Corrupt audio discs, aka "Copy-Protected CDs"

Here is a list of all the bad CDs that we are aware of in the UK and elsewhere at the moment. Please use your browser's Find In Page menu option to search, or use the artist or title index pages. Help us find more! See this page for details. Please post new reports to this address, and also let us know if you have any new information about any of the CDs listed below, or if you can confirm our reports. Thanks!

For people based in Germany, I recommend taking a look at c't magazine's online corrupt CD database. US residents might also want to look at Fat Chuck's site for more information on US releases and the US situation.

Note that the effectiveness of these so-called "copy-protection" systems usually depends mostly on which particular CD-ROM drive make and model you have in your PC or Mac. Some people find that a corrupt disc will extract fine without problem the first time they try, and others will have trouble even playing it. The software used seems to matter less than the hardware, but several people have recommended ExactAudioCopy or CDEx which check more thoroughly for errors than some other apps.

Update Apr-2003: 'Enhanced CDs' (i.e. those with additional video/etc content) were previously uncorrupted, but this appears to no longer be the case. We have received a few reports of CDs with both corrupt audio data and enhanced content -- so an 'enhanced CD' is no longer a 100% safe purchase, although these corrupt ones do seem rare.

Update Mar-2004: IMPORTANT: Please, Windows users, make sure that you have AUTORUN turned OFF on your PC, or that you hold down Shift every time you insert a music disc from now on. There are a new generation of corrupt discs starting to appear that will try to install special drivers permanently onto your PC when you insert the disc, to stop you accessing the audio with your normal software players. See this article for all the details. These corrupt discs have reached almost everywhere now (Jun-2004), thanks to recent BMG releases.

Index pages:
   Artist / Title index
   Title / Artist index

Sections in this page:
   CDs reported corrupt in the UK
   Troublesome "enhanced CDs" encountered in the UK and elsewhere
   Troublesome hybrid SACDs encountered in the UK and elsewhere
   CDs copy-protected elsewhere, and probably protected in the UK, but not confirmed here yet
   CDs copy-protected elsewhere, but unprotected in the UK
   False alarms

