New Columbia Legacy Reissues Copy Protected?

[Brad]

I just picked up several of the new Columbia/Legacy reissues and they've got a legend on the back of the cd case some of them that I've never seen before, as follows:

Compatible With*:

Playback: CD/DVD/PC/Mac PC: Windows 98SE/ME/2000SP4/XP, Pentium II IE 5.0, DirectX 9.0, 128 MB RAM. Mac: Ok

Ripping: PC: Windows Media Player 9.0 Mac: Ok

Portable Devices: Windows Media (playforsure), Sony Walkman Digital Players

Limited Copies

? cp.sonybmg.com/xcp; README.HTML

*Certain computer may not be able to access the digital file portions of this Disc. Use subject to applicable end user license agreement.

So does anybody what the long and short of this is?

[Brad]

I just checked the website in question and it is copy protected and from the looks of it, you can't download this to iTunes although they say they've "reached" out to Apple.

There it is.

Further Update:

I just stuck it in my office computer and you have to agree to a license agreement. I kid you not. It then turns out you have to install software for playing it which because this is a network computer I can't do so. Jeez. I hope it plays on the regular cd player.

Edited August 16, 2005 by Brad

[BeBop]

My Manhattan Symphonie isn't copy protected. Then again, it's an LP.

[Big Wheel]

Sounds like some calls to Sony BMG HQ may be in order. Anyone want to ask them why they seem determined to make our CDs impossible to play?

Phone number:

212-833-8000

Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Prescott

Senior VP, Global Marketing: George Levendis

VPs of Global Marketing: Daniel Levy, Jim Wright

VP, Marketing, Legacy Jazz: Seth Rothstein (x4052)

Edited August 16, 2005 by Big Wheel

[Swinging Swede]

Yup, I posted an article about this a couple of weeks back:

Sony/BMG to introduce copy-protected discs in the US?

Note what I highlighted in red:

"Among the biggest headaches: Secure burning means that iPod users do not have any means of transferring tracks to their device"

and

"Sony BMG expects that by year's end a substantial number of its U.S. releases will employ either MediaMax or XCP."

I wonder whether European Sony/BMG releases also will be XCP discs, or still CDs. In the latter case U.S. buyers may have to buy from Europe, just as Europeans buy EMI releases from the U.S. Will have to check that.

Thanks for the warning anyway. From now on one has to be careful about what Sony/BMG releases to buy too.

[WD45]

My Manhattan Symphonie isn't copy protected. Then again, it's an LP.

←

In response to the thread: WTF? Are we all criminals automatically upon purchase of products, each just waiting to fire up our mega-sized piracy machinery?

[Eric]

Well, this sucks royally. I noticed that some of the titles appeared on iTunes today. So you can buy the CD and get the notes, but not be able to load it to iTunes or you can just buy it off iTunes without the notes.

Or stick with vinyl, which is what I plan to do. Guess CD Universe will be getting a nice sized return package early next week.

This is bullshit

Edited August 16, 2005 by Eric

[Use3D]

When instering the disc, hold the shift key. Play normally.

Visit this site to lay waste to all the useless copy protection schemes out there:

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/

[Swinging Swede]

You're talking about the older MediaMax format, right? I would be surprised if holding down the Shift key works with the new XCP discs.

[Brad]

It doesn't. I tried it.

[Use3D]

Bah. I'd have that disc singing a new tune in seconds.

[bertrand]

Also let us know how to move these to iTunes.

Of course, I may not bother buying 'em anyway. Motherfuckers.

Bertrand.

[RDK]

Also let us know how to move these to iTunes.

Of course, I may not bother buying 'em anyway.  Motherfuckers.

Bertrand.

←

Yep. There are so many other discs out there that I want that I can easily skip anything that's copy-protected. The "protection" itself doesn't bother me - I rarely play them on computers or burn them - but it's the principle of the thing...

