Copy protection company Macrovision is working with record labels to load their CDs with digital audio files that can be copied onto computers and MP3 players.
But don't expect unprotected MP3 files to be distributed with the next Madonna album. The new CDs will include Windows Media Audio files alongside the ordinary CD songs. Those new files can be loaded onto a computer, but consumers won't be able to burn them on new CDs or trade the files online.
However, by putting songs on the disc that can be easily transferred to a computer or an MP3 player, Macrovision hopes to assuage fears that anti-copying technology on CDs is taking away listeners' abilities to use the music in different ways.
"The record labels are trying to stop the CD copying problem but don't want to restrict consumers' enjoyment," said Brian McPhail, vice president of Macrovision's consumer software division. "We think…this is the big breakthrough that will make labels comfortable copy protecting their tracks."
Macrovision and several rivals, including Suncomm and Midbar Technologies, have been offering the ability to prevent ordinary compact discs from being copied or "ripped" into MP3 files since early 2001. But after an initial flurry of interest, labels have backed awayfrom the technology, citing instances of incompatibilities with some CD players and a wave of consumer backlash.
Most of the big labels say they are still looking with great interest at the technology, but that it has not progressed far enough to be released on a wide scale. Labels have been releasing protected discs with more frequency in Europe and Asia.
The move to put a so-called second session of digital audio files on copy-protected CDs has been in the works at least since last summer, when Macrovision and Suncomm each said they were working with Microsoft to add Windows Media-encoded tracks alongside the copy- protected CD songs.
Because Windows Media is the most commonly supported audio player on computers, the labels most often request that technology, McPhail said. However, Macrovision plans to release technology that will also let the discs be played on Apple computers in upcoming months.
Putting compressed audio files on CDs is part of a broader trend by record labels to add exclusive content to CDs in hopes of making them more attractive to consumers tempted by free file-sharing networks like Kazaa or Morpheus. Increasingly, music videos, Web links, bonus songs, or even bundled DVDs are included with CDs distributed in retail stores.
The "second session" is more than simple add-on goodies, however. The addition of computer- readable files such as Windows Media tracks will ultimately allow the record labels potential new ways to hook consumers on such things subscription services or fan clubs. Consumers who buy a CD could get encrypted digital keys to a fan club site that provides live concert footage or merchandise, for example.
"This is a step in the right direction," said P.J. McNealy, research director for GartnerG2, a division of the Gartner research firm. "This gives the music industry an alternate business model."
For that model to take hold, labels must be willing to brave consumer backlash against changes in the traditional copyable CD, however. Record companies are eager to see the copying issue diminish--indeed, they routinely cite CD copying and Internet file-swapping as the primary contributors to falling revenue--but they remain wary of consumers' potential wrath.
CDs containing the Windows Media Files alongside Macrovision's copy-protection technology are expected to trickle into the European marketplace as soon as November, McPhail said. Release dates elsehwhere remain uncertain, however.
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