CDs reported corrupt in the UK

• ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE BMG RELEASES will be corrupt according to this article in the Register and information from BMG itself. BMG claims that their corrupt CDs do in fact conform to 'Red Book' standards, but this is clearly total nonsense, or else they would work without problem in everyone's CD drives. Why do they find it necessary to blatantly lie about this? It is as simple as this: if you value your music and hope to be using your CDs without problem for many years to come, DO NOT BUY these corrupt BMG releases.
• ALL UK EMI RELEASES will soon be corrupt according to EMI's own press releases and reports in the media. The target date for 100% corruption was June-2003, although it seems that they did not meet this target. They are using the Cactus formats as used by EMI Europe. They now have an information site which under the "Problem Solving" FAQ tab answers a question regarding the omission of the Philips CD logo with: "... we have introduced a new standard to the Audio disc market that is not the same as the old Philips standard, therefore we do not use their logo." It is good to see them admitting that these discs are not real CDs, but calling the Cactus formats a 'standard' is pushing the definition of the word. This is especially so considering that Cactus can only be successful by being a moving target, i.e. by changing format (like a virus) as soon as one generation of computer drives becomes able to play it. We have even seen different versions of Cactus from one release to the next -- so this is in no way a 'standard'. I despair with any company that still thinks that making enemies of a large number of its paying customers in order to 'hit back' at a few it dislikes is somehow a winning strategy. Acting like this, they don't deserve their good customers.
• "Strangers" by Ed Harcourt: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, with a warning on the packaging. Refuses to play in a Quad 77 CD player and a Sony DVD player. Only 4 of the 12 tracks will play on a Mac. No tracks could be copied using Roxio on a PC, although they would play. The only normal CD player that the tester could find that would play the disc was an old Cambridge Audio CD player. Hmmm, a nearly totally useless round silver piece of plastic -- great.
• "You've Gotta Go There To Come Back" by Stereophonics: Suspected corrupt in the UK. This disc has problems playing on a Marantz 6000SE CD player.
• "The Collection" by Talk Talk, "Oh, What a Carry On" by various artists, "Karaoke Kylie" by New World Orchestra, "The Glen Campbell Collection" by Glen Campbell, "Country Standards" by Glen Campbell, "Country Standards" by Faron Young, "Country Standards" by Kenny Rogers: These EMI Gold discs are all reported corrupt in the UK, with warnings if you know where to look. Some of the cover images on Amazon UK also show the CC warnings, although there isn't always a warning in the accompanying web-site text.
• "Mind, Body and Soul" by Joss Stone: Reported corrupt in some UK shops (e.g. Music Zone) and from CD-WOW, but not in most other shops. There are warnings on the corrupt version. The disc attempts to install software when inserted into a Windows PC. "Steinberg Clean" software could access the tracks, but there were many skips, crackles and other errors in the extracted audio; however, "Easy CD-DA Extractor" allowed the disc to be read without problem.
• "Ultimate Kylie" by Kylie Minogue, "Best of Blue" by Blue: Reported corrupt in some UK shops (e.g. Music Zone), but not in most of the others. There are warnings on the corrupt versions.
• "Second Edition" by Public Image Limited: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon UK, with a warning on the front of the packaging, but with no warning on Amazon's site.
• "A Perfect Circle" by Emotive: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, without a warning on the site.
• "Aha Shake Heartbreak" by The Kings of Leon: Reported corrupt as listed on Amazon UK (with a warning on the site) and from some UK shops (e.g. Music Zone). Most UK shops, however, appear to have a different, uncorrupted version that has an extra track. The MZ corrupt disc reportedly has an obviously different cover to the UK version.
• "Il Divo" by Il Divo: Reported corrupt in UK shops and as supplied by Amazon UK, with a small warning logo on the packaging. It fails to play in a VW car CD player. One person mentions that on a PC it prompts to install Macrovision software, and if that is rejected, gives constant clicks when played with WMP.
• "The Great American Song Book Vol III"" by Rod Stewart: Reported corrupt in the UK, with a warning that is difficult to see from the front, hidden in the spine of the casing.
• "Tunde" by Tunde: Reported corrupt in UK shops, and as supplied by Amazon UK. There is a warning on Amazon's site.
• "Chronicles Of Life And Death" by Good Charlotte: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and in the UK. This is a Sony OpenMG DRM release, with a "copy-protected and pre-ripped" warning.
• "My Own Best Enemy" by Richard Marx: Reported corrupt in the UK, failing to play on one high-end CD player.
• "Astronaut" by Duran Duran: Reported corrupt in the UK and Netherlands, and as supplied by Amazon UK, in both normal and limited editions. This is a Sony release. These discs have a "copy-protected and pre-ripped" warning, using Sony's OpenMG DRM system. One person described the disc as an "annoying, irritating and aggravating experience" and is returning it immediately. Another person reports that it "skips like hell" in a Denon DCD1520, refuses to play in an Alpine car CD player, and refuses to play without skipping on two tested PCs. Another person reports that the provided player app is unstable, especially if dragged around the screen. All this from the company who only two weeks ago claimed to have abandoned copy-controlled releases. The audio can be extracted on one tested PowerBook, however.
• "High" by The Blue Nile: Reported corrupt in the UK and Germany, and as supplied by PLAY.com and Amazon UK, with no warning on the packaging at all. Extraction fails with iTunes on both Mac OS9 and OSX, and on Windows using iTunes, Nero6, Alcohol 120 and ISOBuster. One person found that it crashed most WinXP systems he put it into, and also refused to play in his car CD player. Others have found that it fails to play in various standard CD players, including a high-end Quad 77 player and a DVD player. Apparently Sanctuary Records only found out about the corrupt format when they started having complaints from fans (on 27-Aug-2004), and they suggest getting a refund. They also mentioned the possibility of having a repress done at some stage. Given the severity of the corruption on this release, and the fact that there are no warnings at all, that does seem a very good idea. Update 2-Sep-2004: It now seems that the disc was corrupted in error; the 'copy-controlled' glass master for the promo release was accidentally used for the main release. Uncorrupted replacements are apparently being made available to those who ask, but still there is no statement on Sanctuary's website.
• "Aero" by Jean Michel Jarre: Suspected corrupt as sold in the UK. This is either intentionally corrupt or perhaps a faulty master. One person tested two discs on his machine and found exactly the same problem on both -- huge numbers of errors when trying to read the final track, on both of two tested drives. Eventually with persistence the final track could be read, though. Another person confirms problems on that final track in a WinXP laptop, although the disc plays fine in several tested CD players.
• "Room on the 3rd floor" by McFly: Suspected corrupt in the UK, without a warning. One person reports no success accessing the audio from their computer at all. Further reports on this one would be appreciated.
• "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield: Reported corrupt in the UK as released by BMG, with a small warning.
• "Kasabian" by Kasabian: Reported corrupt as sold in UK shops and as supplied by Amazon UK, with a warning label front and back. There is no warning on Amazon's site. This is also available as a dual-format CD/DVD, which apparently also has corrupt audio. One person complained to BMG via their website, and received an offer to exchange the disc by post. He also received from them a ZIP of some software to uninstall the player which had been installed by the music disc. He didn't try this software; he had already removed the software by running an XP System Restore.
• "The Tension and the Spark" by Darren Hayes: Reported corrupt in the UK as released by Sony, using their OpenMG DRM platform. One correspondant writes: "Whatever it is [OpenMG], I won't be buying it, though I've been waiting for this album to come out for ages as I was a big fan of his last one."
• "So-Called Chaos" by Alanis Morissette: Suspected corrupt in the UK. This is an enhanced disc, but playback of the audio was found to be impossible on various PC drives. Any more information on this one would be welcome.
• "Room On Fire" by The Strokes: Reported corrupt in the UK. This one appears to have really severe corruption -- it reportedly gives a quality rating of only 95% in EAC, like an old badly-scratched disc. Most new discs give 99.9%. However, another person reports that a copy bought from CD-WOW in summer-2004 had no problems at all, giving a 100% rating in EAC.
• "Riot on an Empty Street" by Kings of Convenience: This EMI release is reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW. It fails to play on one tested VW car player.
• "Supergrass is 10 -- The Best of 1994-2004" by Supergrass: Reported corrupt in some UK shops, and as supplied by CD-WOW. MusicZone sell both types, one with a warning and one without. This is an EMI release. The corrupt release refuses to play in one tested VW car player. The audio can be extracted on one tested PowerBook.
• "Stone Love" by Angie Stone: Reported corrupt in the UK as released by J records. Amazon UK carry a warning on their page.
• "Life Of Riley" by The Lightning Seeds: This EMI Gold release is reported corrupt in the UK, using Cactus and a lo-fi player app. Extraction failed on one Linux PC, but succeeded on a WinME machine.
• "White Flag" by Dido (CD single): Reported corrupt in the UK. Most shops have the corrupt version, but some uncorrupt versions have been seen (e.g. in MusicZone).
• "In the Zone" by Britney Spears: Reported corrupt in Italy and in a few UK shops. Most UK shops have the uncorrupted version, though.
• "Gone Troppo" by George Harrison (remastered): Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW. UK shop versions of the other recently remastered George Harrison records appear to be uncorrupted, however.
• "Good Life - The Best Of Inner City" by Inner City: This EMI release is corrupt in the UK and from Amazon UK. There is a warning on the packaging, but not on Amazon's page. Extraction was not possible on one tested Mac.
• "Contraband" by Velvet Revolver: Reported corrupt in the UK, the US, Portugal and Germany and as supplied by CD-WOW and Amazon UK. This is a BMG release, using the MediaMax CD3 corruption. This is the one that permanently installs a trojan Windows driver to stop your normal CD-playing software from working. Watch out! In addition to the driver, it also seems to be using some more conventional corruption, because the disc is reported unreadable using Linux as well. However extraction was reported possible on an older CD-ROM drive using cdparanoia.
• "Redefine" by Soil: Reported corrupt in the UK, and from Amazon UK and PLAY.com. One person has mentioned the noticeably poorer quality of the audio on this album when compared to uncorrupted tracks available elsewhere (e.g. on the single version, or on magazine sampler cover discs). Most people don't have the opportunity to directly compare a corrupt and non-corrupt disc of the same audio, but several people who've tried this reported that they can clearly hear the difference. In addition extraction on one tested PC gave constant errors and playback on a normal CD player sounded 'not quite right'.
• "To The 5 Boroughs" by Beastie Boys: Reported corrupt in some UK shops, with a warning on the packaging, and in Australia. Apparently European and New Zealand releases have been officially corrupted, but not UK and US releases, but it seems that some Europe-sourced discs are available in the UK. One person reported that the corrupt disc does not play in his car CD player despite every other CD in his collection working fine. He comments: "... and they wonder why internet music piracy is so widespread ..."
• "No Roots" by Faithless: Reported corrupt in UK and German shops, from Amazon UK and from PLAY.com. Released by BMG, with a warning on the packaging. This is a corrupt disc, but it also has enhanced content (video material), so it is an example of a relatively rare corrupt-enhanced disc. With autorun, the disc starts up with a 'painfully slow' video player app called AlphaPlayer. (It also asks to reboot your PC, which is unwelcome if you are listening in the middle of a working day). To get direct access to the music with normal software, however, it is just like using any other corrupt disc. As usual, with some drives the extraction proceeds successfully, and others have problems. With EAC and a Pioneer DVD-106, only 10 tracks appear correctly. However a Pioneer DVD-104 shows all 15 tracks, and audio extraction proceeds without problem, only slower than normal. Two Macs also had no problems with the disc, although the video content was not accessible.
• "The Calling II" by The Calling: Reported corrupt in UK and German shops and also from Amazon UK. This is a BMG release with a warning.
• "You Are Free" by Cat Power: Reported corrupt in the UK. Noise spikes reported on several tracks.
• "Relations" by Kathryn Williams (promo version): This promo is reported to be using what appears to be a new corrupt format. The disc was unplayable on all tested drives (at least four of them), but playback was fine on a normal CD player and a car CD player. The status of the public release is not yet known.
• "A Grand Don't Come for Free" by The Streets: Reported corrupt in some UK shops, but clean in others. Also reported corrupt in Germany. Some UK shops seem to have both corrupt and clean stock at the same time!
• "Confessions" by Usher: Reported corrupt in UK shops, with a warning. However, a more recent version (with extra tracks) has no warning, so may be clean, although no-one has confirmed this yet.
• "The Collection" by Doctor Hook: Yet another EMI Gold corrupt release, spotted in UK shops.
• "The Collection 2" by Spandau Ballet: Another EMI Gold corrupt release, spotted in Woolworths in the UK.
• "Under My Skin" by Avril Lavigne: Reported corrupt in UK and German shops and as supplied by Amazon UK and PLAY.com. This is an Arista release. There is a copy-controlled logo and a warning on the packaging. One person reports that he forgot to turn off AUTOPLAY, and the disc corrupted his Nero installation. So, the record companies are writing viruses and trojans now? Someone else writes with more detailed information: "[the disc] installs a set of ASPI driver files dated 1999 with no warning or prompting if the disc is allowed to autorun". If true, this is illegal under UK law.
• "Anastacia" by Anastacia: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, Germany and in some UK shops. This is based on "key2audioXS", the new Sony copy-control format that allows compressed audio to be transferred to a portable device, but not written to a new CD. It is sometimes labelled as an "enhanced CD", but that is not the whole truth. Most UK shops appear to have the uncorrupted version, though. One person found extraction to be possible using iTunes on both Mac and WinXP without problem.
• "Afterglow" by Sarah McLachlan (special edition): Reported corrupt as supplied by PLAY.com. In Germany, the 'enhanced' release has no mention of 'copy-control' on the packaging, whereas the normal version does. This disc uses a form of corruption that leaves only 86% quality as reported by EAC in one person's tests. He mentions that it also 'smudges' the sound, making it quite bland. After reconstruction with EAC and burning the result to a new disc, he says that the difference in quality is quite clearly noticeable on his hi-fi system.
• "Welcome Interstate Mangers" by Fountains of Wayne: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by 101CD. There is a warning label on the packaging, and the corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Ready For Freddie" by Freddie Hubbard: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon in the UK. This is an EMI (Blue Note) release, with a warning on the packaging. It refuses to play on a standalone CD player, which reports "not audio disc". A PC also fails to recognise the disc as an audio disc.
• "Archetype" by Fear Factory: Reported corrupt as supplied by PLAY.com. The reporter says: "Even the most rebellious death metal bands are getting non-standard releases, I just can't buy music anymore!"
• "Speakerboxx / The Love Below" by Outkast: Reported corrupt in UK shops, with a warning. This is a BMG/Arista release. However, some discs without the warnings have been spotted in the UK, although it is not clear that these are really uncorrupted.
• "This is not a test" by Missy Elliot: Reported corrupt in UK shops, Italy and elsewhere in Europe, using Cactus-200. There is a small warning present on some of these corrupt releases. Note that there is also a reportedly uncorrupted 'enhanced' version of this disc available from Amazon UK, although Amazon carry a warning on their site that this is in fact copy-controlled.
• "Alternative 80's" and "Original Electro Album" by various artists: Reported corrupt as found in UK shops. These are EMI Gold releases. One person had a very bad experience in HMV after finding that these did not play in his car -- it seems that they argued the point, forcing him to have an exchange for CDs he didn't want instead of the refund he was entitled to. He is highly disappointed with this treatment after having spent a great deal of money in HMV over the years. However, it appears that HMV's official policy is to give a full refund. It is good to know your rights in case you get an unfriendly or uncooperative shop assistant like this, as many of the stores will incorrectly tell you that you are only entitled to an exchange.
• "Lionheart / The Dreaming" by Kate Bush: This EMI 'double original' is corrupt with a warning.
• "New Gold Dream / Sparkle in the Rain" by Simple Minds: This EMI 'double original' is corrupt with a warning.
• "Winning Days" by The Vines: Reported corrupt as supplied by PLAY.com. This is an EMI release, with a warning. Extraction on one tested PC proceeded without problem, and a PowerBook G4 owner also reported no problems on a DVD-RW drive.
• "Me and Mr Johnson" by Eric Clapton: Reported corrupt in UK, Germany and the Netherlands, and as supplied by PLAY.com, with a warning on the packaging. On a Naim CD player, skipping or other disruptions are experienced 9-15 seconds into each track. Playback fails on a Rio Volt CD/MP3 player. Extraction was reported to be possible on one tested Linux PC. Warnings are reported to be very very small (with a 3mm IFPI logo). Cactus-200 disc. The US version is reported to be clean.
• "Diary Of Alicia Keys" by Alicia Keys: Reported corrupt in Italy, and from Sainsbury's and Amazon in the UK, with a warning. This is a BMG release. The disc is not recognised in an AOpen CD-ROM drive.
• "Absent Friends" by The Divine Comedy: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW. This is an EMI release, with a warning. Playback was impossible on one tested Linux machine, but extraction proceeded without problem. "Play-protected?" Another person reports no problems on a Windows 2000-pro PC, but failure in a SEAT car CD player. We also have a report of failure in a VW car CD player.
• "Call off the Search" by Katie Melua: This one has caused trouble for various people, as supplied by PLAY.com and UK shops. It is an enhanced CD with video footage, but it also causes strange problems that may be due to a corrupt format. However, there are no warnings except that it is an enhanced disc. One person has reported that the disc fails to work properly on his PC, reporting a bad TOC and bad sectors when analysed. Another reports that his Plextor drive fails to recognise it, and that a Peugeot car CD player refuses to play it (ejection from this player was also difficult). Another person with a Seat Leon car player reported that the disc refused to play, and after that no CD would play in that slot.
• "Fly or Die" by N.E.R.D.: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW with a warning on the packaging. UK shop versions and those from Tesco online appear clean, however (i.e. no warnings). Corrupt version has playback problems on WinXP, stuttering within the first track. Extraction failed on a couple of tested drives.
• "When It Falls" by Zero7: Reported corrupt in the UK, with a small warning sticker on the packaging. Only 4 tracks appear in iTunes on one tested OS9 Mac. On another Mac (an iMac), the entire system crashes if the disc is played -- the owner now regards the disc as a "waste of a tenner". A Dell PC user reports that only a few seconds of the first track plays before playback completely freezes. Ultimate Dilemma please take note -- these people are not happy campers. Another person also reports hearing "minor noise spikes" when listening to this disc. The US version is reportedly not corrupt.
• "Simple Things" by Zero7: A recent copy (Apr-2004) from CD-WOW is reported corrupt, failing to play in a SEAT car CD player. However, earlier discs seemed not to be corrupt: we had one very early report of problems playing this CD back digitally on a Windows PC, but no-one else confirmed this at the time -- several people reported no problems with their copies. Possibly there was only a small release of corrupt CDs originally followed by a mostly uncorrupted release.
• "Auf Der Maur" by Auf Der Maur: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, with a warning on the packaging. This is a Capitol (EMI) release.
• "The Essential Waterboys" by The Waterboys: Reported corrupt in the UK. This is an EMI Essentials release.
• "Songs About Jane" by Maroon 5: Reported corrupt in some UK shops and as supplied by CD-WOW, with a warning on the packaging. It is a BMG release using a Cactus format. Some UK shops have the corrupt version, whereas others have the proper CD release. One person reported that the corrupt disc functions fine on her PC, but fails on her TEAC CD player! The CD sticks at 9 seconds into each track.
• "Talkie Walkie" by Air: Reported corrupt in the UK and Germany and as supplied by CD-WOW, PLAY.com and Amazon UK, with a warning on the packaging. Extraction was possible on one tested PC with a cheap DVD drive, and on a Dell laptop using MusicMatch Jukebox. However, another person reports a recurring click, like a scratched vinyl record, when attempting to play the tracks on his PC or extract them using Nero. Yet another found that it refused to play in both his PC and his car. Some UK shops appear to have uncorrupted copies, though.
• "Audioslave" by Audioslave: Suspected corrupt in the UK. Extraction was not possible on one tested WinXP PC, and the audio refused to play without skipping.
• "Another day" by Lene Marlin: Reported corrupt in Italy and as supplied by CD-WOW in the UK.
• "Feels Like Home" by Norah Jones: Reported corrupt in the USA and Singapore, and as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY.com, with warnings on the packaging. This is an EMI release. The US version refuses to play in a "Mark Levinson 37" high-end CD player, and a DVD player plays it with distortion. The Singapore version plays with audible 'ticks' on a couple of high-end (audiophile) players. Extraction on a Dell PC was found to be possible with some persistence, and another person reports success extracting on a Dell laptop using MusicMatch Jukebox, but major problems with other software he tried. Another person reports success extracting the audio on a Linux system.
• "Songs From The Wood", "Heavy Horses" and "A" by Jethro Tull: Reported corrupt in UK shops. The recent Jethro Tull remixes/re-issues on Chrysalis are the ones with the corruption. Extraction was found to be possible on one tested PC. Another person reported the very poor quality (48kbps) playback on his PC on "Heavy Horses", which is clearly unsatisfactory, as he bought the album to replace 128kbps MP3s! "Be honest, get screwed" -- that is the message the record industry is sending out.
• "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" by Japan: Reported corrupt as supplied by PLAY.com (EMI Canada import), with a warning. Glitches at 10 seconds into each track are reported when playing on a PC. Copying to MiniDisc fails.
• "Casually Dressed and Deep In Conversation" by Funeral For a Friend: Reported corrupt in UK shops. There is a brief warning on the front, and an impossible to read warning on the back (yellow on white, 2mm high text). Extraction was not possible on one PC. Another PC extracted the audio, but with occasional clicks. Another person reports that the built-in lo-fi player is frustratingly bad as it seems to have to load up the entire track before playing it. Another person reported recording the audio successfully through his DVD player.
• "Sally O'Mattress" by The Burn: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW. There is a warning message on the packaging. Basic extraction was found to be possible on one tested PC, but several tools had trouble whilst extracting or playing track one.
• "It Still Moves" by My Morning Jacket: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon UK and CD-WOW. Fails to play in one tested car CD player.
• "Bittersweet" by Blu Cantrell: Reported corrupt in the UK and the Netherlands, with a warning label. This is a Cactus-200 disc released by BMG. Refuses to play on one tested PC. Extraction of the audio was found to be possible, but with errors reported.
• "Tasty" by Kelis: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW in the UK, with a warning on the packaging. Extracted fine on one PC, but not on another. This is an EMI Cactus-200 disc.
• "Kokopelli" by Kosheen: This BMG release reported corrupt in Germany, the UK and in the States, and as supplied by Amazon UK. Clicking sounds are reported when the disc is played in a Cambridge Audio DVD player, and also when the audio is extracted in a PC.
• "Mo'horizons ... and the new bohemian freedom": Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by tunes.co.uk. The IFPI logo is present. Extraction was not possible on a couple of tested drives, but an older drive had no problem.
• "Friday's Child" by Will Young: Reported corrupt in the UK and as supplied by CD-WOW, with a warning. This is a BMG release, and appears to be using a Cactus format. A NAD C521 player skips when playing this disc, about four or five times per play through the album. A Denon ADV-700 system also fails to play the disc. Extraction was not possible on several tested PCs, but another couple of people report having no difficulty at all. Others report that the PC-extracted audio is thin and there are clicks throughout the music, or that the extracted audio sound-quality is 'terrible'. One person reports that holding down 'Shift' to stop the CD auto-run helps playback and extraction.
• "Guilty" by Blue: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW to the UK (EU pressings), and in Italy, with a warning on the cover. Little crackles are audible all the way through this disc after extracting the audio. Copying to minidisc was not possible.
• "Body Language" by Kylie: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW in the UK, and in some shops (e.g. MusicZone and HMV), with a hard-to-read warning label. Refuses to play in one owner's car and also in his home stereo system. The versions from Amazon UK and most other UK shops are reported to be uncorrupted.
• "Just enough education to perform" by The Stereophonics: Suspected corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, with no warning on the packaging. Skipping and jumping were reported in a JVC in-car CD player. Another person reports no problems at all with this CD, however.
• "Pop Art: The Hits" by The Pet Shop Boys: 3CD and 2CD versions reported corrupt in the UK and Italy. CD-WOW supplies a corrupt 3-CD set, but HMV shops in the UK supply clean discs. Various problems extracting the audio have been reported, but one person reports no problems extracting on either a Mac or a PC. Transferring to MiniDisc also failed. Some people have reported that there was no warning in the packaging of their discs, others that there was only a warning sticker on the front, and yet others that their discs (e.g. CD-WOW-supplied discs) had clear warnings front and back, including the IFPI logo.
• "Lotus" by Elisa: Reported corrupt in the UK. The disc could be copied on one tested PC.
• "The Great American Song Book Vol II" (As time goes by...)" by Rod Stewart: Reported corrupt as sold in ASDA in the UK, and in Italy. Could not be copied to an MP3 player using one tested PC.
• "Let It Be ... Naked" by The Beatles: Reported corrupt as supplied by PLAY.com, CD-WOW and Amazon.co.uk, and in Italy and in Dubai (UAE), with a warning on the packaging. However, one copy bought in a UK shop was reported uncorrupted. Another person reported that the first disc was fine, but that the second disc was very problematic on a Marantz DR6000.
• "Rock Steady" by No Doubt: Reported corrupt in the UK. This appears to be an enhanced CD, but also reportedly has serious corruption on at least 5 of the tracks. The corrupt format is not known, and there is no specific warning. Another couple of people report no problems playing this disc, however.
• "Greatest Hits" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers (released Nov-2003): Reported corrupt as supplied in UK shops (e.g. Tescos) and by Amazon UK, and in Italy, with a warning sticker on the packaging. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. Playback failed on a car CD player and on a portable CD player. A couple of tested PCs had no trouble playing or extracting the CD audio once the custom player install had been cancelled. A Mac user reports no extraction past 10 seconds on most tracks, though.
• "Burning sneakers" by Bomfunk MCs: This Sony release is reported corrupt in Finland and the Netherlands, and as supplied by some UK shops (e.g. Virgin). The band is Finnish. The corrupt format is key2audio. One person reported success using the black marker technique, which permitted the disc to play in a Rio Volt and an iBook. The disc still refused to play in a PC Pioneer DVD drive. We have a report that in the edition containing a CD and a DVD, the CD is uncorrupted.
• "Try This" by Pink (UK Special Edition): Reported corrupt in the UK, with a warning on the packaging, and as supplied by Amazon. This special edition comes as a CD + DVD pack, with the CD corrupted using a Cactus format. A multi-region DVD player does not recognise the disc. The disc is not detected by Window Media Player on one tested machine.
• "The Soul Sessions" by Joss Stone: Reported corrupt as supplied by PLAY.com, with a warning on the packaging. A copy from Amazon is reported clean, however. Some UK shops have the corrupt version, whereas others have been normal CDs.
• "Revolution in Me" by Siobhan Donaghy: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by PLAY.com and released by Warner, with no warnings. Playback problems were reported on a PlayStation 2, with the first track unplayable, and the rest having a 'ghosting effect'. One PC refused to play the disc, but another managed all but the first track. The corrupt format is not known. However, a G4 Mac owner reports no problems with this disc as purchased from an HMV store, and a copy from CD-WOW also reportedly has no problems.
• "Silence Is Easy" by Starsailor: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, and in Italy. This is an EMI release, with a warning and IFPI logo, using a Cactus format. The original disc refuses to play in a Seat Leon car CD player. However the user reports that Nero permitted a replacement car-compatible CD-R copy to be made. A Mac OSX user also reports no problems extracting audio from this disc in the UK.
• "Lost sides" by The Doves: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, with a warning. Extracted without problem on a DVD drive.
• "12 Memories" by Travis: Reported corrupt in UK shops, and as supplied by CD-WOW, without any warnings at all. This is a Sony release using their new key2audioXS system, according to files found on the disc. According to their website, this format is based on the old key2audio system with added 'enhanced' content for PCs. Windows users get low-quality 128kbps WMA files by default, with the CD audio tracks hidden. However, no-one has yet reported any major problems extracting the CD audio. It has not yet been established whether the audio session on the disc is actually corrupted or not. One person's lengthy exchange with Sony DADC did not provide any useful information at all. Any reports of other problems or difficulties with this disc would be welcome.