[Eric]

I did a Google for "XCP" and "Apple" and found a link to a Sony/BMG site and found this:

3. How can I get tracks I rip from my CD into iTunes and/or onto my iPod?

Apple's proprietary technology doesn't support secure music formats other than their own, and therefore the secure music file formats on this disc can't be directly imported into iTunes or iPods.

While these discs aren't currently compatible with iTunes or iPod, we are actively working on an acceptable solution, and have reached out to Apple in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod: http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html

Even though there is no direct support on the disc for iTunes or iPod, SONY BMG has worked out a way for consumers to move content into these environments, despite the challenges noted above.

To receive more information on how to move content into iTunes, CLICK HERE.

http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/form10.html

This directs you to a little form that you fill out. I received an email almost immediately that said this:

Thank you for contacting Sony BMG Online.

We appreciate your purchase of our CD and apologize for any inconvenience. Please follow the instructions below in order to move your content into iTunes and onto an iPod.

[Macintosh]

If you have a Macintosh computer you can copy the songs using your iTunes Player as you would normally do.

[Windows]

If you have a PC place the CD into your computer and allow the Sony BMG audio player on the CD to automatically start. If the player software does not automatically start, open your Windows Explorer. Locate and select the drive letter for your CD drive. On the disc you will find either a file named LaunchCD.exe or Autorun.exe. Double-click this file to manually start the player.

TIP: If your CD does not contain either the LaunchCD.exe or

Autorun.exe files, it may not be compatible with this iPod

solution. Please reply to this letter for more information.

Once the Sony BMG player application has been launched and the End User License Agreement has been accepted, you can click the Copy Songs button on the top menu.

Follow the instructions to copy the secure Windows Media Files (WMA) to your PC. Make a note of where you are copying the songs to, you will need to get to these secure Windows Media Files in the next steps.

Once the WMA files are on your PC you can open and listen to the songs with Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher (or another fully compatible player that can playback secure WMA files, such as MusicMatch, RealPlayer, and Winamp). You can then burn the songs to a standard Audio CD. Please note that in order to burn the files, you will need to upgrade to, or already have, Windows Media Player 9 or 10.

Once the standard Audio CD has been created, place this copied CD back into your computer and open iTunes. iTunes can now rip the songs as you would any normal audio CD.

Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple, who we have already reached out to in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod rather than having to go through the additional steps above:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html

Thank you for the opportunity to be of assistance.

The Sony BMG Online Support Team

Sounds like a fucking joyous process. I love the way they try to get you to bone Apple ...

[Harold_Z]

Brad - does it play on a regular cd player ?

[bertrand]

The albums on iTunes are not complete. Un-fucking-believable. I have a French pressing of Drum Suite, and I just planned to buy the three bonus tracks. So, you cannot have the complete Drum Suite in your iPod because:

1. The CD cannot be imported

2. The version on iTunes is incomplete.

No wonder people steal music.

Bertrand.

[Guy Berger]

I think this case it might be a mitzvah to pirate the music on these CDs. Of course, I'm not a rabbi.

Guy

[Guy Berger]

I remember reading an article about how you could get a "workaround" for your ipod if you emailed Sony. Anybody knows if this applies to the CSDs (consumer-screwing discs) in question?

Guy

[Brad]

Harold,

It does. I stuck it in my car cd player tonight and it sounds great. Great sounding cd.

[Eric]

I remember reading an article about how you could get a "workaround" for your ipod if you emailed Sony.  Anybody knows if this applies to the CSDs (consumer-screwing discs) in question?

    Guy

←

I think this is what I posted on the prior page ... definitely requires some "work".

What a bunch of arrogant SOBs. The Blakey situation is unbelievable. I think this is as much about giving the finger to Apple as well as the consumer.

[CJ Shearn]

wow this sucks. I hope when I purchase some of these they play in my DVD player which doubles as my main CD player

[wolff]

Are these discs actually CD's anymore? I do not think they should have the CD logo on them, as they do conform to the Redbook standard. Class Action time???

[Eric]

I bought a copy of Silver's Blue just to check this out.

