| Getting A Handle on CD
Text
CD MANUFACTURING, CD
DUPLICATION
In the past year there
has been a noticeable increase in audio clients who are
creating their own Master CDs. While it seems most of the
audio clients have an understanding of what CD Text is,
there is still a lot of confusion about how to create CD
Text and where you can view it. This article was written to
clear up some of the confusion.
What exactly
is CD Text?
CD Text is a technology
that is used on audio CDs which enables low bit rate
information such as the song name and the name of the artist
to be stored on the within the disc itself. If CD Text is
included on an audio CD, specific devices and applications
that are able to read and display this information will
recognize this information, retrieve it and, in turn,
display it to the user.
Is CD Text
visible on all players and programs?
No - and this happens to
cause a great deal of confusion and worry for clients
because the client often thinks there is something wrong
with their CDs because the CD Text isn't being displayed. A
notorious culprit is Windows Media Player - while it is one
of the most commonly used computer programs for playing
music, it doesn't display CD Text unless you install a
plug-in.
Creating CD
Text
It's actually quite
simple to create your audio Master for CD duplication or CD
replication, but you need to be using a disc burning program
(such as Toast or Nero) that allows you to enter in the
appropriate data.
I've already
made my CD Master... Can I add CD Text to it?
No, it is not possible to
add CD Text after you've already created your audio Master.
If you've already created your CD Master and you want to add
CD Text after-the-fact you will have to create a new Master.
Adding song
info onto iTunes, Winamp, Yahoo, etc.
Some applications display
artist and song title information through connection with
the Gracenote music recognition service (originally known as
CDDB). Visit Gracenote to learn how to submit your song
information to their database. Once your CD track listings
are in their database, anyone playing your CD with an
application connected with the Gracenote database will have
your songs recognized by the service.
Be aware that different
software applications may use different databases, so you
may have to enter your CDs information into more than one
database if you want to get the broadest possible coverage.
What if I
can't add CD Text onto my master?
CDwest.ca can help you if
you can't add your CD Text data yourself - but there is a
fee involved. Please contact us if you require assistance. |