• "The Trees Are Dead And Dried Out, Wait For Something Wild" by Sikth: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the UK. Refuses to play in one tested PC.
• "Pass In Time" by Beth Orton: Reported corrupt as sold in the UK, with a warning. This CD claims not to support PC/Mac playback at all, so this is probably a Cactus-100 disc. However, extraction was found to be possible on one tested Mac.
• "Bananas" by Deep Purple: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by EMI in Germany. The UK shop version also has the warning logo, so is presumably also copy-protected, although one person had no problem with it on his CD-ROM drive. Any more information on the UK version would be welcome.
• "Duran Duran (remastered 2003)" by Duran Duran: Reported corrupt in the UK, and as supplied by PLAY and CD-WOW, with a warning. Refuses to play in a couple of car players and an older CD player. Lo-fi player is unreliable on Win98.
• "Life for Rent" by Dido: Reported corrupt in Ireland and Italy, and in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW, Amazon UK, 101CD and some UK shops. Amazon carry a warning, but CD-WOW don't. However, we have reports that copies bought from PLAY.com are clean (with the Arista label, and manufactured in Canada). The BMG labelling on the packaging of this disc is reportedly not entirely clear. The disc refuses to play on a Philips 779 twin CD player, an Alpine car CD multichanger and a Marantz DV6200. A reference quality CD player just about manages to play the disc, but the output is full of clicks, pops and jumps, and 'sounds awful'. There are also playback problems on a JVC DVD player and on an Arcam DVD player. The disc also refuses to play in one tested Windows machine, and a Mac user reported that the disc was unrecognised on a couple of drives. However, several people have reported success extracting the audio on both DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drives, in both Macs and PCs. One person got a replacement disc from BMG, which also turned out to be corrupt, although marginally less so because it played on a player that the original didn't. Another person confirms this -- the supposedly-clean replacement disc is not accessible in the same way that a true CD is, but does cause less problems. These less-corrupt replacements may be designed to give a feel-good factor to complainants, but will BMG still be supplying replacements when they are really needed -- in a couple of years' time when people change their equipment and find that their CDs don't play any more? BMG have also denied that uncorrupted discs are available, which is obviously not true given the Canadian release.
• "Chinatown" by The Be Good Tanyas: EMI release reported corrupt in Canada and as supplied by PLAY.com. Playback succeeded only about 10% of the time on a Marantz 6-disc CD/VCD player. Extraction was reported possible on one tested PC using CDex set to 'full paranoia'.
• "The long road" by Nickelback: Reported corrupt in the UK and Canada, and as supplied by PLAY.com and CD-WOW, with a warning message on the packaging. Recording to minidisc failed, as did extraction on one PC, although another person reports success extracting using a Plextor drive. Playback in a car CD changer failed, and a Kia standard car CD player also had severe problems. Another person reports success using a PC and WinAmp, and also using CDex with read-overlap set to 7 to avoid the severe jitter errors from the disc.
• "Singles 1993-2003" by The Chemical Brothers: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW, with a warning on the packaging, and in Italy. This is a Virgin/EMI release, using the Cactus corrupt format. Extraction was possible on one tested PC.
• "Thirteenth Step" by A Perfect Circle: Reported corrupt in Italy (Canadian release) and as supplied by PLAY.com and CD-WOW. The corrupt format is Cactus Data Shield. There are warnings on the packaging. However, a UK shop copy from HMV is reported clean, and another person reports no problems with a copy from Amazon UK. Extraction of the corrupt version was reported possible on a couple of tested PCs. Playback in a car CD changer failed.
• "Magic & Medicine" by Coral: The promo release of this album is reported to use a new type of corrupt format, similar in appearance to the Securom protection for PC games. We may be seeing some new kind of a hybrid "protection" system in early testing here. It is not known whether the public release uses a corrupt format.
• "Mescalero" by ZZ Top: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon UK and 101CD, and in Germany. There is a general warning on the back, but no specific warning. Extraction to MP3 failed on one tested PC. Refuses to play in a tested car CD player. Another person reports success copying the audio via a co-ax digital audio link. The disc uses one of the Cactus formats.
• "Clones" by The Neptunes: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon UK (with a warning on the site), and in Germany and the Netherlands. Both the normal and special (CD+DVD) releases appear to be corrupted.
• "Kick Up The Fire and Let The Flames Break Loose" by The Cooper Temple Clause: Reported corrupt on release in UK shops, and as sold by Amazon UK. This is a BMG release, with a small IFPI logo in the spine area of the disc, and a warning on the back. Extraction was possible on one tested PC using CDex in paranoia mode, but playback with media player failed.
• "Dance of Death" by Iron Maiden: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Greece, Spain and Germany, and as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY. There is a "copy controlled" sticker on the packaging. Skipping was reported on one old Philips CD player on a couple of tracks. A brand new 2003 Ford Fiesta CD player refuses to play it. Copying to MiniDisc also failed.
• "Voyageur" by Enigma: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY, and in Germany, Poland, Ireland and Canada. There is a warning on the packaging. UK shop copies appear uncorrupted, though, and an Amazon UK copy has also been reported uncorrupted by a couple of people. Validating all our complaints, the warning text on the corrupt copies includes the text: "Playback problems may be encountered on some equipment" -- well, I'm sure that's reassuring for us all to know. In fact, one person reports problems playing on all three of his CD players: a car player, a portable player and a hi-fi player. Another person reports problems playing on his Sony 5-disc changer. Extraction was found to be possible on some computer CD drives but not others.
• "The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed" by The Wildhearts: Reported corrupt in the UK, with a rather non-specific warning, corrupted with Cactus-200. This is from Gut Records. Some tracks skip on a Sony Discman D-EJ955, and one Sony hifi CD player had great difficulty playing this disc. In one tested PC, the disc refused to read or eject -- a reboot was necessary to extract the disc from the machine -- and another person reports a similar experience with his PC. Yet another person reported absolutely no success reading this disc on his machines. Other people report unhealthy clicking noises from their PC drives when accessing this disc. There do seem to be some people out there who have successfully extracted audio from this disc, though, including one Mac OSX user who reported no problems at all.
• "Take Them on, On Your Own" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY, with a sticker on the front of the packaging, but no mention on the website. Corrupt format is Cactus-200. Amazon UK reportedly supplied uncorrupted discs at one point; however problems have been reported with a disc recently purchased from them (Dec-2003).
• "Tour de France 2003, the soundtracks" by Kraftwerk: Released corrupt by EMI in Germany, and also as supplied by CD-WOW in the UK. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. Refuses to play in a Sony Discman, a JVC car CD player and a Philips hi-fi system. The Heise site lists a number of other failures. Audio extraction was reported possible using a Plextor drive. One German customer reports that clean versions are available from Amazon UK.
• "The Essential Sonny Rollins" by Sonny Rollins: This Capitol Records release is reported corrupt in the UK, with a warning. Audio plays and extracts fine on one tested PC.
• "The Essential Shadows": This EMI release is reported corrupt in the UK, with a warning.
• "Come away with me" by Norah Jones (special edition): Special edition reported corrupt in the UK as released by EMI, and in Italy and Belgium. The first disc is not recognised by a Toshiba CD-RW drive (the second is an enhanced disc). A Mac G5 with a Toshiba Combi drive also refuses to play the first two tracks.
• "Hepta" by Berroguetto: This album bought in the UK is reported corrupt, with no warnings. Playback and extraction were not possible on two tested drives, with software either refusing to recognise the disc, or showing very many tracks. Plays fine on a Bose music system.
• "Little Creatures" and "True Stories" by Talking Heads: This double-album release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the UK. Neither playback nor extraction was possible on one tested PC; the disc skipped and jumped as if it were scratched. The original uncorrupted releases are reportedly still available separately.
• "The Hour of Two Lights" by Terry Hall & Mushtaq: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW. This EMI release appears to be a Cactus-200 (or 300) format corrupt disc. Partial extraction was possible on one tested drive.
• "Red Dirt Road" by Brooks & Dunn: Reported corrupt in the UK as released by BMG. The disc refuses to play in one tested Ford car CD player.
• "Strays" by Janes' Addiction: Reported corrupt in the UK and Germany, and as supplied by CD-WOW. Refuses to play in a 5 year-old Pioneer hifi system. A Sony Vaio Win2K laptop refused to extract the audio. The CD/DVD package is reported clean in some UK shops.
• "After the storm" by Monica: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon UK, with a warning on the site. BMG release.
• "Youth & Young Manhood" by Kings Of Leon: This BMG release is reported corrupt using Cactus-200 in the UK, Ireland and France. There is an IFPI logo on the reverse. Amazon UK carry a warning. A Sony D-EJ402 portable CD player skips with this disc, and so does another tested CD player. A TEAC reference 100 hi fi CD player refuses to play the disc, as does a high-end Naim player. A Pioneer hifi also refuses to play it, and so does one tested DVD player. A Panasonic car disc changer skips whilst playing the disc, always in the same places. A Compaq PC refused to play the disc, a Samsung laptop could play only certain tracks, however a WinXP PC had no problem playing/extracting the disc. Problematic playback was reported on one Dell PC, but extraction went fine. Another Dell PC skipped and jumped whatever software was used to play the disc. Windows Media Player crashed playing this disc on one person's machine, but eventually the audio could be extracted. Another person reports no problems at all extracting on his PC.
• "Hotel Paper" by Michelle Branch: Reported corrupt in New Zealand, in UK shops and as supplied by Amazon UK and Amazon Germany. This Warner release is a Cactus-format disc with a warning on the packaging (and IFPI logo), but with no warning on Amazon's site. It refuses to play on a Marantz DR6000 CD player/recorder, although a digital copy was possible via another CD player. The disc was found to be unusable by another person because installing the lo-fi player software requires additional privileges on his work PC. For that reason he was forced to return the disc. The US enhanced release has been reported clean, although it would be best to double-check.
• "So Much For The City" by The Thrills: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW and CD101. There is a warning on the packaging, but not online. Won't play or extract on a tested PC and Mac. The disc locked up the PC drive and it sounded like it was "eating it". More potential drive damage, I guess. However, another person reports no problems on his particular CD-ROM drive, and a DVD-ROM drive user reports extraction success using dBpowerAMP. The lo-fi player app supplied with the disc takes 99% of CPU time on 2GHz Athlon, with audio stutters if any other work is attempted.
• "Lovers" by The Sleepy Jackson: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW. There is a white on white front warning sticker, with details on reverse. Appears to be Cactus-200 or 300. Refuses to play in one tested car CD player. Playback is erratic on another tested car CD player. Another person reports that the disc fails to play on one tested PC, but copying was successful on a laptop.
• "Permission To Land" by The Darkness: This Atlantic release is reported corrupt in UK shops, and as supplied by CD-WOW and Amazon UK. Playback failed on a Casio CD/tape player, a Sony midi system, a Pioneer hifi separates system and a DVD player. Another normal CD player skips 9 seconds into each track. There is a small warning on the back of the packaging that says: "This disc contains digital copy protection. It is playable on most CD players and can also be played on most CD-ROM drives, by means of the included compressed sound file." Note the use of the word 'most' in that warning -- there is no guarantee that the disc will play in anything. The CD logo is used on the disc, which it certainly shouldn't, as this is actually a Cactus-200 format disc. On one tested Mac (OS X 10.2.6), the extracted audio was full of clicks. A WinXP user reported that the CD doesn't play at all. However someone else reports that extraction was possible on several tested PC drives. It seems that for some people this is more 'play-protected' than 'copy-protected'. However, recently (Sep-2003) uncorrupted copies have been spotted in some UK shops (Virgin, HMV and Woolworths).
• "Chimera" by Delerium: Reported corrupt in the UK, with an IFPI logo on the packaging. The label (Nettwerk) confirm that it is 'copy-protected', but reportedly became abusive when the customer pointed out that it would not play on his PC. Skipping was reported on both a Sony portable player and a Panasonic portable player. A Panasonic DVD player does not recognise the disc, and the disc was not recognised by a Mac OSX machine. Extraction was possible using both Plextor and HP CD writers. The Canadian version was originally reported corrupt, but we have a report now (Dec-2003) that the Canadian version is clean. Probably still best to watch out, though.
• "Hell Among The Yearlings" by Gillian Welch: Suspected corrupt in the UK. Three tested discs all fail to play correctly in a Marantz CD player. The number of tracks is reported incorrectly and the first track refuses to play. Any more information on this one would be appreciated.
• "The Essential Talk Talk" by Talk Talk: Reported corrupt as supplied by HMV.co.uk, corrupted with Cactus-200 or maybe 300. There is a warning on the packaging, but not on HMV's site.
• "Harem" by Sarah Brightman: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as supplied by CD-WOW in the UK, and as released in Germany. The disc attempts to install software onto your hard drive. Both the single and album are corrupt. The audio could be extracted on one tested drive.
• "14 shades of grey" by Staind: Reported corrupt as released by Warner, probably using Cactus-200. There is a warning.
• "Hail to the thief" by Radiohead: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, Canada, Israel, Norway, Australia, Italy, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and the UK, and as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY.com. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. This CD is reported to cause severe playback problems (sticking on tracks, failing to play, etc) on one tested CD player. Skips and stops are reported on a new Sony Discman, especially 10 seconds into the tracks. There was bad skipping on one tested car CD player, and one person reported severe problems copying to MiniDisc. A laptop user reported that it sounded like the disc was trying to destroy his drive. Normal playback failed on a tested PC, but cdparanoia extracted the audio without problem. On another PC, winamp playback was possible for all but the last 3 tracks. Some PC drives completely fail to recognise the disc, but some others read it without problem. Extraction on one iMac failed 9 seconds into a track. The quality of audio from the special PC player app (when it works) is noticably poorer than CD-quality audio (36kbps WMA files!). One person sent a report of the strange effect of allowing the disc to install its software -- see here.
• "Limelite Luv & Niteclubz" by Da Brat: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and as supplied by Amazon UK (with a warning on their site). The Amazon USA version from Arista is reported to be clean, though.
• "Dance with my father" by Luther Vandross: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by BMG in the UK and Netherlands, and as supplied by Amazon UK (with a warning on their site). Amazon USA reportedly carries an uncorrupted version, though.
• "Bare" by Annie Lennox: Reported corrupt in UK shops and in Italy, and as supplied online by Amazon UK and HMV. There is a warning on the packaging, and Amazon UK also carry a warning. Skipping is reported at 9 seconds into each track by some people, including on one person with a Naim player. (Naim now reportedly offer a 35UKP upgrade service to some models to improve their ability to handle corrupt discs). The disc is reported to fail in several normal CD players, several car CD players (including Audi A4 and Volvo V70 standard players), and some PCs. On a Mac G4 Powerbook Ti, track 8 plays 10 seconds and then sticks, no matter what software is used. One person reports that she is unable to install any new software on her Win2000 PC having played this disc; it is not possible to be certain that the disc caused this, but we have had a couple of similar reports for other Cactus-200 discs, so it seems possible.
• "Under The Influence -- Morrissey" (compilation): Reported corrupted in the UK with a tiny warning on the inside cover, not visible when the CD is purchased. It refuses to play on a number of different tested PCs. DMC Records have since apologised to their customers for using "copy control" on this disc, and they promise not to use it in future.
• "Tubular Bells 2003" by Mike Oldfield: Reported corrupt as released by Warner in the UK in both CD and CD/DVD packaged formats, with a warning message on the packaging, and also in Italy. The corrupt format is reported to be a Cactus variant (CDS-200 or perhaps 300). Amazon supplies the corrupt version, but without full warnings on their web-site (and they provide misinformation to customers). The Canadian version as supplied by Amazon.ca is reported to be clean, however. I recommend treating this disc with caution, as it has been causing severe problems for some people. One PC user reported that it "blew my DVD-ROM drive" (see here for the full story), and we now have a second report of serious DVD drive related problems. See also our article on the issue of drive damage, and this Mike Oldfield discography site for more information on TB2003. One tested AIWA stereo system, a Philips stand-alone CD recorder, a Sony CD Walkman and 2 car stereos also refused to play the disc. A CDi player refused to play it, and one tested DVD player gave pops and clicks during playback. Two tested PowerMac G4s failed to play the CD normally, showing some tracks greyed out, or playing just a few seconds of some tracks. Several tested PCs did not recognise the disc. A WinXP SP1 user reported that the disc scrambled his autoplay settings, requiring a re-install to fix. With some effort, extraction was possible on one Mac, and a programmer reported that using low-level SCSI commands he was able to extract most of the disc. Another PowerMac user reported no problems at all. Some other tested PCs also reportedly gave no problems extracting the audio. One person reported that the automatically-installed software deleted all his uninstall settings, so that he cannot uninstall any of the software on his machine now.
• "Fado Curvo" by Mariza: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon in the UK. This is an EMI release from Portugal with the IFPI logo. Refuses to play in a Kenwood car CD system, and in a Dell laptop. Extraction was possible on an iMac.
• "Fragments of Freedom" by Morcheeba: Reported corrupted in the UK. There is no warning on the packaging. The disc plays in some drives, but not others. Extraction results in corrupt sector warnings, and locked up one tested drive. The original Jun-2000 release is reported to be clean, however.
• "Ego War" by The Audio Bullys: Reported corrupt in the UK and Europe by EMI. There is a warning. This disc is strongly suspected to have caused damage to a DVD player. See the report here.
• "OK Go" by OK Go: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW. Sounds muffled when played on a PC, and extraction was not possible. Attempted playback on one PlayStation2 caused it to lock up, and the disc appears to have caused permanent damage to the PS2 unit which will no longer play anything, whether CD, DVD or game CD.
• "Think Tank" by Blur: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW, Tesco's and some other shops, and in Australia and the Netherlands. This is an EMI release. The corrupt format is not known, but appears to be particularly severe in its effects. There is audible clicking throughout the album when played back on a Sony CMT-EX1 Mezzo System, it refuses to play on a Sony D-EJ915 CD Walkman and Sansui CD player, and a minidisc recorder refuses to record it. However, iTunes 4 on a Mac has no problem extracting the tracks, and one tested PC with Nero had no problems. The version found in Tesco's did not have an obvious warning, only a message inside the packaging. Another copy bought elsewhere was reported to have a small sticker on the front, and a black on dark warning on the back. With PCs, the disc installs some software onto the hard drive with unknown purpose and with no Start menu entry or 'uninstall' option. On WinXP Pro the special player app on the disc consumes 100% of CPU time when playing, making it impossible to work and play the disc at the same time. Another person reports that his PC locks up on attempting to play the disc, requiring several attempts to reboot. This all seems an excellent recipe for creating plenty of unhappy customers. (Note: the 'special edition' is reported to be an 'enhanced CD', causing problems on one iBook, but extracting fine on another Mac. We have a report now from a PC user that this disc in in fact corrupt, although the warnings are completely absent from the packaging.)
• "No Angel" by Dido: Problems are reported with both the unenhanced release (with a bonus track, as supplied by CD-WOW) and the enhanced album release. The unenhanced disc refuses to play in one tested Dell machine (Matsushita CD-ROM drive), and also causes the drive to refuse to read other normal CDs for a random length of time afterwards, which seems worrying. The enhanced release is causing problems for one UK user with a Dell laptop, using both Windows and Linux. The 12 album tracks are not visible, but only the 5 remix tracks. It appears that these problems could possibly be caused by the 'enhanced' format rather than by intentional corruption. However, Dell are reportedly routinely censoring any discussion of these problems in their online forums, which doesn't help. There do appear to be some uncorrupted discs out there, though, one reported in the Netherlands, and a UK user reports no problems with the 'enhanced' release.
• "Killing Joke" and "Night Time" by Killing Joke (2-CD set): Reported corrupt as released by Virgin/EMI in the UK. These appear to use Cactus-200 or 300. There is a small warning. Fails to play or extract in a PC, but plays on a PlayStation without problem. Part of the corrupt "EMI Double Originals" series.
• "Summer Sun" by Yo La Tengo from Matador records: Reported corrupt in the UK. One disc refused to play in a normal CD player, but partially worked in a computer. It was exchanged for a replacement disc, which would not play in either!
• "Last DJ" by Tom Petty: Reported corrupt in the UK as released by Warner. The US 'enhanced CD' release is reported to be uncorrupted, though.
• "Back to the world - Live!" by Paul McCartney: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and Germany, and in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW. The corrupt format is believed to be Cactus-200, with a four-language warning.
• "The Essential Nina Simone": Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW. This appears to be another EMI Cactus-200 disc.
• "Kitsch Lounge Riot" by various artists (3-disc set): Reported corrupt in the UK as released by BMG. The corrupt format is possibly Cactus-200. Amazon include a warning, but not Tesco or 101CD.
• "The Complete Works Volume One" by Spiritualized: Reported corrupt in the UK, with a warning label. This release gives playback problems on a Walkman, including a skip roughly 9 seconds into each track and many audible 'popping' sounds throughout the album. These are not audible on a normal hi-fi, however.
• "Sleeping with ghosts" by Placebo: Reported corrupted using Cactus-200 as released by Virgin in Germany, Netherlands, France and Norway, and as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY.com, and by some UK shops. There is a standard 4-language warning. Most UK shop versions appear to be uncorrupted, but there are certainly corrupt discs on sale in some places in the UK (look out for the warnings). The "Special Sleeping with Ghosts" release is also reported corrupt (both discs). As usual, some drives see right through the corruption, whereas others have significant difficulties. In addition, crashes are reported on one Win2000 PC on running the supplied lo-fi player app. Jitters and gaps in the playback have also been reported with several normal hi-fi CD players and portables (including one shop player!). A Denon CD player refused to play it. A Clio car player refuses to play it. In addition, the version currently available from CD-WOW has quite a worrying additional notice on a sticker: "Note: For copyright protection this CD incorporates copy control technology. [...] Neither the CD manufacturer nor the CD distributor however makes any representation or warranty with respect to the nature and compatibility of such copy control technology with any audio-visual devices or equipment and shall not be held liable for any loss or damage arising from the use thereof with such devices or equipment. Except for defective product resulting from the manufacturing process and not otherwise disclaimed by this notice, no exchange, return or refund is permitted." So if their shoddy copy-protection scrambles or damages your equipment, you're on your own, and if you failed to notice the warnings, you can't take it back! CD-WOW will apparently accept the return, though, even if the record company won't. Also see this interesting notice which CD-WOW is sending out to customers who enquire.
• "Black Cherry" by Goldfrapp: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW and Play.com, and in Italy and Germany. A normal CD player completely refused to play the disc. A Dell PC refuses to play it, and the special Cactus software does not work on that machine either. A Mac user reports that the iTunes-extracted audio was full of clicks and was unlistenable. However, another tested Mac was able to extract the audio without any major problems. A WinXP user also reports no problem extracting the audio. Another Mac user reported more detail -- the special player app plays 'indescribably awful' compressed audio (as he put it), but importing the audio with iTunes proceeded without any problem. The US and Netherlands versions, and recent (Nov-2003) UK shop versions, reportedly have no warning and do not appear to be corrupt. Also a copy ordered from Amazon UK is reported to be uncorrupted.
• "American Life" by Madonna: This is reported corrupt by one person, as supplied by CD-WOW. The corrupt format is not yet confirmed. In the Netherlands it is reported to be on sale as an 'enhanced CD', however, with no problems.
• "Vehicles & Animals" by Athlete: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY.com in the UK. There is a warning message on the packaging. Music Zone is reported to be selling both corrupt and uncorrupt copies -- check for the warning. The corrupt format seems to be a recent version of Cactus-200. One tested PC extracted the audio without problem, and also a Mac.
• "Counterfeit 2" by Martin L Gore: Reported corrupt as supplied by CD-WOW and Amazon. The Netherlands version appears to be uncorrupted, though. There is a barely-legible warning on the back. Playback was not possible at all on WinXP. On one tested standalone CD player, the music is unlistenable, with severe digital distortion. Extraction on a PC resulted in pops/clicks 9 seconds into every track.
• "Seed" by AfroCelts: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI/Virgin in Europe, and as supplied by Play.com and CD-WOW in the UK, with a warning. UK shop release status is currently not known. Extraction was possible on one tested iBook, although the result on another Mac was unlistenable. Another person reported successful extraction with a small amount of effort using both EAC and isobuster with a couple of tested drives (Pioneer + Yamaha).
• "The very best of Jake Thackray" by Jake Thackray: This release is reported corrupt as supplied by 101CD.com. There is a warning on the packaging, but not on the website. The corrupt format is reported to be the all-new Cactus-300. Track one is reported to be the most difficult to extract on a PC, giving pops, crackles and severe distortion in some cases, and sometimes not extracting at all.
• "From Every Sphere" by Ed Harcourt: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and France, and on mail-order from CD-WOW. There is a warning label and it appears to use Cactus-200. Playback problems were encountered on an Alpine car stereo (CDM-7425). Partial success with extraction/playback on one PC was reported, although another user reports that the CD was not recognised by his machine at all (not even to run the lo-fi player app). Another person reports success extracting audio on a Samsung drive.
• "Casting shadows" by Wolfsheim: Reported corrupt as released by Indigo Records, Germany. The corrupt version is also available in the UK. Amazon Germany lists this as "copy protected". There are warning labels on some releases at least. We have one report that US versions are clean, though. According to reports, this appears to be another German home-grown corrupt format ("DOC.LOC") rather than one of the big-name ones. In one tested PC, the disc was simply not recognised.
• "Reason" by Melanie C: This EMI/Virgin release is reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by PLAY.com, and as sold in Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and Malaysia. The corrupt format is Cactus-200, which in its latest incarnation installs software onto your hard drive and reportedly accesses the internet.
• "Ether Song" by The Turin Brakes: Reported corrupt in the UK as supplied by CD-WOW. The disc is simply not recognised on one tested machine. However, another person reports that his drive could handle the corruption without problem.
• "Doll Revolution" by Bangles: Reported corrupt in most UK shops as released by EMI, by mail-order from CD-WOW, and as released in Canada and the Netherlands. However, one independent retailer in York is reported to have uncorrupted copies, and someone has reported an uncorrupt copy from Tesco's, so they do appear to be out there. On the corrupt versions, there are obvious warnings front and back and the corrupt format is Cactus-200. Extraction was troublesome on two tested drives, although digital playback was possible using Media Player on another tested machine, and another person reported successful extraction of the audio although it took 5 hours. Note that the new Cactus software attempts to install itself on your hard drive.
• "Escapology" by Robbie Williams: Reported corrupt in Australia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Mexico, Italy, and in some shops in the UK. This is an EMI release. The labelling on this one is very poor -- the warning text is written in an non-contrasting colour, and it is near impossible to read. It appears that CDs ordered through CD-WOW and Play247 are corrupt; 101CD.com actually carries a warning for this CD, unlike the others. Problems are reported with PCs, MiniDisc players, high-end players (B&O), and several models of car CD player. The Windows player uses ultra-lo-fi 47kbps compressed audio. In the Netherlands, both corrupt and uncorrupt copies are on sale (the uncorrupt version does not have the warning). Most copies bought in UK high-street shops have been reported to be clean; however corrupt import discs have been seen for sale in Music Zone, the Co-op, Our Price and Makro in the UK. Please let us know if you have seen the corrupt version being sold anywhere else in the UK.
