, and the right for a personal copy... (which anyway i can do the same....).
About the Ayers CD, the UK (not european) reissues doesn't have the logo and are not copy protected, just go to amazon.co.uk and watch the covers. I bought "Joy of a Toy" there and is ok. Or you can buy the just relased Japanese version that have nice mini lp gatefold sleeves (i don't have these, but every japanese shop will be ok, but www.neolithrecords.com and amazon.co.jp are good anyway).
There is so much CDs i want to buy, the EMI ones simply i skip.

The stupidity of this: the N.E.R.D. cd is protected, right? I have seen dozen of cd-rom copies in flea markets... Emi is only boring their costumers, not piracy.

A question: does anybody know if the Blue Note new reissues in UK (like Cecil Taylor CONQUISTADOR or Larry Young MOTHERTSHIP) have the annoying logo and CD protected? The European version of everything under EMI have it.

― francesco, Monday, 26 April 2004 06:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Is it me, or is it much easier on a Mac? I used to have a huge problem with those stupid copy protected CDs, but I have not had this problem since getting a Mac. It's harder to rip or copy the CDs, but it's possible. While my PC wouldn't even play many albums with that copy protection on them.

― Super-Kate (kate), Monday, 26 April 2004 07:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Well I couldn't rip the Morrissey 'Under the Influence' compilation on my Mac without putting it through an analogue stage.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 26 April 2004 07:39 (twenty-two years ago)

The whole thing screams of corporate stupidity. Copy protection will not prevent one pirate copy of an album being sold: as if the professionals will go "uh-oh, it's got Copy Protection, let's not bother, eh?" Whereas the people who are actually buying the CDs hate it, it pisses us off, and everybody boycotts the albums with it on. What massively salaried genius thought for a second this was a good idea?

The last one I bought was This Is Not A Test, which I didn't realise was protected until it was delivered (curse you Amazon and your small print).

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Monday, 26 April 2004 07:44 (twenty-two years ago)

noodle vague wrote:
"What massively salaried genius thought for a second this was a good idea?"

Maybe the same one that signed the Mariah Carey contract?

― francesco, Monday, 26 April 2004 08:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Surely this copyright protection thing is old technology; I used to record TOTP in 1974 with the mic on my flatbed cassette player...and that sounded really bad too.

― Jez (Jez), Monday, 26 April 2004 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

What is the method for copying protected CDs? Just normal? Or is N's mysterious (to me) analogue stage par for the course?

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Monday, 26 April 2004 08:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Sometimes it just works even when it says 'copy protected', apparently. There are special programs that are designed to get around it. My 'analogue stage' just involved the slightly old-school and painful method of playing the disc on my regular CD deck, connected to my computer via the mic in socket. I recorded this feed with a freeware audio recorder program, track by track. It sounds fine.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 26 April 2004 10:29 (twenty-two years ago)

happens all the time with promos. it's annoying but there are ways and means round it. i never share promos anyway, it's just for iPod listening which the medium i use for to play most of my reviews material. amazing how much time i spend on buses, really. i can lay the groundwork for two album reviews a day in the time i spend on pubic transport. it does suck, but if i'm getting music for free i won't complain. have never had a problem with anything i've bought, though. more annoying are promos with random bleeps and voices saying "this is a review copy" all over them, which happens a lot with US material, especially hip-hop.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Monday, 26 April 2004 10:35 (twenty-two years ago)

PUBLIC transport!!! hahaha! curse my typing!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Monday, 26 April 2004 10:36 (twenty-two years ago)

the biggest inconveniece Copy Protection has created for me is a big ugly logo on my CD covers

OTM. it makes the cd look cheap. it's sad that the majors - and the musicians themselves - don't have a little more artistic pride.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Monday, 26 April 2004 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never tried because there were SCARE STORIES about them fucking up computers. I will have a go.

I quite like the logo, if used discretely.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Monday, 26 April 2004 10:41 (twenty-two years ago)

It's a fad, I guess, but fortunately my old Creative Labs cd-rom player has an in-built "play" button, with which I can override the protection. I have to press it quickly after putting the cd on though, or else the computer analyses it and treats it like a data CD. The only copy-protected cd that REALLY gave me problems was Hail to the Thief (never was able to play it on the computer...)

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Monday, 26 April 2004 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, seems to be easier - though not always simple - on a Mac. Plextor drive + Missing Media Burner (freeware - best secure OS X ripping) works well. Regardless, I shouldn't have to be wasting my time ripping these damn CDs that I legally purchased (PAID FOR - HEAR THAT EMI?!!) just so I can get them to work at all. Hell, I'm so angry about this I'd just as soon place all these Kevin Ayers files on a P2P server (something I've never done before).

If all CDs were copy "protected" I'll be happoy to never buy another one again. Period.

Way to piss off your legit customers, EMI! The genuiuses running that company (into the ground) sure are clever....

― kjoerup, Monday, 26 April 2004 11:10 (twenty-two years ago)

If you want more information on Copy Controlled CDs, go here:

http://www.fedge.net/emi/

I have a few of them (I'm a Radiohead fan, and EMI Canada copy controlled HTTT and the EPs that followed the album's release), and the only disc that caused me problems on my walkman was part one of the Go To Sleep EP.
I can understand people's frustration with not being able to rip a CD, but to me, it's even more offensive that some of these copy controlled CDs don't even play on a CD player.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Monday, 26 April 2004 11:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I got the Strokes "Room on fire" from CDWow and its an RCA controlled CDCopy protected. I don't care about that. The fact that it wont play properly on my super-tolerant mp3 discman is a big drag.

If it's a promo, then fair enough, the recipients didn't buy it. If its a proper retail one then boo. Hey, lets all get iPods. And then stop the masses from being able to use it fully.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 26 April 2004 11:50 (twenty-two years ago)

A question: does anybody know if the Blue Note new reissues in UK (like Cecil Taylor CONQUISTADOR or Larry Young MOTHERTSHIP) have the annoying logo and CD protected?
Can't say for sure on the UK reissues, but the Blue Note website (which I think is American) says that a lot of the RVG reissues are copy protected.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Monday, 26 April 2004 13:10 (twenty-two years ago)

it's even more offensive that some of these copy controlled CDs don't even play on a CD player.

my storebought copy of Hail to the Thief does not play in my car, and skips in my home player.

I asked a friend of mine who downloaded it to burn me a copy from mp3's which works perfectly.

― (Jon L), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:09 (twenty-two years ago)

that's bizarre, I don't think my copy of Hail to the Theif is protected at all; it plays in all my players and I ripped mp3s of just a month ago. But I got the special edition in the cardboard booklet, maybe there is a difference?

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:10 (twenty-two years ago)

The special edition is also protected. The difference is that EMI wasn't copy protecting all of their CDs. It was only in certain countries. Is the US version of HTTT copy protected?

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Copy Protection is a fucker, esp. in Canada, where we pay a special levy on blank CDs and tapes that give us license to copy. So we're paying for the right to do something, and then they're trying to block us from doing it? Sounds unlegal.

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)

mine is a US edition, and it isn't.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

the only three protected CDs I have are 3 Kevin Ayers CDs and while the first two ripped into iTunes with no problem, the third won't. Why is this?

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 26 April 2004 18:00 (twenty-two years ago)

my copy of HTTT (from EMI Canada) skipped slightly at the nine-second mark of most tracks on my sony walkman. i complained. they sent me another. same thing. plays fine on everything else. unfortunately it's difficult to carry my home stereo all over the place.
though i love the album i don't tend to listen to it as much as a result. such a small little thing. but so... damn... annoying.

― agw, Monday, 26 April 2004 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.