I popped the CD in my laptop and up came a screen that said I had 30 seconds to shut down iTunes or the disc would eject (which ended up happening).

Next I booted up Windows Media Player and got the bullshit license agreement. Of course, if you don't accept, it ejects your CD. BTW, there was no way to copy the license agreement and it is rather lengthy. It also talks about how the CD is going to install a small piece of software on your computer to manage the storage of digital media on your PC or some crap like that.

It turn out that what got installed was a crappy little CD player ("CLP"), i.e. the CD did not load in Windows Media Player. I used a utility on the CLP to do so. The following "simple" instructions were also provided:

COPYING MUSIC TO YOUR COMPUTER

You must use the software provided on this disc to copy the tracks to your computer. If you try to use your normal media player (RealPlayer, iTunes, Windows Media Player, MusicMatch) to copy the tracks to your computer, then the audio will sound distorted.

To copy tracks to your computer, click this icon inside the player. Next, select which format you would like to use to copy the tracks. You can copy tracks using secure Windows Media, or copy OpenMG tracks for use with Sony portable devices.

To copy tracks to your computer in the secure Windows Media format, you must have Windows Media 9 or higher installed on your computer. If you do not have Windows Media 9 installed, you can download it directly from Microsoft. Additionally, if you are running a version of Windows older than Windows XP, then you must also have DirectX 9 installed. You can download DirectX 9 directly from Microsoft.

To copy tracks to your computer in the OpenMG format for use with Sony portable devices, you must use the "MUSIC PLAYER" software provided on this disc. This application will be installed the first time you try to copy the OpenMG tracks to your computer. If the "MUSIC PLAYER" installer does not automatically launch, then follow these steps to launch the "MUSIC PLAYER" installer manually.

Double click on the 'My Computer' icon on your desktop

Inside the 'My Computer' window, double click on the icon for your CD-ROM drive

Once you see the list of files on the disc, double click on the folder named 'BIN'.

Once you see the list of files in the 'BIN' folder, double click on the folder named 'WIN32'.

Once you see the list of files in the 'WIN32' folder, double click on the file named 'MQSETUP.EXE'.

If you have problems or experience difficulty with any of these functions, please visit our website, http://www.contentprotectedmusic.com/ for more information.

After I got one song burned, I opened it in Windows Media Player (i.e. instead of the CLP) and played the tune. Predictably, it sounded like shit- all distorted.

I also tried to import the WMA file into iTunes, but (predictably), it would not let me because the file was "protected".

So, it looks as if the music will only play (at the proper fidelity that is) in the CLP. Even with that option, you have to be able to *find* the CLP on your machine - unlike the installation of any other software, there is no shortcut and I don't even know what I am looking for when I search my hard drive.

What a load of shit

Clearly there is a major pissing contest going on between Sony/BMG and Apple. This is not uncommon in the software industry EXCEPT for the fact that they almost always get the issues worked out before the public gets crapped on. Sony/BMG damn well knows that iTunes is wildly popular and that many people would run into this issue and get pissed. What a bunch of morons/assholes!!!

What makes this even more frustrating is that this is a very nice set of Legacy reissues.

I am pissed!!!

Edited August 17, 2005 by Eric

[Claude]

My Manhattan Symphonie isn't copy protected. Then again, it's an LP.

←

In fact copyprotected CDs are as easily copyable as LPs, because they can still be played back on the CD player and recorded with the PC, just like one would make a CD-R from an LP.

But I avoid them for reasons of principle, because they are an inferior product.

Edited August 17, 2005 by Claude

[Claude]

Hmm, secure Windows media means the files cannot be played on any popular portable device that support Windows media. For the moment, the music can only be copied onto portable Sony players, which are quite rare on the market.

I just deleted the upcoming Sony titles (Woody Shaw, Dexter Gordon, Bob Brookmeyer, Gerry Mulligan) from my CD Universe wish list and hope that in Europe they will be regular CDs.