• "Testify" by Phil Collins: Reported corrupt in the UK, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium. This is a Warner release. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. One tested car player works fine, but a Toshiba laptop thrashes for a minute or two before popping up the custom lo-fi player. Another person reports that this release fails to play in their car and hi-fi. Another reports that it fails in two normal CD players (a Denon and a Sony), but works in their Audi TT. Yet another reports that it is very troublesome in his Renault Scenic Evolution player. We also have a report that it failed to play in a Marantz Dv4200 DVD player. There is a warning, with IFPI logos front and back. The audio is reported to extract successfully on some combinations of CD-ROM drives and software. The CD also carries the 'compact disc' logo, which is misleading. The Australian release is reported to be uncorrupted, though, and is available on the HMV Australia site.
• "Songs For the Deaf" by Queens Of The Stoneage: Reported corrupt in the UK, USA, Switzerland and Ireland. This one seems to be particularly nasty, commonly causing freezes and lockups on both PCs and Macs. There are NO WARNINGS on the packaging. (We have reports of: WinME crashing on inserting the disc; several Windows laptops slowing to a crawl when the disc is inserted; lockups and crashes with one drive on a two-drive PC, but not with the other; and two separate reports of freezes on iBooks, both requiring a reboot and manual eject.) Some drives do seem to be able to handle the corruption, however -- at least enough to play the CD. A few people have reported that with some time and effort they have managed to extract usable audio from this corrupt disc. In addition, several people have reported no problems at all. As usual, it seems to depend on your drive, and it seems clear that there are some uncorrupted copies out there too. (One person has reported that the original release supplied with a free DVD by Woolworths appears to be clean.) Another Windows/Linux user reported no problems with a copy supplied by CD-WOW (Sep-2003).
• "Disco 3" by The Pet Shop Boys: This is reported corrupt in the UK and the Netherlands. The version as supplied by CD-Wow is also corrupted with Cactus-200, with a warning. However, the audio could be extracted without problem using MusicMatch on one owner's PC. Another person writes to note that many UK fans are very unhappy about this release, especially as there is a noticeable skip at around 2:16 on the first track. He suggests that people make their feelings known at the Pet Shop Boys website. It would also be worth writing to EMI to show your opposition to them using corrupt formats as they have only recently started doing so in the UK. Update Jun-2003: we now have a report of an apparently uncorrupted disc found in the UK, so a clean version may be available now in some places.
• "100th Window" by Massive Attack: This BMG release is reported corrupted using Cactus-200 in the UK, Canada, Australia, Scandinavia, Estonia and the Netherlands (through EMI), and also via mail-order from CD-Wow (with no warning on the site). This means ultra-lo-fi playback on PCs (47kbps), and low-level corruption of the audio stream everywhere else. Problems with several car players have been reported (2002 Renault Megane, etc). One person reports that a TEAC hi-fi jumps at 9 seconds into each track. However, the audio could be extracted successfully on 4 of 7 tested systems according to initial reports ... so why are BMG bothering? Perhaps they just like making enemies. Latest news is that some uncorrupted copies have been found in the UK: it appears that Tesco are selling clean copies, perhaps imported from elsewhere. One person also reports that a copy ordered from Amazon.co.uk was uncorrupted. The special player app is reported to cause crashes on Win2000.
• "Just like blood" by Tom McRae: Reported corrupt in the UK, the Netherlands and Norway, and on mail-order from CD-WOW. This is a BMG release, using Cactus-200. It was found to work without problems on one owner's PowerBook G4 using OS X. However, others have reported the normal range of problems and failures associated with Cactus-200 on other equipment, including PC lock-ups and so on.
• "2" by O Town: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and the UK. The corrupt format is reported to be Cactus-200.
• "Symbol of Life" by Paradise Lost: Reported corrupt in Sweden and the UK. This is a BMG release, with warnings and a special BMG logo. ExactAudioCopy extracts the audio on one PC, but quality degradation is noticeable on a HiFi CD player. Another PC will only extract the first four tracks. However, another tested DVD-ROM drive could be persuaded to extract the whole disc. A BeOS user also reported success extracting the audio. The format appears to be Cactus-200, with a lo-fi player for Windows machines.
• "Steal This Album!" by System Of A Down: UK promo copies are reported to come with a new type of key2audio protection, that causes a different class of problems to previous types. However, as ever, some drives see right through it. The released version is not corrupted. The German release also appears to be uncorrupt.
• "TokTok vs. Soffy O." by TokTok vs. Soffy O.: This release from EastWest/Code Blue is reported corrupt in the UK. The IFPI symbol is used, along with a four-language warning. Extraction was not possible using cdparanoia on one tested drive.
• "Paradise" by Kenny G: Reported corrupt in the UK and the Netherlands. There is a warning on the packaging, although this is easily hidden by the price label. Amazon actually carry a warning for this disc. A Naim CD5 player fails to play the disc, skipping after 9-10 seconds of each track. A Windows PC played the disc but was unable to burn a clean copy.
• "Silver Side Up" by Nickelback: Possibly corrupt in the UK. Two people have reported problems. One person reported unreliable playback on a Matsushita CD drive, although the audio could be recovered (imperfectly) using cdparanoia on Linux. Another person reports problems with a Toshiba drive which failed to recognise the disc as a CD. There are no warnings on the packaging. However, several people have reported no problems with this disc in PCs, or in one case copying to MiniDisc using a hifi.
• "One by one" by Foo Fighters: This BMG release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands and in the UK. There is a tiny (1mm high) warning on the back cover. The corrupt format is reported to be Cactus 200 in the Netherlands. However, in the UK, extraction was reported to be possible by eight different people, and their CDs appear completely uncorrupted despite the warnings on the packaging. However, another couple of UK owners report the familiar Cactus 200 player on a disc bought in high-street shops. So, it appears that both corrupt and uncorrupted copies are present in the UK market. Copies ordered through CD-WOW (Hong Kong) also appear corrupt, with no visible warnings. A copy bought through PLAY.com left two CD players (Sony, Aiwa) non-operational. We have one report that the limited edition CD+DVD version is uncorrupted, but another person reports severe problems with this release. An enhanced CD version (uncorrupted) has been found in the Netherlands. A US-produced disc supplied by PLAY.com also appears uncorrupted.
• "Northern Light" by Covenant: Reported corrupt in the UK. This is a Key2Audio release. There is a warning. See our report HERE on this type of corruption. The 'limited European release' is also reported corrupt. However, the US release on Metropolis is reported as uncorrupted, to the relief of fans waiting for a clean CD to become available.
• "The Best Of Bowie": This 2-CD set is reported corrupt in both the UK and in New Zealand. One person reports both playback and extraction failing on a PC. Another reports that the first disc refuses to play, and the second plays only the first track. We also have a couple of reports from people who found that the discs worked okay in their drives, and they are also reported clean in Germany and the Netherlands. It now appears that most of the country-local 1-CD and 2-CD versions around the world are uncorrupted, as well as the older Rykodisc releases. However the "Sound and Light" 4-CD set is reported corrupt in both the UK and Australia.
• "In the beginning" by Blazin' Squad: This is reported corrupt in the UK. There is a warning on the cover. The corrupt format is not known.
• "Positively Somewhere" by Jennifer Paige: Reported corrupt in the UK (as stocked in HMV), and also in Switzerland and Germany. This is an Edel release. There is a warning. HMV will not order the import version for customers. In Germany, the format is known to be Edel's own 'Copy-X' corrupt format. However, the US release is reported uncorrupted.
• "Volcano" by Satyricon: Reported corrupt in the UK, mail-ordered from France. This is a Capitol/EMI Norway release. There is a warning, and the corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200. One CD drive fails completely to play the disc, another manages five of the eight tracks, and a third plays the whole CD. Audio extraction was not possible, though.
• "The Ballad Hits" by Roxette: This EMI release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Sweden and Switzerland. There is a front sticker, but details are hidden in the fine-print. We have a report that the UK Capitol Records release (for Feb-2003) will also be made using Cactus-200. There is a version available on import, which also appears to be corrupt -- one person reports that it fails to play in her car. However, we have another report from Spain that the version sold there is uncorrupted and works without problem.
• "Greatest hits" by The Lighthouse Family: This Universal release is reported corrupt in both the UK and the Netherlands using Cactus-200. The UK version apparently has two extra tracks, but is otherwise the same as the European release. There is a warning present using both the IFPI logo and a fine-print explanation. One person reports that audio could be extracted without problem on his PC.
• "It had to be you" by Rod Stewart: This is reported corrupt in the UK and the US. There is a warning and some 'icons'. Amazon.co.uk also carry a warning on their site for this release. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200. We have a report from the UK that this release failed to play in an MB-Audio car player, and another person also reports problems with his car player.
• "Freak of nature" by Anastacia: Reported corrupted by key2audio in the Netherlands and the UK, with the standard Sony warning message. Apparently this CD was previously released uncorrupted. We also have a report of an uncorrupt copy in the UK, with no warning message.
• "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables" by The Dead Kennedys: Reported corrupt in Australia, on import from the UK. There is no warning. The first track refuses to play, although the remainder play fine. Attempting to extract audio crashes the extraction tool.
• "The Shadow's Madame" by Cadaveria: This is released by an Italian label Scarlet (part of BL Music). According to the label, there are no uncorrupted pressings of this album. There is no warning on the package. The CD refuses to play on both a WinXP and a Win98 PC. The corrupt format in use is not known.
• "Dreams can come true -- Greatest Hits 1" by Gabrielle: Reported corrupt in the UK. This is a Go! Beats release, affiliated with Universal. The disc is not recognised on a Mac and a PC, and a DVD player plays it all as one long track. The corrupt format is not known, although it is likely to be Cactus-200. Another person now (Jan-2004) reports that a shop-bought UK Special Edition copy is not corrupted, carrying the CD logo and playing without problem on both a PC and CD player.
• "Songs In A Minor" by Alicia Keys: The UK and European limited edition releases are reported corrupt (but not the standard release). This is a BMG release, and there is a small warning. Corrupt format is Cactus-200. A copy bought from HMV refused to play on a Marantz DR6000 CD player. Another person reports that the main CD appears to be fine for him, but the second 'remixed and unplugged' CD is not, crashing Nero and popping up its own Cactus-200 player.
• "The Music" by The Music: Reported corrupt in the UK. Copies have been found not to play in Windows PCs, Macs or even some older CD players. There are absolutely no warnings on the packaging, and it incorrectly carries the CD logo. This is a Virgin release. We have several reports of problems, for example with an iBook (OS X), several Windows PCs and even a 1993 Aiwa CD player (which takes 20 seconds to start playing, and then stutters as if the CD was very badly scratched). The corrupt format is currently not known. There are visible gaps on the play-side of some copies. A couple of other people report that their copies appear to be uncorrupted, though, so there may be mixed batches out there.
• "Learning From Falling" by Lamya: Reported corrupt in the UK. This is a BMG release. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus 200. There is a warning. One person tested this CD extensively with a number of drives and tools on Win2000 and Linux, and had success only using the Red Hat 'dagrab' tool. Hopefully others will be more fortunate and not have to work quite so hard to get the CD to work.
• "Helium Vola" by Helium Vola: Reported corrupt in the UK. This is a release from Chrom Records, Germany. The disc refuses to play in some PCs, but in others it works fine. A Panasonic car stereo refused to play it, and playback on an 8-year-old hifi was full of pops and crackles. There is a small warning on the back. The corrupt format is not known. The person reporting this contacted Chrom Records to complain, and they apologised and sent an uncorrupted replacement disc free of charge.
• "The Beginning Stages" by The Polyphonic Spree: Reported corrupt in the UK and Australia. The audio could not be extracted using a couple of extraction apps, but in the end Windows Media Player did manage to extract it. A copy in the Netherlands has been reported to be fine, and another user is reportedly in possession of a clean copy bought from PLAY.com. Extraction was also reported possible on an OS9 Mac G3 PowerBook using iTunes, and on another PC with a Plextor drive. However, the Australian version would not play at all in a G4 iBook -- it wouldn't even recognise it as a CD.
• "druqks" by Aphex Twin: Originally only reported protected in Germany (using key2audio). That release couldn't be played on a computer or laptop, nor copied to MiniDisc or a hi-fi CD recorder. The original UK release was not corrupted (nor the original releases in Belgium and the USA). However, we now have a report of UK copies that come with a warning, and that cannot be extracted on a number of tested machines (including a G4 Mac which refused to eject the CD). This release is through Zomba / Warp records. The corrupt format is not known. Recently versions without the warning have been seen in some UK shops.
• "Star Wars Episode 2" (soundtrack): See our report HERE on this type of corrupt CD format. The Star Wars disc is reported corrupt in the UK and Holland. There is a message saying "Will not play on PC/Mac" on the packaging. On a Pioneer 626D DVD player, the audio sounds very thin, "like AM radio", and yet other CDs play without problem. A computer fails completely to play the disc. The Dutch version is reported to skip and have poor sound quality on a Philips CD player.
• "Spiderman" (soundtrack): This is yet another corrupt Sony release (see HERE for details). However, this one has an extra twist. There are instructions on the packaging to get extra content from the 'net based on Sony's Get ConnecteD feature. However, this requires that you have the CD in the drive for it to check -- but the CD is not recognised by computers ... one person reports that following the instructions crashed his machine, requiring a rebuild.
• "Untouchables" by Korn: Reported corrupt in the UK. There was a warning on the Amazon.co.uk website, which has now disappeared. However, we now have two reports that the limited edition version (which has video content) is uncorrupted and can be extracted.
• "Let go" by Avril Lavigne: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Germany and now in the UK. This is a BMG release. There is a tiny three-language warning on the packaging (several people have commented on how tiny this is). Cactus 200 is the corrupt format. We have a report that this CD also fails to play in some standard Peugeot car CD players, another report that it fails to work on a Mac under both OS 9 and OS X, and a reports of problems with some DVD players. In Finland the software completely fails, and the CD had to be extracted from the machine using a pin. Two people from the UK reported that it is possible to buy this album as an enhanced CD, which does not have the audio corruption. As with other Cactus 200 releases, some CD-ROM drives do deal with the audio corruption successfully allowing the CD to be used in the normal way.
• "The Ultimate Bill Withers Collection": This Columbia (i.e. Sony) release is reported corrupt in the UK, and Amazon have apparently admitted so (although they do not yet have a warning on the site). I am not yet certain of the corrupt format in use, although it could be Key2Audio as with other recent Sony releases. It is reported unprotected in the Netherlands.
• "White Ladder" by David Gray: Reported corrupt in the UK and Portugal. In the UK, many people have reported problems with PCs and Macs, sometimes severe. The corrupt CD refuses to play on computer CD-ROM or DVD drives, but plays on a normal CD player. However, the CD caused one person's Sanyo CD player to put up "CD ERROR", and he hasn't been able to play any CD in it since. Another person reported that this CD crippled his laptop DVD player, which now constantly says "Wrong volume in drive". Restoring has failed and he is considering reformatting. However, we have had many reports now from people who found that they could extract the audio without problem. It seems clear now that the original release which many people bought at that time was uncorrupted, and that it is only more recent stocks that have the problem. Also, the uncorrupted version apparently has a bonus track hidden in the lead-in to the first track, which a CD player normally won't play. This surprised me, but I'm told that this is an old trick, for example, often used on "Super Furry Animals" CDs.
• "More Fast and Furious": This has been openly released in the US with copy-protection, with a label on the back. There is an official web-site HERE that gives you some idea of the problems you might experience with this CD. We have one report that extracted audio is full of pops and clicks, and the lo-fi player application has problems on Windows XP. Will they supply bug-fixed versions of this CD to consumers having problems? Will they release fixed CDs to work with Windows 2005 or 2010 when they come out? I'd stay well clear of any of these CDs.
• "Laundry Service" by Shakira: Reported corrupt in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and now the UK. It is labelled: "Will not play on PC/Mac" on front and back -- see our report HERE on this type of corrupt CD, including recent news reports. There have been reports of problems with normal CD players as well as PCs. PCs normally will not even recognise the disc. However, another person reported that whilst audio extraction failed on two PCs he had access to, a third did allow audio extraction. This seems to depend on the precise CD-ROM drive make/model. There are also reports of work-arounds using sticky labels to hide the outer TOC on the disc. We also have three reports that copies ordered through CD-Wow (from Hong Kong) are not protected, and do not have the label. Dec-2002: We've also heard that the recent special-edition re-release is not corrupted.
• "A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion, "Green Eyed Soul" by Sarah Connor, "J To Tha L-O: The Remixes!" by Jennifer Lopez, "This is the Remix" by Destiny's Child, "MTV Unplugged 2.0" by Lauryn Hill, "Heart To Yours" by Michelle Williams, "Celtica" by various artists, "Masquerade" by Wyclef Jean, "Incredible" by Mary Mary, "Live at the Budokan" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Oh Yeah! Ultimate Hits" by AeroSmith (and many other recent SONY releases, including those on Epic and Columbia labels): See our report HERE on this type of corrupt CD. Despite the implied claim that these CDs will fail only on computers, we have reports of problems with audio CD recorders and car CD players as well. On computers, it seems that the 'protection' is patchy -- it appears to give 100% protection on many CD-ROM drives (even crashing the machine), whilst some others allow the CD to be played and extracted normally. Regarding on-line suppliers, Amazon appears to be including warnings on some of the pages (at least), but BOL.com is not. Dec-2002: We've heard that the recent special-edition re-releases of the Celine Dion disc are not corrupt.
• "Strange and Beautiful" by Aqualung: This CD single is reported corrupt in the UK. It just spins endlessly in a PC CD-ROM drive, requiring a power-cycle to get it out again. There are no warnings on the packaging. Another person reports no problems with this CD in their particular machine.
• "Young Gifted and Black" (a Trojan records compilation): Suspected corrupt CD release. One person found that only 17/25 tracks would extract on the first CD, and only 9/25 on the second CD. However, another person reports no problems with this CD in the UK.
• "Rally of Love" by 22 Pistepirkko (a Finnish band): Reported corrupt in the UK. Refuses to play on a computer. There is a small warning on the back: "This CD is not playable on computers".
• "Apocalypse" by Arachnes (an Italian band): Reported corrupt in the UK. This is a Scarlet release, from the SPV group. There is a tiny label "This CD will not play on PC/MAC".
• "Vapen & Ammunition" by Kent (a Swedish group): Reported protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and now the UK. There is a warning: "This product is copy protected. It is intended for use only in standard CD audio players and may not play on other devices. The music contained on this disc is playable on PCs by software also contained on the disc. In case of problems please contact your dealer or BMG (BMG@BMG.SE)." The player app included plays a lo-fi compressed version of the tracks on PCs. The lo-fi player crashes the Finnish version of Win98SE.
• "Exile on Main Street" by The Rolling Stones: Reported corrupt in the UK. It is the Virgin release that appears 'copy-protected' (not the recent CBS release, which is untested). The precise corruption format used on this is unknown, but Amazon have reportedly accepted that there is a problem with this CD.
• "Better Days" by Joe: Reported corrupt in the UK. This is a Zomba release, and it is labelled on the back with a tiny warning that it will not play in computer CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drives. Tests on two computers confirmed this -- neither playback nor audio extraction were possible.
• "Greatest Hits" by Five: This is corrupt in the UK, with similar Cactus protection to the Natalie Imbruglia CD, including lo-fi 80kbps audio for Windows PCs and laptops, and problems with PlayStation2 machines. There is no warning label, although the Midbar copyright can be seen on the back if no pricing labels cover it. The BMG hotline (0151 225 1159) offers `clean' (uncorrupted) replacement CDs to anyone who takes the trouble to complain. [Update Oct-2003: At least it did back in 2001; now it reaches a washing machine company.] It would be better to get Woolworths, Virgin and HMV to stock the clean uncorrupted CD in the first place, though -- so make sure you ask before buying it for someone for Christmas. Latest news is that about 50% of current shop stocks are still corrupt.
• "White Lilies Island" by Natalie Imbruglia: This is protected by Cactus in the UK. There is no warning label. See our full report HERE. The latest news (17-Nov-2001) is that both Virgin and HMV are planning to replace their stock of this CD with a clean uncorrupted version, so if you buy it, make sure you get the new version. Other retailers, such as WHSmith and Tower appear to still be selling the corrupt version. For the original corrupt CD, on Mac OS X, some Windows PCs, Playstation 2 machines and some DVD players, track one cannot be played at all. The CD cannot be recorded digitally to MiniDisc. Audio cannot be extracted on many machines and OSs both due to TOC corruption and errors in the audio tracks. On Windows, the machine picks up a data partition that contains a custom MP3-style player and 30Mb data file of poor-quality 80kbps 32kHz encoded audio. Bugs have been found in this player on W2000/SP2. The Australian version is not protected.
• "Flickering Flame" by Roger Waters: This best-of compilation CD is sold in France, Germany and in the UK with a warning "Not readable on Mac/PC". Yet another Sony key2audio release, most probably.
• "The gallery" and "The mind's I" by Dark Tranquility: Copy-protected, won't play on Macs or PCs, and are unlabelled. This was reported by the band on the band's own mailing list. They suggested to their fans that they check the CD to see if they have an old or new pressing before purchasing. The publisher, Osmose Productions have apparently been corrupting all their releases since Feb-2001.
• "Cream Anthems Spring 2002": Suspected corrupt in the UK. We have a report that this fails to play on a number of different CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives, when other CDs play without problem. It can be copied to MiniDisc, though. The type of "copy-protection" being used on this is still a mystery at this stage.
• "Global Underground 021 Moscow" by Deepdish: Double CD, reported corrupt in the UK. This plays correctly in only one of the owner's CD players, and he gets pops and hiss elsewhere.
• "Greatest Hits (Chapter One)" by The Backstreet Boys: Reported corrupt in the UK, with a warning in the fine print on the back. However it seems that audio can be extracted on some drives.
• "World Of Our Own" by Westlife: This is protected by Cactus, but a different variety of Cactus to the Natalie Imbruglia CD. This one typically won't play at all on a computer, and doesn't include the lo-fi MP3 player application. There is no label, just the copyright for Midbar on the back in the fine print. Similar reports have been received from Portugal, Finland and Belgium. It fails to play in some cars. In Finland, corrupt stock has apparently been withdrawn.
• "Gold" by Steps: This is reported copy-protected in the UK. There is no warning label. The CD failed to play on two different audio CD players, and playback on a PC was problematic. Audio extraction was possible with one application but not with others. There are also other reports of problems on PCs with this CD. However three people have now reported no problems with this CD, so it seems likely that there were mixed batches on the market.
• "All this Time" by Sting: This CD appears to be protected in Denmark and Switzerland and now the UK. The last 2-4 tracks won't play on a Windows PC, and the tracks can't be extracted either. It plays fine on a CD player and Pioneer DVD. A report from the UK describes problems playing the later tracks on a 6-year-old CD player. An earlier report indicated no problems in the UK, so maybe there are mixed stocks out there. Also, a someone in the Netherlands reports no problems with this CD.
• "Cartoon Medley" by The Cartoon Network: This CD is corrupt in the US (and on UK import). Audio cannot be extracted on a computer.
• "Pure Rock Fury" by Clutch, "Time Won't Heal This" by Knuckledust: Both bought in Scotland, and suspected as corrupt CDs, although this isn't certain. Another person reports that a copy of the Clutch CD bought in Singapore (either a US or UK import) has no problem. If anyone has any further information on these, please let us know.
• "The Best of Blondie": Suspected corrupt CD. One person reports that it plays fine in his car CD player, but sounds awful on his 9-year-old Philips player. This may be due to corrupt error-correction codes. A second, exchanged CD gave exactly the same problems.
• "Genesis.1" by VNVNation (CD single): This protected by Cactus in Germany and the UK, and probably elsewhere as well, as it was done with the approval of the artists (who since have apologised for their mistake - see www.dependent.de). The UK version of Genesis.1 is certainly protected (2 reports), but it appears that Genesis.2 is not. Dependent are reported to be waiting for better 'protection' to be developed before risking using it again.
• "Rain on Lens" by Smog: The UK release (on Domino) appears to be protected. A computer completely fails to recognise the disc, and the first two tracks fail to play in a 5-year-old CD player. There is no warning label. Another person however reports no problems with this CD on his equipment. Apparently the US release on the "Drag City" label is unprotected, and can be ordered from their web-site.
• "Featuring Birds" by Quasi: This is another Domino release, and we have a report of problems playing the last three tracks on a Win98 PC. This may be a corrupt release, but we cannot be certain from this information.
• "Superstylin" by Groove Armada (CD single): Reported copy-protected. According to one report, the copy-protection is mentioned inside the front cover, so it is not possible to read this before buying the CD. However, a Mac user reports no problems extracting audio from the CD.
• "Celebrity" by N'Sync: Apparently protected in the UK, with a printed warning on the back of the case. Plays okay on PS2. Not possible to copy to MiniDisc from PS2 output. Not possible to extract audio on Windows ME. However, there is a report of a UK version of this CD without the printed warning on the back that is unprotected, so if you plan to buy this CD, check that you get an unprotected version.
• "The Very Best of Deacon Blue" by Deacon Blue: Corrupt in the UK. This 2-CD set release from Sony (Columbia) has clear warnings front and back on the packaging, although it does display the CD logo on the discs themselves, which it shouldn't. It has trouble playing on one LG CD-RW drive, but extracts fine on another tested drive.
• "The Best of Deacon Blue" by Deacon Blue: Corrupt in the UK. It seems that some of these CDs are labelled, and others not at all. One person who bought it unlabelled reports that it won't play on his computer, and it also won't play on his Marantz audio CD recorder. Another reports problems playing under Windows 2000.
• "Very Best of ..." by Robert Palmer, "Anthology" by Bob Newhart (2CD): These have been found to be uncopyable on a consumer hi-fi CD recorder. However, they can be copied to MiniDisc. We have a report, though, that an early version of the Robert Palmer CD can be extracted fine on a WinXP PC, and appears to be unprotected.
• "I am Sam" (soundtrack): CD-Wow lists this with a warning "Can not be played on PCs". A copy bought in Sweden also has the warning, and a PC will not recognise the disc. However, it would play on a DVD player without problem.
• "Pieces in a modern style" by William Orbit: Suspected corrupt CD. Problems playing and extracting audio reported on a PC, but plays fine on hi-fi equipment and on a Mac. However, a couple of other people report no problems with this CD on a PC. It appears that if this CD is protected at all, it is only in the later releases.
• "Creating Patterns" by 4-Hero: Promo copies of the new album are protected with a system that causes a two-second interruption every minute. This appears to be a simple audio muting rather than any more complex technique, however.
• "You Rock My World" by Michael Jackson (promo single): We have verified reports that promo copies of this CD are uncopyable using a computer. The CD just spins in the drive without any success. The same result was found on several different machines. No audio at all could be extracted from the CD on any of the computers. It was also impossible to play the CD normally on a computer, although the CD played fine on a variety of professional and domestic audio CD equipment. Copying via S/PDIF appears to work without noticeable distortion. It seems that this CD doesn't use audio corruption, but instead another type of session/TOC corruption. This is now known to be protected by Key2Audio. A Sony spokesperson claims that protection will not be used on the public version of the CD.
• "A tribute to Jim Reeves" by Charley Pride: It turns out that this CD (the subject of a lawsuit in the US) is available in the UK from amazon.co.uk. This uses the SunnComm protection that stops the CD from being played in DVDs and computers. When put into a computer it redirects Windows users to a web-site to download audio files for Windows Media Player (about 3 hours download on a 56K modem). There is a very small label on the package, which fails to fully describe the limitations of the CD, with no mention at all on the Amazon site. See Dan Ackroyd's analysis here. Recent news is that the audio data is corrupted on the CD, and it registers around 7/9 on the corruption scale of a pro-machine.

