Why Won't These Bootlegs Play on My CD Player?

[Hardbop]

I picked up a couple of Ricky Lee Jones bootlegs and they wouldn't play on my CD player. I tried them on a second CD player/clock radio I have in my bedroom and they wouldn't play there either.

I took them back to the CD store and the guy put them in the store's CD player and they worked fine. I took them back home, tried them in both players again and still they won't play.

Why do they play in the store's box and not on my CD player(s)? My CD player is actually a DVD player. It was an early DVD player I purchased early in '98. Would that have something to do with it?

[PFunkJazz]

This is quite clearly divine retribution for buying bootlegs in the first place. Describe exactly what the record store clerk looked like. Did he have horns and a tail and carry a forked stick?

[3pointdeli]

wow, not only did they rip off the artist but they ripped you off too.

[sideshowbob]

Not all CD players will play CD-Rs (recordable CDs). Many that will play CD-Rs won't play CD-RWs (rewriteable CD-Rs). I suspect one of these things is your problem.

-- Ian

[Hardbop]

Originally posted by sideshowbob
Not all CD players will play CD-Rs (recordable CDs). Many that will play CD-Rs won't play CD-RWs (rewriteable CD-Rs). I suspect one of these things is your problem.

-- Ian

Thanx. You know I bought a CD directly from an artist and that wouldn't play either. It was a self-produced disc so I assumed it was just a defective CD. Now, I may be on to something.

[Hardbop]

I think that is the problem. The boots run on my computer!

What is the solution, though? How do you know when you buy a CD player if they'll play the recordable/rewritable discs.

Even the Anthony Wonsey self-produced disc plays on my computer, but it won't play on my two CD players.

[Tenorman]

Don't know about the US but in the UK, they specify what a player will play. However, if you buy over the net, you will need to go on to the manufacturer's site to get details. Assume if a CD type is not listed, it won't play it.

[sideshowbob]

Most CD and DVD players made in the last couple of years will play CD-Rs, but it's worth checking the specs first, just in case.

-- Ian

[Claude]

Some Sony CD players from the late 90's don't play CD-Rs. It was a deliberate move by Sony to discourage CD copying. Of course it only had the effect that the CD players were avoided because of the lack of compatibility. The current models again read all types of CD-Rs.

CD-RW compatibility is still an issue with many players, but who really needs that?

[PFunkJazz]

So far, responses to this thread show roughly 50% of us are out of sympathy with bootleggers and the other 50% aren't bothered about it.

What do other posters think of the morality or otherwise of supporting the bootleg industry? I confess that while, in theory, I am against it, I have on a few occasions bought bootlegs because it was music I loved a lot and couldn't get otherwise.

[Claude]

I think bootlegs (not to be confused with pirate copies of legit CDs) are mainly bought by fans who also buy the official releases and do not compete with official CDs. I don't think they constitute an economic problem.

Of course they are out of control of the artist and are therefore morally problematic.

I would like to have more artists do what Frank Zappa ("Beat the boots") or Pearl Jam (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS805140255&sql=B4ucyxdgbjolj~C#disc0) (2000 Tour) did at some point: release concert recordings themselves, even if they weren't perfect technically or artistically. If fans want to buy it, release it.

I find it ridiculous what some artist's heritors (like Nancy Sinatra or Sue Mingus) are doing in hunting down bootleg sellers (and even private traders in the case of Sinatra). The concerts of those artists are part of cultural history and there is a legitimate need for the fans to get the live recordings that exist. Of course it would be better if artists received royalties from bootlegs, but such deals cannot take place if the copyright owners menace to have every bootleg taken from the market.

A solution would be to have a sort of licencing system for live recordings like it exists for radio play. An artists cannot prevent a radio station to play his recordings on air, but he has a right to royalties according to a fixed general scheme. Having such a system for bootlegs should at least be possible for artists from the past (dead or not active anymore). because there is no risk of fans preferring to buy cheap bootlegs instad of going to expensive concerts.

[PFunkJazz]

Of course, the Grateful Dead released a huge amount of live concert material for deadicated fans. This wasn't on an If You Can't Beat 'Em basis, because the Dead never stopped audience members taping gigs (dozens did so at every gig I ever attended), more on an If You Won't Beat 'Em basis.

[Hardbop]

Originally posted by Claude
Some Sony CD players from the late 90's don't play CD-Rs. It was a deliberate move by Sony to discourage CD copying. Of course it only had the effect that the CD players were avoided because of the lack of compatibility. The current models again read all types of CD-Rs.

CD-RW compatibility is still an issue with many players, but who really needs that?

When I went back to the music store with the discs one of the guys behind the counter mentioned that some Sony players couldn't play the boots. Mine is a Marantz, but it is an early DVD player, not a CD player.

In any event, neither my DVD player, nor my CD player/clock radio, can play the damn discs. I can play them on the computer, though.

This may be a problem because more artists are promoting their CDs. The Ricky Lee Jones discs I bought are bootlegs, but the Wonsey disc that also won't play I bought directly from him at one of his gigs.

[peter rh]

reburn them as cda files(instead of what they are)

[Joel]

Originally posted by peter rh
reburn them as cda files(instead of what they are)

and maybe try a CDR-Audio media this time. Though this media is intended for CD recorders (for those who dont use a computer for burning),the media itself might be more friendlier to your systems.

I also have a 1+ year old Sony mini hifi which handles CDR/CDRW disks, so maybe only certain models wont play CDRs.