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Multimedia Music
CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-Plus, CD-Extra, and E-CD. What do all of these CD formats mean and where is the CD technology headed? In particular, what
is the CD’s new relationship with music?

The CD or compact disc was originally devised as a low cost format for which to record and distribute music – I suppose that if you want to be technical, it
was devised as a safe investment choice à la certificate of deposit. While CDs still remain at the forefront of retail music consumption, all subsequent
evolution of the format has focused on CD-ROM in which the emphasis is on the video display. The past few years have witnessed the emergence of these
two into one medium.

The first introduction to the CD format was what was known as CD-DA (Compact Disc-Digital Audio), which is the type of CD that you commonly
encounter at record stores. Following this innovation was the emergence of the CD-ROM, which stores computer data, 650 megabytes to be exact (i.e., a lot
of information). Certainly, it was only a matter of time before these two formats fused into one: the interactive music CD.

Today’s interactive music CD is commonly referred to as an Enhanced CD (E-CD). While some refer to it as a “CD-Extra” or “CD-Plus,” all of the terms are
interchangeable. Enhanced CDs combine multimedia data (CD-ROM) with traditional audio CDs (CD-DA). Simply put, they are normal audio CDs that will
play in any stereo CD player, but they can also play in your CD-ROM drive to engage one in an interactive experience.

The kicker is that you must have a CD-ROM drive capable of handling multisession CDs. A multisession CD is one that has been recorded on more than
once, in this case, multiple CD formats are pressed onto one CD – the Enhanced CD. The E-CD stores all computer data after the last audio track which
alleviates some of the problems with past attempts at interactive music CDs that forced those listening to the music on their stereo to skip tracks that
contained the computer data or risk harming their precious stereo equipment.

Although the first true CD-Extra to be commercially released was done so only a year and a half ago (Sugar’s Besides, which contained a digitized video),
already much of the record industry is hailing the new format as the “next big thing” and the “emerging industry standard.” Unfortunately, Enhanced CDs
are still plagued by the question of whether they will work in one’s CD-ROM drive or not.

Here’s the basic rundown of what minimum hardware is required in order to run Enhanced CDs: Windows: Windows 3.1 or 95, 486/66mHz, 4mB free
RAM, 16-bit sound card, 13” VGA or SVGA color monitor, double-speed CD-ROM drive. Macintosh: Mac LCIII or better, 68030/25mHz, 8mB RAM,
System 7.1 or later, 256 color display monitor, double-speed multi-session CD-ROM drive. Also, most of the E-CDs you buy will include updated driver
software in the form of an extra Corel Driver CD, files with compressed software, or links to a Web page where the driver software can be downloaded.

Currently, there are probably just under 60 or so CD-Plus/Extra titles on the market from such varied artists as Alice In Chains, Bush, the Cranberries, Bob
Dylan, Sarah McLachlan, Moby, Monster Magnet, the Rolling Stones, and Soundgarden amongst others. These discs tend to only cost a few more dollars
than the typical music-only CD and can be purchased in retail record stores. In some cases (for example, Prong’s Rude Awakening, Spin Doctors’ You’ve Got
To Believe In Something, and The Doors Greatest Hits), the multimedia content is provided as a bonus to a full album’s worth of songs.

In addition to the music, the typical Enhanced CD contains videos, a photo library, interviews, and an audio screen (for listening to the audio tracks). Some
of the “full-blown” Enhanced-CD’s do offer something more.

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Soundgarden – Alive In The Superunknown

Most of the CDs that containMonster

multimediaMagnet
data as simply an added
– I Talk bonus to the album offer about the same thing: a video, a discography, artist bio, photos,
To Planets
interviews, etc. The newly released Doors Greatest Hits contains a video and lyrics for the bonus song, “The Ghost Song” plus online information. Prong’s
Similar to the Soundgarden title, this disc grants you the opportunity to explore four basic scenarios. You can view a bunch of
latest release Rude Awakening has a full video for “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck,” interviews, and a discography with music clips all presented in a
full-screen videos as well as access the customized video “Astrogator” hidden inside a virtual “souped-up” Pontiac LeMans,
“book” format. New age artist Ottmar Liebert’s Opium offers photos of the artist over various landscapes plus track information for each of the songs on the
which lets you choose some of the imagery that you will see as part of a random montage. The disc has a cosmic, space-age,
CD. The soundtrack for the motion picture Romeo + Juliet is an Enhanced CD that offers color film stills, narration highlights, film script text, and loops of
monster-movie feel complete with a lab scene where you can devolve lead vocalist Dave Wyndarf into an acid-hued,
the soundtrack’s songs paired with various film images.
primordial mass. You can also vent out your aggression by destroying such space junk as cheeseburgers, beer cans, and
doughnutsthat
All of this new power and technology while
hasenjoying
surfaced several “Monster”has
with CD-ROMs songs.
even And
lead damn
to the does that stuffof
development whiz by type
a new fast! of entertainment magazine. Launch
is an entertainment CD-ROM (a virtual Rolling Stone, if you will) that offers artist interviews and performance clips, reviews of music with sample sound
clips, interviews with actors/comedians, playable game demos, original animated films, creative digitized commercials, and, of course, a sampler of the latest
Enhanced CDs and CD-ROMs. Various
Check itArtists – Bored
out at your favoriteGeneration
book or news store – it is quite impressive.
In addition to containing 10 tracks from various hardcore/punk and rap artists such as The Offspring, Rancid, Helmet, Primus,
Hopefully, this new format ofBeastie
CD will become
Boys, and even
Soulsmore interactive
of Mischief, thisfor music compilation
Epitaph lovers. Although
offersmost CD-Plus/Extra
digitized discsthat
sports footage to date lack the
is enough to ability
whet anyto
manipulate music, one must bear in mind that we are merely at the cusp of innovation for this new medium. Peter Gabriel’s new Enhanced
“boarder’s” aural and visual appetite. You can revolve around a virtual punk’s cluttered room to reveal hyperlinks to footage CD, Eve allowsof
users to both mix music and edit videos.
surfing, In addition, skateboarding,
snowboarding, many current titles only contain
and stage four orthat
diving video five music
can eventracks due to
be played in the fact that ifthey
“slow-mo” youare dividing
deem the 75
necessary.
minutes available for music space
The disc also provides a merchandising screen, band bios and discographies for those appearing on the CD, snowboarder who
with computer data. So until a method is rendered that allows for more space for “ordinary” music tracks, consumers
buy these CDs exclusively for the music
profiles, will lose out.
subscription information for related magazines, and recommended Web sites.
The Internet is also likely to play a key role in the future of the Enhanced CD. Many labels plan to incorporate Web links into their forthcoming E-CDs
which can provide users with up-to-date artist information – such as tour dates and timely contests – that wouldn’t be possible in the manufactured media.

No matter what direction the Enhanced CD technology is headed, let’s just hope that for the sake of the art form itself, musicians realize that it is the music
which must come first – it should not take a secondary position as existing only to provide a soundtrack to a multimedia presentation. Music in its strictest
form is a “one-sense” medium (i.e., aural), and the visual element, like music videos, is simply an extra bonus; consequently, CD-Plus/Extra discs will most
likely supplement not replace traditional audio CDs. These new CDs should simply serve the function that is inherently implied in their name: music CDs
with the computer data as an Extra or Plus.

Published Articles GO!

Written for the March 1997 issue of Big Shout magazine.

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