Troublesome "enhanced CDs" encountered in the UK (and elsewhere)

"Enhanced CDs" are normal audio CDs with an extra track added containing music and/or video features playable on computers. However, there must be something about the format used that causes problems with some machines, because we have had several reports of enhanced CDs that can't be played normally on PCs (the audio, not the video). So even if these aren't technically 'corrupt' (i.e. they are not intentionally damaged), they can have a similar effect.

• "Michael Buble" by Michael Buble: When inserted, the CD launches a web browser which then hangs the machine according to one report. Someone else explains that this is an enhanced CD that tries to install QuickTime4, and that this may be causing problems for some people.
• "missundaztood" by Pink: This enhanced BMG release has caused problems for one person in the UK. A DVD player refuses to play it, and it seems to be only partly functional in a PC. Extraction was found to be possible, though.
• "The Two Towers" (soundtrack): This enhanced CD is reported to cause problems by a user in Austria. The data track appeared to be 700MB long, which is clearly incorrect. The disc could be intentionally corrupt (rather than simply a troublesome 'enhanced' CD), but I'd need more information before I could be sure of that.
• "From now on" by Will Young: This is an enhanced CD that causes problems similar to many corrupt CDs. It is reported to cause problems on both a Linn CD player (disc not recognised) and a PC (distorted playback). Two copies of the disc were tested with identical results. There is no warning. If anyone has any more information on this CD, it would be appreciated.
• "Under Rug Swept" by Alanis Morissette: Reported corrupt in the USA. Extraction of the audio appears to be impossible on a PC. There is no warning on the packaging. In the UK we have a report that this CD is an "enhanced CD" with additional content. The additional content was accessible, but it was not possible to play the CD in a PC. Another person reports no problems at all with this CD, however.
• "Take off your pants and jacket" by Blink 182: Originally reported corrupt in the UK, with playback and track-selection problems on a PC. However, we have had three reports of no problems extracting the audio, and one person pointed out that there is an extra track for playback on a PC (i.e. this is an 'enhanced' CD), which seems to be causing problems on some machines. It turns out that there are two versions, one 'enhanced', and the other with just two "extra" tracks. Both are reported to work fine in one person's testing.
• "They Don't Know" by The So Solid Crew: Reported protected in the UK, with problems on a PC. However, two other people have now reported that this CD is fine. Apparently this is an 'enhanced' CD, which seems to be causing problems and confusion for some people.
• "Beautiful Garbage" by Garbage: The enhanced CD version of this album has caused problems for some people, with several of the tracks apparently impossible to extract.
• "Get over you" by Sophie Ellis Bextor: This enhanced single from Germany is reported to cause problems on a PC. The enhanced content works fine, but the audio will not play. It is possible that this is a combined enhanced/corrupt CD, as testing reveals that one tested drive shows audio errors on the CD. If anyone has any additional information on this CD, or on the format in use, please let us know.

Troublesome hybrid SACDs encountered in the UK (and elsewhere)

SACDs are a completely different type of audio disc which is unplayable on anything but an SACD player. However, there is another variety of SACD called a "hybrid SACD" which contains two layers: an SACD layer and a normal CD layer. In theory, any player that doesn't know about SACD will see the CD layer and play that instead. In theory, this should include computer CD-ROM drives. However, we have had several reports of hybrid SACDs that fail to be recognised in computer drives.

We originally suspected intentional corruption (because the CD layer could presumably be corrupted just like any other CD), but it seems more likely now that this could just be a bad interaction between all these bleeding-edge technologies. In fact, Kalman Rubinson of Stereophile Magazine has now confirmed this: "The physical layer used by SACD is the same as that used by DVD (and DVD-A) but older DVD drives (stand-alone and in PCs) will not be able to read this. Nonetheless, these older drives will default to the (unreadable) DVD layer and never get to the CD layer on hybrid SACDs" (see his full E-mail here).

So, this explains problems with older DVD drives. However, if anyone finds evidence of "copy-control" in use on the CD layer of a hybrid SACD disc, we would be very interested to hear.

• "Dark side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd (30th anniversary edition): This is reported to fail to play on a couple of tested DVD-ROM and DVD/RW drives in the UK. It also reportedly refuses to play fully in a Marantz 6000SE, giving an ERROR display.
• "Between The Buttons" by The Rolling Stones (SACD): This is a hybrid SACD/CD release in the UK that claims: "This stereo hybrid SACD can be played on any standard Compact Disc player". However, it fails to play on two tested PC drives.
• "Unforgettable, part 2" by Dana Winner: Problems with this one are reported in Belgium. This is an unusual one -- it appears to be a hybrid SACD/corrupt-CD release. Logos included on the packaging include the original 'compact disc digital audio' logo, the SACD logo and the IFPI 'copy-controlled' logo. However, there is a chance that the IFPI logo was put there in error. If anyone has any more info on this one, it would be appreciated.

CDs copy-protected elsewhere, and probably protected in the UK, but not confirmed here yet

The number of corrupt releases in some countries has now reached a point where it getting to be too much work to gather detailed info on all the titles, so some of these entries are just title/author/corrupt-format, without additional notes, although I will add more info if I get it.

Also take a look at the following sites for more info on the German and Swedish situations.

• ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE ALBUM AND SINGLE RELEASES on the German labels Kontor, Intercord, DOSORDIE, Edel and SPV will reportedly be protected, with warnings. There is little point in listing individual titles. It also seems that some of these labels are using their own weird corrupt formats (for example DOC.LOC for DOSORDIE), which is likely to complicate things even further for anyone trying to get these releases to play correctly in ten years time.
• ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE RELEASES by BMG are reported corrupt throughout Europe, based on statements from BMG and reports from various people. This includes ZOMBA releases, which have apparently been distributed by BMG since October 2003. These BMG releases typically have a tiny three-language warning, and usually use either Cactus-100 or Cactus-200 as the corrupt format. The BMG back-catalogue is still reported to be uncorrupted, though.
• ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE UNIVERSAL COMPILATIONS in GERMANY will reportedly be corrupted using Cactus-200 based on information from the PolyStar and Universal sites. Universal are apparently starting to move to releasing on DVD instead of CD to avoid copying. However (Nov-2004), it is reported that Universal has now abandoned corrupt releases in Germany.
• ALMOST ALL EMI AND VIRGIN ALBUM AND SINGLE RELEASES in the NETHERLANDS, GERMANY and SPAIN are now corrupt. These include those from Dino Music (now an EMI affiliate). However, there are still a few odd titles that have been released without corruption.
• ALL NEW ZEALAND RELEASES WITH THE LABEL 'BRN&GTBRNT'. The campaign "Burn and Get Burnt" appears to threaten large fines for people caught burning copies of CDs in New Zealand. However, we have a report that CDs with this labelling may in fact be corrupt as well, without any additional warning message. This is a very underhand trick. The particular corrupt format in use is not yet known. Sony also appear to have been making some unlabelled corrupt releases in NZ recently.
• ALL RELEASES BY AVEX, JAPAN from early 2002 are corrupted using Cactus-200. Avex are a major force in J-Pop, both in Japan and abroad. They are reported to be considering moving onto Sony's new corrupt format (i.e. pay-as-you-go encrypted downloads for the CD you've already bought).
• ALL EMI RELEASES IN CANADA are now reportedly corrupt, with warnings that playback problems may be experienced. This includes Virgin, Popular Records, and many other EMI-distributed labels in Canada. There is an E-mail address to send reports of problems to. However, at present (Oct-2003) BMG, Sony and Universal are not releasing any corrupt discs in Canada.
• HOWEVER in the NETHERLANDS, BMG, Zomba, Universal, Sony and Warner are not releasing any "copy controlled" compilations currently (Aug-2003). According to a contact there, only BMG and Warner are releasing corrupt full length albums for individual artists. Universal, Sony and Zomba have released no corrupt discs at all this year. In 2004, however, Sony have been experimenting with OpenMG corrupt releases; BMG continue to release corrupt albums, however they don't corrupt back-catalogue as EMI do. EMI appear to remain the primary music-vandals in Europe.
• "Land of the Giants" by Downsyde: Reported corrupt in Australia, as released by EMI. Refuses to play in a Compaq laptop. Plays on two tested Windows PC, but with very poor quality (56kbps), and with terrible skipping. The CD was made to play with the aid of a black marker.
• "Alfie soundtrack" by various artists: Reported corrupt in Germany as released by EMI/Virgin.
• "Heart And Soul" by Joe Cocker: Reported corrupt in Germany as released by EMI/Virgin.
• "21 Years of Number 1 Hits" by Merle Haggard: Reported suspected corrupt in the States. Tracks 16 to 21 refuse to copy on one tested PC. It is not clear if this is intentional corruption or merely a faulty disc. More reports are welcome.
• "Arena" by Duran Duran: This CD+DVD special-edition release has the CD corrupted with Cactus-200, but without any warnings on the packaging.
• "The Best of War and More" by War: Reported corrupt in the US, without a warning. This is a Rhino release. Not recognised in a PowerBook running OSX 10.2.
• "Capitol presents: The Masters of Soul and Funk", "TK presents: The Masters of Soul and Funk" and "EMI Hit Expresse" by various artists: These collections of releases from EMI are all reported corrupt in the Netherlands, with a transparent sticker on the front and warning on the back (which is apparently hard to read on the TK releases).
• "Aanbevolen Dagelijkse Hoeveelheid Dopeness" by A.D.H.D.: This EMI release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The only external warning of the corruption is the CC logo printed sideways on the outside packaging.
• "Blue Note Trip volume 3" by DJ Maestro: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, from EMI. Volume 1 is also corrupt, but not volume 2.
• "Lola's theme" by Shapeshifters: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, from EMI UK. However, the enhanced disc version is reported not to be corrupt.
• "De wereld rond" by K3: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, as released by BMG Belgium. Includes corruption as well as enhanced elements (video/etc).
• "Blue Note Plays Burt Bacharach", "Pink Champagne" and "Now That's What I Call Jazz" by various artists, "LaScala Concert" by Ludovico Einaudi, "Genius Loves Company" by Ray Charles, "Platinum Collection" by Charles Aznavour: Reported corrupted by EMI and BMG in Singapore. Intermittent audible 'ticks' are reported on a couple of tested high-end (audiophile) CD players.
• "Islands" by Kajagoogoo: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in Poland using Cactus-200.
• "The Cat Empire" by The Cat Empire: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in Australia, with a warning. Audio could not be played or extracted on one PC, causing the PC to lock up, requiring a reboot and necessitating manual removal of the disc from the machine.
• "Here Come the Warm Jets", "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)", "Another Green World" and "Before and After Science" by Brian Eno: These Virgin/EMI remasters are reported corrupt in Australia. The warnings are easy to miss as they are printed on transparent labels.
• "Diamond Dogs (30th Anniversary Edition)" by David Bowie: Reported corrupt in Australia as released by EMI.
• "Dreamgirls" (soundtrack): This US (Decca/Universal) release is reported to cause very strange problems. The first track appears unplayable, confusing many different CD players in different ways. A Naim CD5 gets stuck on track 1, a NAD C660 skips to track 2, and a Marantz DVD 12S2 plays the first track as silence. Computer drives also have serious problems. This appears to be a new, experimental or previously unknown corruption format. On being contacted, Decca were willing to replace the corrupt disc with an uncorrupted (or less-corrupted) version.
• "Nawlinz Dis Dat Or D'Udda" by Dr. John: This Parlophone release is reported corrupt in both Germany and France. Amazon.fr told one customer that their version was uncorrupted, but it turned out to be corrupted just the same as the German version.
• "Rewired" by Mike and The Mechanics: Reported corrupt in Germany and France, as supplied by Amazon in those countries. This is a Virgin/EMI release. Both normal and "bonus DVD" releases are reported corrupt.
• "J-Kwon" by Hood Hop: Reported corrupt in the US. Audio extraction and playback fail on one tested PC. The included audio playback software also crashes most of the time.
• "Soul Controlled" by Charlemaine: Reported corrupt in the USA as supplied by Amazon.com, with no warning on the web page. This is a BMG release. The disc fails to play in the owner's DVD player, car CD player and Windows laptop, and so he is sending it back.
• "The Bridge" by Shaye: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon Canada. This has a warning logo, but is also reported to be an enhanced disc, in which case it may be another of the new type of corrupt-enhanced releases we've started to see.
• "Back in the Hi-Life" by Londonbeat: Reported corrupt in Germany. This is a BMG release, with a small warning.
• "Kissing to be clever", "Colour by numbers", "Waking up with the house of fire" and "From luxury to heartache" by Culture Club: These EMI re-releases are all reported corrupt in the Netherlands.
• "The Blue Jukebox" by Chris Rea: Reported corrupt in Germany. However, this is clean in the Netherlands.
• "The Road To Freedom" by Chris de Burgh: Reported corrupt in Germany.
• "Damita Jo" by Janet Jackson: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and Germany and as supplied by CD-WOW. This is an EMI release with a warning.
• "Janet/Velvet rope" by Janet Jackson (double pack): Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. An EMI release, with a warning.
• "Sweet Injections" by Bertine Zetlitz: Reported corrupt in Norway and Germany. This is a Capitol release, with a warning.
• "Seriously Chilled" by Anne Dudley: Reported corrupt in Germany. The UK version is reporte uncorrupted, though.
• "At the End" by Iio (single): Reported corrupt as supplied from Australia, with a copy-control logo. This is distributed by EMI.
• "Look At Me Now" by Jessy (single): Reported corrupt in the USA on import. This is distributed by EMI, with a copy-control logo on the packaging.
• "Nessaja" by Scooter (single): Reported corrupt as supplied from Belgium, with a warning on the packaging.
• "She Moves (La La La)" by Karaja (single): Reported corrupt as supplied from Australia, with a copy-control logo. This is an EMI release.
• "Bonepeeler" by :Wumpscut:: German edition is reported corrupt (imported into UK). There is a warning on the packaging, but not on the UK importer's website. The CD will not play on one tested PC CD-ROM drive, but will play in other CD players.
• "Final Fantasy" (soundtracks from Final Fantasy X-2): Two-disc set reported corrupt as supplied in the US, with a warning on the packaging.
• "A Crow Left of the Murder" by Incubus: Suspected corrupt in the USA. Fails to play on an Aiwa hifi.
• "Comin' from where I'm from" by Anthony Hamilton: Reported corrupt in Germany, using the new SunnComm MediaMax CD-3 protection, which is described here. This installs a modified device driver onto your PC to stop you extracting music from your CDs. Turning Autoplay OFF (or holding down shift) protects you from these discs.
• "Naturally 7" by Naturally 7: Reported corrupt in Germany, being one of the first discs to use Sony's key2audioXS system.
• "Left of Self Centered" by Butch Walker: Suspected corrupt in the USA. The disc was not recognised in several different PCs and Macs.
• "Lady Sings The Blues vol II" by various artists: This EMI release is reported corrupt in Croatia, using Cactus-200, version 5.0.
• "The Piano Player" by Maksim: Reported corrupt using Cactus-200 in Croatia, as released by EMI.
• "Ima Robot" by Ima Robot: Reported corrupt in North America, with a warning. The Rio Volt refuses to play the disc. However, the disc extracts without problem on one tested PC.
• "Love Affair" by Sophie Zelmani: Suspected corrupt in Sweden, causing unusual behaviour when an attempt is made to copy the CD.
• "Slicker Than Your Average" by Craig David: Suspected corrupt in Australia. Fails to play on a number of tested laptop DVD drives. This disc is reported clean in the Netherlands.
• "Born to do it" by Craig David: Suspected corrupt in Australia. Fails to play or gives other playback problems on a number of tested laptop DVD drives. This disc is reported clean in the Netherlands.
• "Go tell it on the mountain" by Blind Boys of Alabama: Reported corrupt in Italy.
• "Home grown" by UB40: Reported corrupt in Italy. This is an EMI release.
• "The Ultimate Collection" by Joe Cocker: Reported corrupt in Italy. This is an EMI release.
• "Le luci della notte" by Franco Califano: Reported corrupt in Italy.
• "111" by Tiziano Ferro: Reported corrupt in Italy, with a warning.
• "Buona vita" by Gigi D'Alessio: Reported corrupt in Italy.
• "Italiano medio" by Articolo 31: Reported corrupt in Italy.
• "Coral Fang" by The Distillers: Reported corrupt in the States. Can't be read on one tested PC.
• "Dedicated" by ATB: Reported corrupt in Croatia. Both CDs are corrupt in the 2CD edition, using the "COPY-X" format. This reportedly only uses TOC corruption, but this has not been confirmed. Extracts fine in one tested iMac.
• "The Beautiful Letdown" by Switchfoot: Suspected corrupt in Australia. The disc is not recognised in one tested PC.
• "The Eminem Show" by Eminem: Reported problematic in Canada. Refuses to play in a Chrysler Neon 4CD changer car player. About once in 30 tries, it does play correctly, however.
• "Greatest hits volume II" by Alan Jackson (limited edition): Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Sweden, with a warning. The disc refuses to play on two tested PCs.
• "Diorama" by Silverchair: Reported corrupt in Australia, with no warnings at all although it is clearly a non-standards-conforming disc. Two CD-RW drives refused to recognise the disc. A DVD-CDRW combo drive became permanently confused after reading the disc, refusing to read any other disc even following a restart. However, it was found that inserting a DVD disc cleared the problem, and this unusual on/off behaviour was found to be repeatable. An older CD-ROM drive played the disc without problem.
• "Bread and barrels of water" by Outlandish: Cactus-200 / BMG Netherlands
• "Unstable" by Adema: Cactus-200 / BMG Netherlands
• "Things that lovers do" by Kenny Lattimore & Chante Moore: Cactus-200 / BMG / Germany
• "Thalia" by Thalia: Cactus-200 / EMI / Netherlands
• "All rise" by Blue: Cactus-200 / EMI / Germany
• "Weather" by Lunik: Cactus-200 / EMI / Germany
• "The other side of daybreak" by Beth Orton: Cactus-200 / EMI / Germany
• "Whatever she brings, we sing" by Kevin Ayers: Cactus-200 / EMI / Germany
• "Perla 2003" by Edyta Gorniak: Cactus-200 / EMI / Germany
• "Subject" by Dwele: Cactus-200 / EMI / Germany
• "Ride on with the Frank Popp Ensemble" by Frank Popp Ensemble: Cactus-200 / Warner / Germany
• "ZZYZX" by Zeromancer: Cactus-200 / Warner / Germany
• "Doggy Bag" by Wackside: Cactus-200 / Universal / Germany
• "Ride with me" by Vanessa S.: Cactus-200 / BMG / Netherlands
• "Greendale" by Neil Young: Cactus-200 Warner release reported in Germany, with a warning. Playback failed in a car CD player and a normal hifi.
• "Viva Colonia" by Die Höhner: Cactus-200 EMI release reported in Germany, with no visible warnings.
• "Oya Lele" by K3: Cactus-200 BMG release reported in Belgium, with warnings only in Dutch
• "0304" by Jewel: Cactus-200 Atlantic/Warner release reported in Germany, with a warning.
• "Get Born" by Jet: Reported corrupted in Australia as released by EMI. On an iBook, the provided player doesn't work consistently, and iTunes freezes attempting to play the disc. The person reporting the disc expressed his frustration at being penalized for "doing the right thing" (i.e. buying the CD), and has returned it.
• "Babylon" by OBK: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Spain, with the IFPI logo on the back and a warning.
• "No es lo mismo" by Alejandro Sanz: Reported corrupted using Cactus-200/300 in Spain, released by Warner, with an IFPI logo.
• "Ich will nur wissen" by Laith Al-Deen: Reported corrupted with key2audio in Germany, released by Epic. One person reports that a 12-year-old but reliable Technics player failed permanently after playing this disc. This is suspicious, although it may just be a coincidence.
• "Dutty Rock" by Sean Paul: The Australian version is reported corrupt. The disc is not recognised reliably by one tested Win2000 PC. The Dutch version is reported clean, however.
• "Diamonds on the Inside" by Ben Harper: This Virgin release reported corrupt in Canada and the Netherlands. This only plays in about one out of every ten attempts on a Marantz VCD5000 six-disc DVD/CD changer.
• "Bombazo Latino" by various artists: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Spain, with a warning.
• "The Mix, volume 2" by Blank & Jones: This Warner release reported corrupt in Germany.
• "The weight of circumstances" by Die Happy: BMG release reported corrupt in Germany.
• "Impressed" by Jim: This BMG release reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands.
• "Melody A.M." by Royksopp: Both CDs in this 2-disc EMI release are reported corrupt in the Netherlands.
• "Friend or foe" by Blackmail: This Warner release reported corrupt in Germany.
• "Aquanistan" and "Anima Sound System": Reported corrupt as released by EMI Hungary, with a warning: "MASOLASVEDETT CD!"
• "Négatif" by Benjamin Biolay: Reported corrupt as released by EMI France. Does not play in a hi-fi player, nor in a BMW car CD player.
• "The best of ..." by Marillion: This EMI release reported corrupt in Germany using Cactus-200.
• "Atmoz, The One (deluxe edition)" by various artists: This EMI Belgium release is reported corrupt with a small warning.
• "De afrekening, volume 29: best of 2002" by various artists: This Universal Belgium release is reported corrupt with a warning logo.
• "Nobody listens to Techno" by Base Attack: This EMI release is reported corrupt in Germany, with a warning.
• "Me kommeni tin anasa" by Antipas: This release from EMI Greece is reported corrupt, with a very well-hidden IFPI logo on the packaging.
• "Live in Paris" by Diana Krall: Reported corrupt in the United States. This refuses to extract on a Dell machine, with errors on about half of the tracks.
• "Hitzone 24" by various artists: This EMI/Virgin Netherlands release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 or 300.
• "Miami Beach" by various artists: This EMI/Virgin release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands using Cactus.
• "Silver Surfer 2003" by Hardy Hard: This BMG release is reported corrupt in Germany using Cactus.
• "Mixmania 2002 Volume 3" by various artists: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Belgium. There is the ultimate fine-print warning on this disc -- a tiny message saying "This CD is copy controlled!" hidden after the copyrights. Do they think people will see this message in the shop? This is clearly deception, aiming to pass off a corrupt disc as a normal one.
• "Beautiful" by Snoop Dogg: Reported corrupt on import from Australia, using the Cactus format. Refuses to extract on one tested Mac.
• "Calling you" by Juliette Schoppmann: This BMG release reported corrupt in Germany, Cactus-200.
• "The Ownerz" by Gang Starr: This EMI release reported corrupt in Germany, but with no visible warnings.
• "Scooby Snacks, The Collection" by Fun Lovin' Criminals: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Netherlands.
• "Labour of love 1, 2 & 3" by UB40: This Virgin release is reported corrupted with Cactus. Previous releases of these albums are clean and are reported to be still available.
• "A little moonlight" by Dianne Reeves: This EMI release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands.
• "In the shadows" by The Rasmus: This Universal release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Germany.
• "Do the best" by Do as Infinity: Reported corrupt in Germany using Cactus-200. Refuses to play in a CD-player, but can be copied.
• "Energy 03" by DJ Tatjana & DJ Energy: This Warner release reported corrupt in Germany, Cactus-200.
• "Essential" by De Kreuners: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Belgium, with no warnings. The only clue is the IFPI logo.
• "Sparks" by Royksopp: This 5-track CD-single from EMI is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The "Melody AM" album is apparently not corrupted, however.
• "You forgot it in people" by Broken Social Scene: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in the US.
• "Wrapped in stone" by Watershed: This EMI release is reported corrupted in Germany. It refuses to play in a Blaupunkt car hifi set.
• "39 minutes of a bliss in an otherwise meaningless world" by The Caesars: This EMI release is reported corrupt in Germany.
• "Tour de France, remix 2003" by Kraftwerk (CD single): Released corrupt by EMI in Germany.
• "I don't think so" by Gracia: Reported corrupt as released by BMG in Germany, using one of the Cactus formats.
• "Zeros and heroes" by Clawfinger: This BMG release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Germany.
• "Rules of travel" by Rosanne Cash: EMI release reported corrupt in Canada.
• "The remote part" by Idlewild: EMI release reported corrupt in Canada. This is available as an 'enhanced' release in the Netherlands.
• "Stacie Orrico" by Stacie Orrico: This EMI/Virgin release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands and Australia, using Cactus-200.
• "20 Hits, volume 4" by The Dreamlovers: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands.
• "Music from the X Files": Problems reported in Canada. One iMac refuses to play the disc and freezes until the disc is manually ejected. It is not clear whether this is intentional corruption or simply a problem caused by a hidden audio track at the front of this disc.
• "Somewhere I belong" by Linkin Park: Reported corrupt as supplied by Amazon.com. There is no warning. Neither a PC nor an Apple machine would recognise the disc. Playback was possible on a normal CD player.
• "Clean Up" by Ilse Delange: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands as released by Warner, with a warning. Both the limited edition, supplied with a DVD disc, and the normal edition are reported corrupt.
• "Berlin, Berlin" (original soundtrack): Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by BMG, with a warning. Extraction was possible on one tested drive.
• "Taxi Europa" by Stephane Eicher: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Switzerland. Did not play on a Blaupunkt car CD player. Partial extraction was possible with a Toshiba DVD-ROM drive.
• "A Ballads" by Ayumi Hamasaki: Reported corrupted as released by Warner. Refuses to play in a Pioneer DVD-ROM drive.
• "33 Tage in Ketten" and "Glut und Asche" by Fehlfarben: These German releases from EMI are reported corrupted with Cactus-200. The original releases were clean, though. There is a warning. Extraction was possible on one tested DVD-ROM drive.
• "Star" by Reamonn: This CD single from EMI is reported corrupted. Extraction was possible on a Samsung drive.
• "It's all in your mind" by No Angels: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany. Extraction was possible on one tested Samsung drive.
• "Be With You" by Atomic Kitten: Reported corrupted in New Zealand as released by EMI. A RiscOS user reports playback problems with a couple of drives, but in the end he was able to extract the audio onto his computer and burn a clean disc. The Netherlands version is reported to be clean.
• "Back to Brazil" by Passport: Reported corrupted as released by Warner in Germany. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. Extraction was possible on one tested drive.
• "How do you call it?" by Patrice: Reported corrupted as released by EMI in Germany.
• "Love trap" by Susheela Raman: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI in Germany. Extraction was possible on one tested drive.
• "Beautiful sky" by Reamonn: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in Germany. The disc failed to play on two car CD players.
• "The world according to RZA" by R.Z.A.: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in Germany. Fails to play on two tested audio CD players.
• "Music monks" by Seeed: This Warner release is reported corrupt in Germany. Playback failed in a Denon DVD-player, Sony Discman and JVC car CD player.
• "Blickwinkel" by Texta: Reported corrupt in Germany, but without warnings.
• "Elevator music" by Truby Trio: This Universal release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Germany. Playback failed on one tested DVD drive.
• "Heart strings" by Bonnie Tyler: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in Germany. Refused to play on a Pioneer DVD-304.
• "18" by Moby: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Brazil as released by EMI. Refuses to play on a Kenwood CD player. The Netherlands release is reported uncorrupted, though.
• "The power of love" by Normal Generation: Reported corrupted with Cactus by BMG as released in Germany.
• "Panjabi MC, the album" by Panjabi MC: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 as released by Warner Germany. The Netherlands release from Digidance is uncorrupted, however, and the UK release also appears uncorrupted, although this has not been confirmed yet.
• "I trawl the Megahertz" by Paddy McAllom: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 in Germany, as released by EMI. Refuses to play on a Sony CDP-297 audio CD player.
• "Days of our lives" by Bro'Sis: Reported corrupt as released by Universal in Germany.
• "Sensor" by Camouflage: Reported corrupt as released by Universal in Germany. Extraction is reported to be possible on most of the tested PCs.
• "The Impossibility Of Reason" by Chimaira: Reported corrupt in Germany, but extraction was possible.
• "Paper monsters" by Dave Gahan: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI. Refuses to play on a Denon DVD player, but extraction was possible on several PCs.
• "Black Orpheus" by Keziah Jones: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 by EMI in Germany and France. Extraction was possible on one tested DVD-ROM drive, and another person reported success extracting the audio on a Samsung drive.
• "Lounge Legends" by Gunter Kallmann: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Universal in Germany. Extraction was possible on one tested drive.
• "Colors" by Loona: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Universal in Germany.
• "Far from the sun" by Amorphis: Reported corrupt in Germany, with a warning. Refuses to play in a JVC car CD player.
• "Taxi 3" (film soundtrack): Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in France as released by EMI, with a warning.
• "Aladdin Sane, 30th Anniversary edition" by David Bowie: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in Germany, Canada and Australia. The original 1993 and 1998 versions are clean, however.
• "Blue Note's Guide to the North Sea Jazz Festival": Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI in the Netherlands. Jazz fans will surely be disappointed to see their releases starting to be degraded in this way.
• "Szārnyak nélkül" by Kozmix: Reported corrupt as released by Universal in Hungary. There is an IFPI logo, and the format is Cactus-200.
• "What if" by Kane: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by BMG in the Netherlands.
• "Love Parade Compilation 2003: Love Rules!" by various artists: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by BMG in the Netherlands. Playback failed on a Thomson audio CD player.
• "Jamai" by Jamai: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by BMG in the Netherlands.
• "The final album" by Modern Talking: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by BMG in the Netherlands.
• "Lady Sings the Blues": This 2CD compilation from EMI is reported corrupt in Australia, with no warning on the cover. Playback problems were encountered with a PC.
• "Dalla Pace del Mare Lontano" by Sergio Cammariere: Reported corrupt in Italy. The original 2002 release was uncorrupted, but the 2003 re-release with an additional track was made by EMI in a corrupted format.
• "Invisible" by Edyta: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in the Netherlands, with near 'invisible' warnings too.
• "Pretty on edge" by Kim Sanders: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany.
• "Bad bad one" by Meredith Brooks: Reported corrupt as released by GO Entertainment.
• "Live 2003" by Blind Guardian: Reported corrupt as released by EMI. This disc refuses to play in a car CD player and a number of different PCs and laptops.
• "Bitte ein Beat 7" by various artists: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Netherlands.
• "15 anos depois" by Carlos Paiao: Reported corrupted with one of the Cactus variants as released by EMI Portugal.
• "Relax - 2003" by Blank & Jones: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Gang Go/Warner
• "Ethnicity" by Yanni: Reported corrupt in Cyprus, corrupted with Cactus-200 or 300. There is a warning. Extraction was possible on some PC drives.
• "Straight from the Hart" by Esther Hart: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, with a small warning on the reverse.
• "9" by Eros Ramazzotti: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands and in Italy, as released by BMG, with warnings. An iMac user reports that the Pioneer DVR-104 Superdrive (updated firmware) extracts the disc without problem.
• "Over the moon" by Di-Rect: Reported corrupted as released by EMI in the Netherlands, with a small warning hidden beside the barcode.
• "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" by Blue featuring Elton John: Reported corrupted with Cactus as sold in Malaysia.
• "Rattus Norvegicus" and "Black and White" by The Stranglers (2-CD): Reported corrupt as released by Capitol/EMI in Finland. All but the first two tracks of each disc will extract. Part of the corrupt "EMI Double Originals" series.
• "Anthem" by Less Then Jake: Reported corrupt as released in the US. This disc fails to play on one tested Mac.
• "Fake songs" by Liam Lynch: Reported corrupted in the Netherlands, with a warning.
• "Live" by H-Blockx: Germany, BMG release, Cactus-200, warning.
• "Trybguet" by Patent Ochsner: Germany, BMG release, Cactus-200, warning.
• "Who needs love" by Incognito: Reported corrupt in Germany as released by Universal. Uncorrupted in the Netherlands.
• "We love music" by International Pony: Reported corrupted with key2audio in Germany as released by Sony.
• "Soulmates" by Mandoki: Reported corrupted with key2audio in Germany as released by Sony.
• "Rock my life" by Jeanette: Reported corrupt as released by Universal in Germany, with warnings. Play back and extraction were possible on several tested PCs, though.
• "Different" by Kate Ryan: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI Germany. However, the version in the Netherlands appears to be uncorrupted.
• "One step forward" by Les Nubians: Reported corrupted with one of the Cactus formats as released by EMI France, with a warning.
• "How to lose a guy in 10 days" (original soundtrack): Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI in Germany.
• "Satellites" by Vega 4: Reported corrupt as released by Universal in Germany.
• "In the mix" by Blank & Jones: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Warner in Germany.
• "Reset the preset" by Console: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by EMI in Germany.
• "Life on a Tuesday" by Cultured Pearls: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Warner in Germany.
• "Baby I'm bored" by Evan Dando: Reported corrupted in Germany as released by EFA, a German independent. Corrupt format is reported to be key2audio.
• "Freedom" by Sanne Salomonsen: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Denmark, with a warning.
• "Fleshwounds" by Skin: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in France, Norway and the Netherlands. This may be Cactus-200 or 300.
• "George Baker Selection": The audio CDs in this three CD plus DVD "best of" pack are reported to be corrupted with Cactus-200. Previous uncorrupted releases may still be available second-hand.
• "Humaine" by Hélčne Ségara: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as supplied by Amazon France. Amazon didn't carry a warning, but there are warnings on the packaging.
• "Meteora" by Linkin Park: This 'enhanced CD' has been reported to be behaving very strangely in Finland, New Zealand and Australia, and it may be intentionally corrupted. One person in Finland found that his CD-ROM drive died after attempting to play the CD for the first time; he was cautious about blaming the CD without further evidence, though. However, another person has now reported problems with this CD, this time from New Zealand. He found that it failed to play in 3 tested CD-RW drives. A plain CD-ROM drive did manage to play it, though. Extraction was not possible on any of 6 tested drives. An Australian copy refused to play in a WinXP PC and an iMac, and the replacement acted exactly the same. Another copy bought in Australia caused similar problems on multiple drives, although extraction was possible on Linux. Another person from New Zealand has reported that he was unable to extract the audio from the disc despite trying various methods. I have no idea whether this CD really is intentionally corrupt or what else might be going on with it to make it so troublesome.
• "Touch the sky" by A touch of class: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by BMG Germany.
• "How can I sleep with your voice in my head?" by A-HA: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Audio extraction was not immediately possible on one tested PC. Uncorrupted versions are reported to have been found in the Netherlands.
• "Liquid touch" by Audrey Hannah: CD single from EMI reported corrupt in Germany.
• "East End Boys" by Lexy & K Paul: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands
• "Between here and away" by Myballoon: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands
• "Morgenrot" by Matthias Reim: Reported corrupted as released by EMI Germany. May be Cactus-100.
• "Close to you" by Axel Coon: Reported corrupt in Germany.
• "Goodbye Lenin!" (original soundtrack): Reported corrupted in Germany by EMI
• "In Exile" by Paddy Kelly: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany
• "Inferno" by Project Pitchfork: Reported corrupt as released by Warner Germany
• "The feeling modified" by Readymade: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany
• "Solino" (soundtrack): Reported corrupt in Germany as released by BMG
• "Hell in hell" by Surrogat: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany
• "Wallpaper for the soul" by Tahiti 80: Reported corruptd in Germany by EMI
• "Titanic" (soundtrack from musical): Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany
• "Change" by Vanessa Amorosi: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany
• "Jan Leyers" by Jan Leyers: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The first disc is a Cactus variant, and the second disc is reported to be an uncorrupted 'enhanced CD'.
• "Come away with me" by Norah Jones: Reported corrupt in New Zealand, Australia and Italy. A NAD CD player refused to play the disc. A Philips portable player gives pops and crackles 2 or 3 times a minute. A Sony CD alarm clock skips during playback, and sometimes hangs at 10 seconds into track 9. Several tested PCs have been reported to have problems with this disc, either completely locking up or refusing to recognise the disc. However, one older LG drive was reported to allow the audio to be extracted without problem, and another person reported no problems on her PC.
• "Khantastic" Praga Khan: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands, with a very small warning and IFPI logo.
• "Take your chance" by Alexander: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by BMG.
• "Camino real" by Buscemi: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 with a very small IFPI logo on the reverse.
• "Let it rain" by Tracy Chapman: Reported corrupt in Australia. This Warner release is unrecognised in a PowerBook.
• "Deadcities, Redseas And Lostghosts" by M83: Reported corrupt as purchased in France, and from Amazon.fr. There is a warning on the packaging. A Teac desktop micro-system stopped playing 9 seconds into each track. A couple of DVD drives also failed to play the disc. Extraction was possible on one tested PC. However, another Linux-based PC just hangs until the CD is ejected.
• "Vertigone" by Venus: Reported corrupt as purchased in France, with a warning. Extraction was possible on one tested PC.
• "Furious Angels" by Rob Dougan: Reported corrupt as purchased in France, with a warning. Extraction was possible on one tested PC. We have a report that the version supplied by Amazon UK is clean (BMG 74321 93973 2 4).
• "EMI Essentials ..." by various artists: This series of more than 100 'best of' compilation albums are reported corrupt as released by EMI Netherlands. The corrupt format is reported to be Cactus-200.
• "Troopa of tomorrow" by Members of Mayday: Reported corrupt as released by BMG Germany. This is the first reported corrupted 'enhanced' CD, i.e. it appears to have Cactus-200 like corruption of the audio along with 'enhanced' content for PCs in a second session. Previously all 'enhanced' CDs had clean audio data.
• "I got this feeling" by Milk & Sugar: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Universal Germany, but this one appears to be uncorrupted in the Netherlands.
• "Hullabaloo" by Muse: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany using Cactus-200. Reported uncorrupted in the Netherlands.
• "Walking on a thin line" by Guano Apes: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by BMG, with warnings. However, the special edition is reported to be clean. Amazon UK has no warnings, but one CD supplied by them was reported corrupt.
• "You and I" by Will Young: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by BMG in the Netherlands, with a warning.
• "Het kan nog erger" by Huub Hangop: This Dutch release is reported corrupt, with a warning "Will not play on PC/Mac". Suspected format is key2audio, but this is not confirmed.
• "Trance to dance volume 1" by various artists: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by EMI in the Netherlands.
• "Me and you" by Camouflage: Reported corrupt in Germany. There is a warning.
• "Ksilino Alogaki" by Giannis Kotsiras: This Minos/EMI Greece release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200. There is a warning with the IFPI logo.
• "Elements" by Stratovarius: This heavy metal release from German independent label Nuclear Blast is reported corrupted but with no warnings. The corrupt format looks like it may be another German home-brew format rather than one of the big name ones.
• "Engelskrieger" by Subway to Sally: This German metal release from Universal affiliate "Motor Music" is reported corrupt with Cactus-200.
• "Au fur et ā mesure (best of)" by Liane Foly: Reported corrupt in France, with a warning message. This is from EMI France, so the corrupt format seems likely to be Cactus-200. Major problems in one car CD player are reported.
• "Spider" by Howard Shore (original filmscore): This Virgin release has a warning and appears to be corrupted with Cactus-200 in France.
• "Tu vas pas mourir de rire" by Mickey3D: Reported corrupt in Belgium, corrupted with Cactus-200. There are no warnings except for a Cactus logo on the back.
• "Couldn't have said it better" by Meatloaf: Reported corrupted using Cactus-200 in Germany and the Netherlands, with a warning. This is a Universal release.
• "Portugal A Rir! 3" by Fernando Rocha: Reported corrupt as released by Espacial, a small Portuguese independent label. The corrupt format is not known, but there is a warning.
• "Opportunity Nox" by Roxette: Corrupted with Cactus-200, with a tiny sideways-written warning. It appears that EMI Sweden is now corrupting CD singles just like EMI Germany and EMI Netherlands.
• "Back to Back, in the mix" by Cosmic Gate: This EMI release is corrupted with Cactus-200, with a sideways-written warning only viewable from the front through the transparent tray.
• "Hemelsbreed" by Xander Buisonjé: Reported corrupt as released by BMG Netherlands, with a warning. Corrupt format reported to be Cactus-200.
• "Little things" and "Livin' my life" by Sylver: Reported corrupt as released by Byte Belgium. There is no warning message at all, just a couple of logos (including the IFPI logo). The corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Minos 2003" by various artists: Reported corrupt in Greece as released by Minos/EMI. There is a small warning. The corrupt format seems likely to be Cactus-200 from the warnings.
• "The Game You Play" by Firevision: Reported corrupt as released by EMI/Virgin in Finland. This is a Finnish band. The corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Universe" by Modern Talking: Reported corrupt as released by BMG Germany. The corrupt format appears to be an early version of Cactus-200, without the Mac player. There is a warning.
• "Suma Sumarum" by Kabat: Reported corrupt as released by EMI in the Czech Republic. There are various strange warning symbols. The corrupt format is not known.
• "Fire works" by Sven Väth: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Germany. The warning is near unreadable. The corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "N.Y.B 3" by B3: Reported corrupt as released by BMG Germany, using Cactus-200, with a warning.
• "World Tour Washington 2003 - Live" by Ferry Corsten: Reported corrupt as released by Tsunami Netherlands. There are no front cover warnings, but there is a small warning on the back. The corrupt format seems likely to be Cactus-200. Fails to play on one tested PC.
• "City Reading - Tre Storie Western" by Air & Baricco: Reported corrupt in Norway as released by EMI/Virgin France. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200. There is a warning.
• "Ziggy Stardust 30 Year Anniversary Edition" by David Bowie: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 in the Netherlands and Australia, as released by EMI, with a warning. The warning is very easy to miss on the Australian version, printed in white fine print on the back, without a logo.
• "Human Thing" by Das Pop: This EMI Belgium release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands, with a warning.
