News

Market tests have been conducted, rumors floated, and now official word has arrived that DualDisc, a new two-sided disc format combining a CD on one side with a DVD on the other, will launch this October.

While the CD side of DualDisc will work like a conventional CD in most players, the DVD side of the new format has several potential uses: DVD-Video and all its attendant audio formats such as stereo 24/96 PCM or Dolby Digital 5.1, or optionally, DVD-Audio. Note that SACD is not included. Also, with its slight increase in thickness over a regular CD, DualDisc may have problems in some transports.

In a recent interview, producer/engineer Elliot Mazer predicted that the music industry would wait until it had 200 titles ready, pushing the launch until early next year. But instead, EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group/Silverline Records say they will be ready to go in two months.

While there are no specifics concerning precisely how many titles will hit stores in October, Silverline Records says it is set to release an eclectic mix of 50 DualDisc titles beginning November 2, 2004, with an additional 25 titles on November 16. A mix of old and new titles is expected from the major labels.

Discs from Blondie, Blues Traveler, Queensryche, the London Symphony, and others are expected in the first batch from Silverline, while the second set should include albums from Todd Rundgren, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Ministry, Dar Williams, The Fixx, The Pogues, Gary Numan, Eddie Money, and others.

The labels say that the new DualDisc addresses consumer complaints that CDs were not offering enough value for the money at retail. Sony BMG's Andrew Lack explains, "We are giving consumers what they told us they want—greater value driven by unique content that brings them closer to the artist. We're confident that this ground-breaking new initiative will help to re-energize traditional music retail."

But this begs the question: Do consumers really want more video and audio content crammed onto a $15–20 disc, or do they simply want CDs that cost less? Both the SACD and DVD-Audio rollouts proved that surround sound and high-resolution audio (with added video in the case of DVD-A), even if backwards compatible with current CD players (in the case of hybrid SACDs), were not enough to ensure a new format's success at CD and higher price points.

Regardless, the labels claim that they all plan to offer an increasing number of DualDisc products, including a range of new releases and catalog titles. Don Van Cleave, president of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, argues, "DualDisc is a compelling new product; a proposition that we believe will help drive sales."