Understanding
CD Text
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?
Precision Disc 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.
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