• "Pop Hits" by Roxette: Reported corrupt as released by EMI Svenska, with a poorly visible warning. Corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "A new life" by DJ Quicksilver: 6-track CD single from Universal Germany, reported corrupted with Cactus-200, with a warning.
• "What my heart wants to say" by Gareth Gates: Reportedly both corrupt and uncorrupt versions are available, according to the presence or absense of the cover-art warnings.
• "Cago" by Dead Man Ray: Reported corrupted using Cactus-200. There is a small warning on the reverse, below the barcode. This is alternative rock, originally on an independent label, but now swallowed by EMI.
• "Memories - Live!" by Thierry: This CD is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The corrupt format is not known. There is a strange 'red hand' logo along with the warning "Beveiligd tegen kopiëren". This is a Marista Music release, a small independent.
• "Reflections" by Apocalyptica: Reported corrupt in Germany. There is a warning. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200. Extraction was not possible on a Linux PC.
• "Epsom Mad Funkers: The Best Of" by E.M.F.: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, using Cactus-200. There is a warning.
• "The best of ... vol. 2" by Charles Aznavour: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Corrupt format is Cactus-200, with warnings.
• "For the light in your eyes" by Danny Vera: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 in the Netherlands, with a warning "This CD is protected against copying."
• "OMD", "Organisation" and "Architecture and morality" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: The re-issues of these EMI CDs in the Netherlands are reported corrupt. Previous versions were not corrupt.
• "Love Box" by Groove Armada: This Jive/Zomba release appears in several different versions in Europe, both corrupt and uncorrupted. The corrupt version has a tiny warning "Does not play on PC/MAC" on the back, and uses key2audio.
• "Feast of wire" by Calexico: This EMI UK release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands as released within OOR magazine's OORgasm campaign. Corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Ether song" by Turin Brakes: This EMI UK release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands as released within OOR magazine's OORgasm campaign. Corrupt format is Cactus-200. However, it is accompanied by a bonus enhanced disc which is probably not corrupted.
• "Neon handshake" by Hell is for Heroes: This EMI UK release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands as released within OOR magazine's OORgasm campaign. Corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Love in your eyes" and "Colour us gold" by The Cats (and ten other recent re-releases by that band): These re-releases in EMI/NL's "Legendary no.1 albums" series are all reported corrupted with Cactus-200. Four of them were previously released uncorrupted, and may still be available second-hand. There is also a 3-CD set with DVD which is reported to be uncorrupted.
• "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" by various artists: This BMG release is corrupted with Cactus-200, with warnings.
• "Mother Earth" by Within Temptation: The original release is reported to have been an uncorrupted enhanced CD. However, the Germany re-release by BMG is reported to be corrupted with Cactus-200.
• "Feel so good" by Atomic Kitten: This re-release from EMI/Virgin is reported corrupt in the Netherlands and in Malaysia. The original release was uncorrupted, but this one uses Cactus-200 and contains an extra track. Apparently the original release can still be found in some places. There is also a third version of the release now available, with a bonus disc, which is also corrupted with Cactus-200. The Malaysian version is available packaged with another CD, but without any warning on the outer packaging. Playback on one Mac sounds like a badly-scratched CD.
• "Go" by Dusminguet: This Catalan CD release is reported corrupt in Spain, with a barely-readable warning message on the packaging, with text only 1mm high. See this page for more information on this CD.
• "Made by Maceo!" by Maceo Parker: Reported corrupt in Germany as released by EDS. There is a warning, and the corrupt format is reported to be key2audio.
• "Flash 2003" by Queen featuring Vanguard: Reported corrupt in Germany (both CD single and CD maxi), using Cactus-200. There is a warning.
• "Bitte ein Beat 6" by various artists: This EMI NL release is corrupted with Cactus-200 as with very nearly all other EMI NL releases, but it is worth noting for its new barely readable warning label.
• "More than you think you are" by Matchbox Twenty: Reported corrupt in the States and in Germany. This CD won't extract on an PC, and has apparently caused permanent failure of a Sony car CD player -- no CD has played in this car CD player since. In the Netherlands this is reported to be an enhanced CD rather than a corrupt one.
• "Unbelievable" by Sarah Connor: Reported corrupt in Germany. This is a Sony key2audio release with the typical Sony warning. Extraction was found to be possible on one tested PC. However, the Netherlands release is reported uncorrupted.
• "Gr8st Hits 1" by Mighty 44: Reported corrupt in Finland. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200.
• "Daniel X" by D Flame: Cactus-200 / Universal Germany
• "Art of war" by DJ Desue: Cactus-200 / Universal Germany
• "Today is the day" by DJ Ötzi: Cactus-200 / Universal Germany
• "II" by Glashaus: Cactus-200 / Universal Germany
• "When the Angels swing" by No Angels: Cactus-200 / Universal Germany
• "Ich will Lärm" by J.B.O.: Cactus-200 / EMI Germany. Very poor warnings on this one, reportedly.
• "Loktown Hi-Life" by Sam Ragga Band: Cactus-200 / Warner Germany
• "Cherry Moon 12 Year Anniversary" by various artists: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 as released by Byte Belgium. There are no warnings on the packaging, just the meaningless IFPI logo.
• "Greatest Hits" by Björk: This Universal release is reported corrupt in Sweden, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. Refuses to play in a high-end DVD player. Given Björk's record for encouraging experimentation with her tracks (e.g. Björk Remix Web and Björk Vespertine Syndicate) it seems unlikely that she approved the use of corruption on this release.
• "Enemy of the Enemy" by Asian Dub Foundation: Reported corrupted using Cactus-200 in Scandinavia, France and the Netherlands. Refuses to play both in a high-end DVD player, and a PC. Someone else reports that it also failed to play on an iMac.
• "Compil Complet!" by TC Matic: This EMI Belgium release is reported corrupted. There is a warning, and it failed to play on the owner's PC. However, an uncorrupted version of this release was reportedly found in Fame Music, Amsterdam.
• "Graduated Fool" by Anouk: Reported corrupted using Cactus-200 in the Netherlands. This is from Dino Music. In a few tests, playback success was found to be patchy at best on PCs, even using the included lo-fi player.
• "Blue Note Trip, Turntable mix" by DJ Maestro: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 in the Netherlands as released by EMI. There is a warning.
• "You can't stop me" by Guano Apes: This CD single is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The 'enhanced' version of the CD single is reported uncorrupted, however.
• "Hip Hop therapy" by Lady Laistee: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is from Universal/France. The warning is featured in tiny unreadable purple-on-black text (total size 57x5mm). They couldn't have done much more to hide it from the purchaser. Corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Some things" by Lasgo: The limited edition is reported corrupt as released by EMI Belgium. There is a warning message.
• "Cover girl" by Groove Coverage: Reported corrupted with Cactus-200 by Universal Germany. There is a warning.
• "The very best of ..." by Total Touch: This BMG/NL release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. A warning appears in English. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. Apparently there is also another version of the same album around, but without the warnings and uncorrupted.
• "Radio 538 Dance Smash Hits Autumn 2002" by various artists: This EMI release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. However, the following Winter 2003 release from BMG is reported clean.
• "La Patata" by The Kelly Family: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "The Winners 2003" (Country Music Gold finalists from the Australian Tamworth Festival): Reported corrupt in Australia. This is an EMI release. The corrupt format is not known.
• "Bring 'em in" by Mando Diao: This release from EMI Sweden is reported corrupt with Cactus-200. There is a front-cover warning in Swedish: "Kopiersbeskärming", with a note on the back to read the booklet, and a very small warning at the end of the booklet.
• "Lost tracks" by Anouk: This EMI NL release is reported corrupted by Cactus-200. The warning is easily hidden by pricing labels, and the 1mm text is barely readable. The original release was apparently uncorrupted, however.
• "S4" by Sash: Reported corrupt in Norway and Croatia. This is an EMI release. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200. Causes the new PowerMac G5 to completely lock up.
• "Ou vont les ręves" by Michel Jonasz: Reported corrupt in France. The format is Cactus-200. The disc refused to play in a TEAC CRH100 hifi system.
• "Leaving" by ML: This is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The format is key2audio. There is a warning.
• "Hollywood" by Marilyn Manson: Reported corrupt in Sweden. This is a Universal release. There is no visible warning on the packaging. Completely fails to play on a PC, and a Samsung CD player skips and stops on track one (the remaining tracks play okay).
• "The Wave/Raging" by Cosmic Gate: This CD single from EMI Germany is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Airport" by Armani & Ghosts: This CD single from Byte, Belgium is reported corrupt. There is the IFPI logo on the packaging, but no other warning at all. This is very misleading.
• "A soul thing" by Silicone Soul: This release from Soma UK is reported corrupt in the Netherlands, possibly because it is distributed by Zomba.
• "Absolutely mad" by Mad'House: Reported corrupt in Germany, as distributed by Edel. The corrupt format appears to be Edel's own format (called Copy-X), but some people have reported that this doesn't appear to do anything to stop them using the discs in their drives. In the Netherlands this CD is distributed uncorrupted by Digidance.
• "Best of the West" by Rednex: Reported corrupt in Europe. This is a Zomba Europe release. Corrupt format is key2audio.
• "Mrs. Speechless" by Kelly Family: This CD single from universal is reported corrupted by Cactus-200 in Germany.
• "All in All" by IVO: Reported corrupt in Switzerland. The corrupt format is not known.
• "Erschti Hilf" by Mash: Reported corrupt in Switzerland.
• "Pluesch" by Pluesch: Reported corrupt in Switzerland. This is a Sony release.
• "Carissi Canta Caruso" by Al Bano Carissi: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is a BMG release, corrupted with Cactus-200.
• "Tussen Nacht en Morgen (Live met het Metropole Orkest)" by Bløf: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is a DVD release with an accompanying music CD which is reported corrupted with Cactus-200.
• "This side up" by Jon Norgaard: Reported corrupt in Denmark. There is a warning. The corrupt format is reported to be Cactus-200.
• "Striber Af Lys" by Poul Krebs: Reported corrupt in Denmark. There is a warning, well hidden. This is a Sony release.
• "Hvert Minut" by Soren Poppe: Reported corrupt in Denmark. The corrupt format is reportedly "Copy-X". The warning is very poor.
• "Face A - Face B" by Axelle Red: Reported corrupt in Europe. FNAC.com have a warning, but not Amazon. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. This is an EMI Europe release.
• "A new morning" by Placebo: The promo release of this album is reported corrupt in Ireland, with a warning: "Will not play on PC/MAC".
• "Living in America" by The Sounds: This Swedish band's release is reported corrupt in Sweden by a couple of people. There is a tiny warning on the back of the case. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus-200. Extraction was found to be possible from a LG DRD8160B DVD-ROM drive using CDDA2WAV on Linux. The disc failed to play on a high-end DVD player.
• "Switch 2 - grooves, breaks, house, electro, techno & drum 'n' bass": This 2-CD set is reported corrupt in Belgium. There is a small warning on the back. The disc is not recognised as a CD.
• "Jenny From The Block" by Jennifer Lopez: This CD single released by Sony Canada is reported corrupt. It fails to extract on a Mac running OS 10.2.
• "By The Grace Of God" by Hellacopters: Reported corrupt in Norway. Songs jump and stutter in both an Asus DVD player and a PC. The CD runs its own player software on the PC, which suggests the format may be Cactus-200. The player crashes WinXP.
• "Grit" by Madrugada: Reported corrupt in Norway. This pops up its own player, but audio cannot be extracted.
• "Hagnesta Hill" by Kent: Reported corrupt in Norway. Audio cannot be extracted from this disc.
• "Ganz weit vorne" by Wise Guys: This German release is reported corrupt in Canada. The packaging has a "Copy Kills Music" logo, and the CD itself also has a warning.
• "Goddess in the Doorway" by Mick Jagger: Reported corrupt in North America. The corrupt format is not known.
• "Border Girl" by Paulina Rubio: Reported corrupt in Spain. There is a warning that the CD might not play on computers. However, an iBook handles it without problem. This disc does not appear to be corrupt in the Netherlands.
• "Yorin FM presents Hitzone: The best of 2002, Dance edition" by various artists: This EMI release is reported corrupted with Cactus-200 in the Netherlands. However, the 'Pop edition' of the same title, released by Zomba, is not corrupted. You know which one to buy!
• "Als de dag van toen: het beste van" by Mama's Jasje: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, using Cactus-200. Incredibly the only clue on this disc is the IFPI logo, with no other warning or explanation. See our warnings page for an image.
• "Barry Paff & Lindo Duvall present Radio 538 Drive In Show": Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is an EMI release, and the corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "Tour d'amour" by Andre Rieu: This Universal release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a warning message, a tiny 5mm diameter IFPI logo, and a link to cdlogo.nl.
• "Mr. Jones" by Tom Jones: This V2 release is reported corrupt in the Netherlands and Germany, using Cactus-200.
• "Justified" by Justin Timberlake: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and Germany as released by Zomba. There appear to be several versions, some corrupt and others uncorrupted. One corrupt version uses Key2Audio and a warning message, and a re-release from BMG (2004) uses a more recent corrupt format. One person reported complete failure of the key2audio disc on a Mac, but that it was persuaded to work using a marker pen. See HERE for more reports on this type of corruption.
• "Tamorok" by ArcAngel Cannata: Reported corrupt in Sweden, with a warning. However, the US release is not corrupted, and the reporter successfully obtained an uncorrupted disc through CDBaby. The US release is on the Oxford Circus label.
• "Euro Dance 7" by various artists: Reported corrupt in Italy. This is a Time SRL release. There is a warning message. It will extract on some PCs but not others. It also takes an inordinately long time to be recognised in a Renault standard CD player.
• "Kut Marokkanen" by De Raymzter: This CD single is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a very small IFPI logo, and a tiny warning that is almost impossible to read. This is released by Virgin NL, and the corrupt format is Cactus-200. Using corruption seems pointless if they are hoping to stop MP3 distribution, as the artist reported posted the song on the internet as an MP3 months before the release.
• "Now or never" by Nick Carter: The limited edition is reported corrupted with Key2Audio in the Netherlands. There is a warning. The standard edition is reported uncorrupted.
• "I need to know" by Twarres: This CD single is reported corrupted with Cactus-200. There is a warning.
• "CD2" by Twarres: Reported corrupted by Cactus-200 in the Netherlands.
• "Everything" by Anouk: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a very small IFPI logo, and a warning. The corrupt format is Cactus-200.
• "NRJ Hits" by various artists: Reported corrupt in Finland. The corrupt format is Cactus-200, although the reporter found that the lo-fi player app did not work on his machine.
• "Hitzone 21" by various artists: BMG / Cactus 200. Originally released corrupted, a more recent release in the Netherlands is reported uncorrupted, with a blank space where the warnings used to be.
• "Just the Best, vol. 41" by various artists: EMI / Cactus 200
• "Viva Hits 18" by various artists: EMI / Cactus 200
• "Nothing will go wrong" by Slut: EMI / Cactus 200
• "Hit Connection 2002 vol. 3" by various artists: Universal Belgium
• "Isabella" by Die Flippers: BMG / Cactus 100
• "D" by Die Prinzen: no warnings / BMG / Cactus 200
• "10 Jahre Die Prinzen" by Die Prinzen: BMG / Cactus 200
• "Deutschland" by Die Prinzen: CD single / BMG / Cactus 200
• "Meine Lieder, deine Träume" by Hansi Hinterseer: BMG / Cactus 100
• "Tabaluga und das versteckte Glück" by Peter Maffay: BMG / Cactus 100
• "The Dome, vol. 22 & 23" by various artists: BMG / Cactus 200
• "Just the Best, vol. 42" by various artists: BMG / Cactus 200
• "Rouge" by Michelle: EMI / Cactus 200
• "Victory" by Modern Talking: Cactus 200
• "Greatest Hits" by Dieter Bohlen: BMG / Cactus 200
• "Deep shadows and brilliant highlights" by Him (limited edition): BMG / Cactus 200
• "What If" by Kate Winslet: German Zomba CD single / Key2audio
• "Bravo Black Hits 7" by various artists: Universal / Cactus 200
• "Bravo Hits 36" by various artists: Germany+Austria / Universal / Cactus 200
• "Bravo Hits 37" by various artists: Germany+Austria+Switzerland / Universal / Cactus 200
• "Bravo Hits 39" by various artists: Universal / Cactus 200
• "Future Trance 19, 20, 21" by various artists: Universal / Cactus 200
• "Mystera VIII" by various artists: Polystar / Universal / Cactus 200
• "Only Otto" by Otto: Russl / Universal / Cactus 200
• "Macht Liebe" by Rosenstolz: Universal / Cactus 200
• "Daily Lama" by De Phazz: Universal / Cactus 200
• "Von innen nach Aussen" by Curse: Jive Germany / Key2audio
• "The Mystery of the Beatbox" by various artists: Jive Germany / Key2audio
• "All over the world" by Beam vs. Cyrus: CD single / EMI Electrola / Cactus 200
• "Lifestyle" by Beam vs. Cyrus: CD single / EMI Electrola / Cactus 200
• "Alternative Moments 2" by various artists: Key2audio / no warning
• "Aus 'em Häuschen" by Bodo Bach: Key2audio
• "Club Sounds vol. 20 & 22" by various artists: Key2audio
• "Uberlegen" by Da Fource: Key2audio
• "The Dome, vol. 21" by various artists: Key2audio
• "Heul doch!" by Mundstuhl: Key2audio
• "Open Space: the classic chillout album 2002" by various artists: Key2audio
• "Tunnel Trance Force 20 & 21" by various artists: Key2audio
• "Zeichen" by Weissglut: Key2audio / no warning
• "Bravo Hits, the best of 2001" by various artists: Key2audio
• "DJ Networx 12, 13, 14" by various artists: Key2audio
• "Kuschelrock: The most beautiful duets" by various artists: Key2audio
• "Through the looking glass" by Toto: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands and Germany. There is a very small warning in silver on black on the back cover. The corrupt format is Cactus 200, and this is an EMI release.
• "Get high" by Ravers on Dope: This CD single is reported corrupt in Germany. It is released by EMI Germany. The warning is very hard to read. The corrupt format has not been confirmed.
• "Puur" and "Het beste van Volumia! + Volumia! live" by Volumia!: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. These BMG releases are corrupted using Cactus 200, but without any warnings.
• "Feuer Frei" by Rammstein: This CD single release by Universal Germany is corrupted using Cactus 200. The IFPI logo is used, along with a warning, on a removable sticker.
• "Bitte ein Beat 5" by various artists: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Cactus 200 is the corrupt format. The warning is on the back cover, and is non-obvious. Released by EMI NL.
• "Mtv 2 POP" by various artists: Reported corrupt in Switzerland. This is a Universal/Polydor release. There is a warning label. The corrupt format appears to be Cactus 200. This confused three different PC systems. However, upgrading the firmware of one drive (a Plextor pleXWriter8/2/20) did allow the CD to be played without problem in the normal way.
• "Da Capo" by Ace of Base: Reported corrupt as released by Universal Germany and also in Switzerland. Corrupt format is Cactus 200. There is a warning.
• "Sweet hellos and sad goodbyes part II" by Rene Froger: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a warning, and a hard-to-recognise IFPI logo. The corruption is Cactus 200.
• "Meer van jou" by Bløf: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This CD single release from EMI is the first seen with the strange new IFPI logo. There is also a warning.
• "Outrospective/Reperspective" by Faithless: Reported corrupted by Cactus 200 in Europe. However, the Australia/NZ release is reported uncorrupted. Copies ordered through CD-WOW do appear to be corrupt, so watch out (this has been confirmed). The version available in Finland has only the second disc corrupt -- the first disc is merely enhanced.
• "Dik Voormekaarshow 2001/2002" by André van Duin: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is the IFPI logo and a warning. The corrupt format is Cactus 200.
• "De muziek uit Barend & Van Dorp" by various artists: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Cactus 200 is used for corruption. There is a warning, and the IFPI logo has been used (on the back).
• "Mensch" by Herbert Grönemeyer: Reported corrupt in Germany. Both the single and album are corrupted with Cactus 200, and feature ultra-lo-fi 47kbps playback on Windows. The disc extracts fine on a PPC 7300 Mac, but severe problems have been reported on other machines. Playback is reported impossible on Linux and other UNIX systems, even causing severe slowdown. There is a warning on the packaging.
• "Stand up for the champions" by Right Said Fred, "Es lebe das Laster" by Udo Jurgens, "Keep it Natural" by Natural: These BMG releases have been reported corrupt in Germany. The corrupt format is reportedly one of the Cactus formats. There is a warning.
• "Bravo Hits 38" by various artists: This Universal release has been reported corrupt in Germany and Switzerland. The corrupt format is Cactus 200, with a lo-fi player app for PCs.
• "Still Life: A snapshot of life in many forms" by various artists: This Universal release has been reported corrupt in Germany. The corrupt format is reportedly Cactus 200.
• "Trance Parade" by various artists, "Melomanie" by Laith Al-Deen: These Sony releases have been reported corrupt in Germany, corrupted with Sony's Key2Audio format.
• "Tequila Sunset" by BZN: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is a Universal release. There is a warning, and the corrupt format is Cactus 200.
• "No more sleep" by Cosmic Gate: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is an EMI release. The corrupt format is suspected to be one of the Cactus formats.
• "Dogg Food" by Tha Dogg Pound: Reported corrupt in the US. The final track causes severe problems on several machines, resulting in clicks and pops. It also appears to be longer than it really is. The corrupt format in use in not known.
• "Guld & Glöd" by Sven-Ingvars: Reported corrupt in Sweden. There is a very small warning label. This fails to play in a couple of PC drives, sometimes crashing the PC.
• "Canta por Sabina" by María Jiménez: Reported corrupt in Spain. Released by Muxxic Records. There is a warning which translates as: "This disc is provided with a device to prevent digital copying which could impede the playback of the recording on non audio specific devices". Audio could not be extracted on a computer. The corrupt format is not known.
• "Solid Sounds Anno 2002 volume 03" and "Serious Beats 40" by News (a Belgian label): Reported corrupt in France and Belgium. It is not possible to play or extract the audio in a PC or laptop. The corrupt format is not known. There is a warning in very small print. As one reporter pointed out, the Solid Sounds album is ironically subtitled: "club music for a new generation" -- obviously they are talking about some generation that doesn't use computers (!?)
• "Beest" by Frederique Spigt: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. The format is Cactus 200. This has the normal Universal warning message, but also contains the 'compact disc' logo (which it shouldn't, not being a standards-conformant CD).
• "Guus Meeuwis" by Guus Meeuwis: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a warning (translated): "This CD is playable on a computer, but protected against copying". The corrupt format is Cactus 200 (which means lo-fi audio on a PC).
• "Tof" by Skik: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is a Dutch band. There is a warning in English, and the corrupt format is Cactus 200. This is a Universal release.
• "Easily" by Hyperchild: Reported corrupt in Germany. Released by Sony Germany. Corrupt format is Key2Audio
• "Verliefd" by K3: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. K3 are a popular girl band over there, and this is their first corrupt release. There is a warning. The corrupt format is Cactus 200.
• "TMF presents Mega Dance 2002" (volumes 1, 2 & 3): Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. These releases are from Belgium. All three volumes are reported corrupt. Volume 1 has no warning, but volume 3 does have a warning in tiny print. Corrupt format is unknown.
• "Gary D presents D Trance 2002 vol. 1/3": German releases, volume 1 and 3 are reported corrupt with a warning on the packaging "This CD cannot be played on a computer". Volume 2 does not have the warning, and appears not to be corrupt.
• "Disco Nouveau 4/5": Volume 5 is reported corrupt in France, protected by Key2Audio. It refuses to play in a DVD player. Volume 4 has also been reported corrupt. Apparently volumes 1/2/3 are uncorrupt releases.
• "Trance 80s" by various artists: This is a Universal release, reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Corrupted with Cactus 200.
• "Dance Train 2002 volume 3" by various artists: Both normal and club editions are reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a warning label. The previous 28 volumes of this series are all unprotected. The format is Cactus 200. See HERE for a detailed report of one person's experiences with this release.
• "Now" by Noa: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is a Universal release. There is a small warning. The corrupt format is suspected as being Cactus 200.
• "538 Dance Smash Hits Autumn 2002" by various artists: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is an EMI release. There is a small warning. The corrupt format is Cactus 200.
• "De Wereld Is Mooi" by Samson and Gert: Reported corrupt in Belgium. Only the first track is readable on a PC.
• "All is quiet now" by Arid, "Newborn" by Green Lizard, "RockBallads" by various artists: All reported corrupted by key2audio in the Netherlands, with the standard Sony warning message.
• "Romantica" by Die Vikinger: Reported corrupt in Germany, released by EMI, apparently using Cactus 100.
• "Strijdlustig" by Andre Hazes: Reported protected in the Netherlands, corrupted using Cactus 200.
• "Questa Bossa Mia..." by Lisa Ono: Reported corrupt in Japan. This is an EMI release. Will not play using standard Windows apps (e.g. Realplayer), but includes its own skinnable player instead. From the report, this sounds like a Cactus 200 disc, but that has not yet been confirmed.
• "Pacifier" by Pacifier (formerly Shihad): Reported corrupt in New Zealand. There is no warning label. The disc does not work in a G4 Mac, playing a few seconds of each song in between freezes, and then refuses to eject. The disc could eventually be removed by rebooting and forcing the disc out on startup. There is a clear outer ring visible on the play-side of the disc. Suspected corrupt format is Key2Audio.
• "Love Parade Compilation 2002" by various artists: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, with a warning on the packaging. This is a BMG release, and there is a link to a web site full of standard record company misinformation -- pointing out a 0.8% drop in European sales, and using this and other percentages to justify conveniently eliminating consumer fair use rights. The corrupt format used is Cactus 200.
• "A Tribute To The King" by Helmut Lotti: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, protected with Cactus 200. There is a warning on the CD, but it doesn't mention that PC playback is low (sub-CD) quality.
• "Boccaccio Life vol. 4" by various artists: This Belgian club compilation is reported corrupt in the Netherlands. There is a tiny warning: "This CD will play on all regular CD- and DVD-players, but not on a PC or MAC". Corrupt format used is believed to be Key2Audio.
• "Muzikanten dansen niet" by De Dijk: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, with a warning: "This CD is designed to play on computers running Windows operating systems, although playback problems may be experienced. Each track on this CD is protected against unauthorised copying." No mention is made that it will not play on several other devices, particulary non-Windows PCs, Macs and appliances based on computer CD drives, nor that the playback on Windows is low-quality. The format used is Cactus 200. We have a another report that it will not play on newer Denon standalone DVD players (e.g. DVD-1000)
• "10,000 Hz Legend" by Air: Reported corrupt in South Africa, released by Virgin France.
• "Dance X-plosion": Reported corrupt in Finland. This is a Sony/Columbia release, and is labelled like the other recent Key2Audio releases. It does also, however, carry the CD logo, which it shouldn't.
• "Rosso relativo" by Tiziano Ferro: Reported corrupt in Italy and the Netherlands. Apparently there are five different corrupt versions of this CD in circulation. Some of the corrupt CDs have a warning, but others do not. This appears to use the Cactus format.
• "Mended" by Marc Anthony: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, with a warning message, apparently using Key2Audio.
• "By the way" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Reported corrupt in Sweden and Australia. This is a Warner release. Playback on a PC results in a metallic/distorted sound. The same distortion is present when audio is extracted to create MP3s. The Australian release is reported to be unrecognised in a PowerBook. However, the UK release can be reportedly extracted without problem, and appears to be uncorrupted -- although one person reports that a Marantz 6000SE refuses to play the disc fully, giving an ERROR display.
• "Die gute Seite" by Sportfreunde Stiller: Reported corrupt in Germany. This is released by Motor Music. There is a warning on the packaging.
• "In Da House 8": Reported corrupt in Hungary. This is a Record Express / Sony release. There is no warning label, yet it refuses to play in some PCs and in a Renault Clio standard CD player. (The CD players in very recent Renaults do manage to play the disc, though).
• "Trance Voices III" from Universal, Germany: Reported corrupt in Finland. There is no warning label. On a PC, playback is only possible through a lo-fi player app that runs from the disc. The CD is also incompatible with Renault standard CD players (both newer and older models), refusing to play. Another person reports that there is a warning on his copy.
• "Strategies against architecture III 1991-2001" by Einstürzende Neubauten: Reported protected, with "this cd is not playable on computers" printed on the back of the packaging in tiny letters. The label (Zomba) claimed that this was a joke. However, a band member reports that this was nothing to do with them -- the label did this without their approval. It seems that corrupt CDs may indeed have been released. However, we now have a report from someone in Germany who has found no problems with this CD in his particular machine.
• "Weltreise" by Schiller: Reported corrupt in Hungary. This is a Record Express / Sony release. There is no warning label. The CD refuses to play in a PC, and in both newer and older Renault car models. The German release is through Universal, again without warnings.
• "Unholy mother of f*ck" by Revolver: Reported corrupt in Germany. This is another Zomba release. The CD will not play or extract on two tested drives. Corruption format is unknown.
• "Now...us!" by No Angels: Reported corrupt in Germany. There is a warning on the packaging. Extracting the audio was not possible using a Pioneer 16x DVD drive under Linux. The special edition is also corrupt, with a slightly different warning label.
• "Rosa" by Rosa (the Spanish Eurovision 2002 singer): Reported corrupt in Spain, released by BMG. On the back is a warning (translated): "This disc is equipped with a device to prevent digital copying, which could impede the playback of the recording in personal computers and/or harm such devices, in videogame consoles, in automobile CD and DVD players and multi-changers, as well as other CD-ROM and DVD-ROM players." Clearly one to be exceedingly cautious with, and probably the most honest warning yet.
• "This way" by Jewel: Suspected corrupt CD in Luxembourg. There are no warnings on the packaging, but extracting the audio using ExactAudioCopy shows many more errors on the disc than is normal. A Mac user in the UK reports no problems with this CD, though.
• "Harder, Mach 3" by DJ Gizmo: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands (a Sony release)
• "Achterbahn" by Wolfgang Petry: Reported corrupt in Germany.
• "Century Child Special Edition" by Nightwish: Corrupt according to the SpineFarm web-site: "... it will not play on computers, very old CD-players or auto stereos". However, we have a report that a copy of this CD with catalogue code spi149cd (perhaps not the special edition) plays fine on both an old PC and a Win98 laptop. Another person confirms this saying that only the special edition was corrupt (and this is no longer available), and later releases appear to be normal discs.
• "Monumension" by Enslaved: Reported corrupt on import from France. This is another Osmose Productions release. This CD was so badly corrupted that it completely crashed the owner's Linux box.
• "Substance" by Blank & Jones: Reported corrupt in Germany. Crashes a WinXP PC, necessitating a hard reset, but can be extracted under Linux without problem. CD-ROM was a LiteOn LTN 525.
• "Wishbones" by David Knopfler: Reported corrupt in Europe, imported into the UK via CDZone. There are warnings on the case and CD. In a Mac G4 with a CD-RW drive running OS 9.2, the machine froze for five minutes after inserting the disc, but eventually it displayed icons, allowing the audio to be extracted without problem.
• "Candy Comfort" by Neeka: Reported corrupt in Belgium. It is labelled in tiny print on the reverse: "This CD can not be played on PC/MAC computers and is copy protected". Audio cannot be played or extracted on Windows (3 drives were tried). It will play on a Philips DVD player, though.
• "Custom" by Calla: Released by Quatermass Records with a message on the packaging: "This CD does not play on PC/Mac". This CD was purchased in the US, but manufactured in Europe.
• "Tunnel Trance Force Volume 20": German release is a corrupt CD. It is from Sony, and has a warning in German similar to the English warning used on the Celine Dion CD, so it may be based on the same format as the discs HERE. It will not play in a PC or a 9600 Mac, nor a MP3 CD player, nor a car CD player (MP3-capable). However there are no problems in 'normal' CD players.
• "Hitzone 19" by TMF: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Refuses to play on a Renault Laguna standard CD player, and on a Marantz 4200 DVD player. An PC with a Hewlett Packard 4x CDR drive could read the CD, though.
• "Hitzone 20" by TMF: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands with the warning: "This CD can be played on computers running Windows operating systems, although playback problems can occur. Each track on this CD is protected against unauthorised copy." The protection is reportedly "Cactus Data Shield 200".
• "Groeten uit Salou 2002 Power Mix by DJ Cor": Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. This is an EMI release. This appears to be another Cactus-protected release, with the warning (translated): "This CD is playable on a computer, but protected against copying."
• "Here we go again" by StarSplash: Reported protected in Germany, with a small logo and the warning (translated): "Copyprotection! Not playable on PC." This is a suspected Key2Audio release.
• "Temple of Tears" by Harlan Cage: Reported corrupt in Sweden. This is from a small Swedish label called Atenzia. Playback on a PC is impossible on three drives (Samsung CD-R/RW 8-4-32, Yamaha CD-R/RW 4416S, Pioneer CD-ROM DR-A14S), but an ASUS 612 DVD could eventually be persuaded to read the disc. The packaging is labelled: "This CD will not play on PC/MAC".
• "Music Kills Me" by Rinocerose: Reported corrupt in Spain. Fails to play in a Mac, and in a Meridian 588 CD Player. On the Meridian player, it takes almost a minute to read the TOC, then counts up all the tracks and stops. There are no warnings on the packaging, and the record company has not responded to an E-mail complaint. Another person reports that there is a warning in Spanish. The same title is reported uncorrupted in the Netherlands.
• "Kuschelklassik Vol. 6": Reported corrupt in Germany, as noted on the Amazon.de site. This is a two-CD set of classical music.
• "Kuschelrock 15": Reported corrupt in Germany.
• "The Eleventh Hour" by Jars of Clay: Reported corrupt in the US, although another person reports no problems on his machine.
• "All Good Cowboys have Chinese Eyes" by Pete Townshend (remastered): Reported corrupt in the US. It refuses to play on PCs (several tested), but was found to play fine on several home, portable and car players.
• "Onder weg" by Marco Borsato: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Won't play on Mac or PC. Also refuses to play in a Renault Laguna standard CD player, and in a Marantz 4200 DVD player.
• "re:systemisch" by Oval: Reported corrupt in Italy. There is a warning "This CD is not playable on computers". It is released by Zomba. The CD fails to be recognised by several CD drives, but an iBook has no problem.
• "Podes fugir mas nao te podes esconder" by Da Weasel (a Portuguese Hip-Hop band): This is reported corrupt in Portugal. There is a very small warning on the back. Extracting audio gives read errors. We have one report that with a great deal of persistence it is possible to extract the audio, although this is highly dependent on which CD-ROM drive is used. This CD appears to use one of the Cactus formats, maybe Cactus 200.
• "Je t'aime mon non plus" by Sven Väth: Reported protected in Germany.
• "Eyes the colour of the sky" by Valeriya: Reported corrupt in Russia. There is a warning that it will not play on a computer on the packaging. Extraction is impossible under both Windows and Linux. The on-line retailer www.books.ru does not include the warning message on their site, although they did agree to exchange the CD for a clean one.
• "Here We Go, Stereo!" by Racoon: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands. Labelled as "will not play on MAC/PC". Fails to play completely on 2 out of 3 machines, but the 3rd one (with a non multi-session capable drive) allowed playing the audio and extraction to disc without problem.
• "Contact!" by Eiffel 65: Reported corrupt in Germany/Switzerland/Austria, although the Italian version is unprotected. According to one report from the States, the German version is ignored by a Mac and by a WinXP PC, it crashes a Win98 PC, refuses to play in two normal CD players, and only works in a PlayStation and a DJ mixing CD player. Oh dear!
• "Jukebox Heroes" by BeigeGT: Reported protected in Germany. Small printed warning on reverse.
• "Gregorians Master of chant II" from Edel Germany: Reported protected in Germany, Sweden, Greenland and Finland. The Finnish report stated that the CD would play on none of the tested devices -- two CD-ROM drives, a car CD player, a portable CD player and an old Pioneer player. The computer CD drives went crazy when the disc was inserted. There was a tiny warning message "Won't play on PCs", which was hidden at time of purchase.
• "Fredhead" by Right Said Fred: Reported protected in Austria, Germany and in the US (through Amazon.com). Won't work in Macs at all.
• "The Dome 19" and "The Dome 21": Reported copy-protected in Germany. Volume 19 was the first in the series to be protected (1-18 are unprotected).
• "Birthmarks" by Ozark Henry: This CD is protected using Key2Audio in Belgium, and won't play on a PC or on some hi-fi systems. In particular, one person reports that this CD won't play in a Bang & Olufsen CD player, and another person confirms this -- it won't play in either a Bang&Olufsen Ouverture or Century unit.
• "Live" by K's Choice (2CD): Protected with Key2Audio. Only available in Belgium for the moment.
• "Yessongs" by Yes: Reported protected in Belgium.
• "Greatest Hits" by Hall & Oates: Reported protected in Belgium.

