OneDisc Technology has a use for the flip side of CD's

We reported on this idea before, a hybrid disc that's marketed under the name of DVD plus. It combines two technologies in one, both DVD and conventional CD. The two discs are manufactured back to back to produce a product that can be played in both CD players and DVD players. Originally, there was a bit of a problem, as the disc was too thick. It would not play in some car head units. Anyone that has ever placed a label on a home burned CD knows that the car audio player will struggle with even that slight difference. Mine does so I can't use them.

According to this article and some information I read on the DVD Plus web site, the technology has been perfected. "The manufacture of the DVD Plus disc differs only slightly from that of a DVD. In the preliminary stages of production, two matrices are produced - one for the CD side and one for the DVD side. Both sides are then joined together in the bonding process. A thickness of only 0.28 mm more than a normal disc does not affect playability in CD or DVD players." Well, if that is less than a label maybe it will work now, I don't have my calipers handy to verify this statement.

Enter marketer James Wilson, president of OneDisc Technologies of Dallas, who are in talks with major and independent labels to begin making a combination single-disc product for the masses. They have one out now. A combination disc from the singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards, "Live From the Bowery Ballroom" on Rounder Records and it is already in stores. One side includes three songs that play in a standard CD player, while the flip side features two DVD music videos. OneDisc owns a license for the technology involved.

For years, artists have included video footage on enhanced music CD's, but that video, viewable on a computer as a CD-ROM, does not have the same playback quality of DVD's. More recently, record labels have been bundling bonus DVD's with traditional CD's to entice music fans to buy albums rather than illegally downloading or copying them. Those packages include two separate discs, one for audio content and other for video. "The problem here, in general for the music industry, is that the value of the piece of plastic that has the music on it is going down," Josh Bernoff, a principal analyst with Forrester Research, said. If the industry adopts the new format, Mr. Wilson said, he envisions music fans being able to buy, for instance, The Band's "The Last Waltz" and getting both the film documentary and soundtrack album on double-sided disc, rather than having to pay for a DVD and a separate CD.

As our earlier article mentions, the technology was developed by Warner Brothers and is now owned by Germany's DVD Plus International Inc. More than 70 combination titles have been released, mostly outside the United States, according to the DVD Plus Web site.

"Live From the Bowery Ballroom" is being sold at Tower Records and several independent stores for about $ 5.99, says Paul Foley, the general manager of Rounder. Nielsen SoundScan shows that since it's release in November, the set has sold about 600 copies of the 8,000 made.

If it works, it is a great idea as it saves material and will reduce production costs. If these savings are passed on to the consumer it may just catch on. Only thing I wonder about is how do you know what's on the disc? For instance, if you had three or four and put them in your 5 DVD changer at once. Maybe they identify them in the center where there is no information.

Source: The New York Times