CDs copy-protected elsewhere, but unprotected in the UK

• "1 Giant Leap" by 1 Giant Leap: The version in Luxembourg has a warning: "Will not play in PC/Mac". However, it was possible to extract the audio using ExactAudioCopy on a Lite-On LTR-0841 drive. This is an EMI release. The UK version does not have the warning.
• "The Last Broadcast" by The Doves: Suspected corrupt CD in the Netherlands. Will not play on a Mac. However, we have reports that the UK and Japanese versions both work fine on Mac OS X, and a report that the UK version works in a Win95 PC.
• "Swing when you're winning" by Robbie Williams: Reported corrupt in Switzerland. We originally had a couple of reports of similar problems in the UK, but I now believe that those CDs were bought from suppliers who had imported copies from Europe. All the other UK reports back up EMI UK's claim that the UK release was not protected at all. Elsewhere, a Canadian copy is also reported uncorrupted. The corrupt Swiss version had massive errors on the last 5 tracks. Extraction was possible on a Mac.
• "Break the Cycle" by Staind: Reported corrupt in the US, but a UK copy appears not to be corrupt. Another UK user confirms this.
• "Just Hit Play" by Aerosmith: The US release of this CD is reported as copy-protected for Windows and the Mac, although some people have got it working on some individual PC/Mac models. The UK release is unprotected.
• "South" by Heather Nova (Label V2 / ZOMBA): The German and Swiss releases of this CD are protected. The CD won't play on computers or CD/DVD drives. The UK version of the CD is unprotected. The Dutch version is also reported to be unprotected.
• "Meddle" by Pink Floyd: This CD is confirmed copy-protected in Germany, although a French version appears to be fine. EMI tell us that the UK version was released unprotected.

False alarms

• "Radio GaGa, CD1" by Electric Six: We originally suspected that this UK single might have been one of the first releases using an offset central hole as 'protection'. However, now it seems that it is more likely to have simply been a poorly manufactured disc, as a replacement disc had a much less-offset hole. The original problem disc had the hole offset by at least a millimetre. The offset-hole unbalanced-disc 'protection' method was put forward and patented in 2004 by Sony; see HERE. This method limits you to using single-speed to copy the disc, or else risk damaging your CD drive. The tested problem disc reportedly played fine in a CD player and laptop, but a desktop system made horrible grinding noises before eventually playing the disc correctly, and using an external drive gave at random either playback or a crash. It seems that portable or laptop-style drives (where the disc is manually pushed onto the drive spindle) handled the disc better than autoloading drives. Well, thanks to poor quality control, it seems that we have had a chance to test Sony's invention. I do hope that they sue the manufacturer for unlicenced use of their technology!
• "Innocent Eyes" by Delta Goodrem: We had a report of problems with this disc (a Sony release), but it turned out to be a false alarm.
• "Feest In De Moerstaal" by Starkoo: This release and other similar releases from Berk Music (NL) contain a message that looks like it might be a copy-protection warning. However, the translation actually reads: "someone who loves the Dutch song does not copy!", and the CDs are in fact uncorrupted.
• "Reinventing the Steel" by Pantera: Has the Macrovision logo, but appears not to be protected. The audio can be extracted without problem on a Compaq laptop, and a UK user also reports no problems with this CD.
• "Tom Harding Live at Dance Valley": Has a warning on the back: "This CD contains a bug! Do not use in your computer. It will delete all files on your hard disk." We suspect that this is a joke. Any further info on this title is very welcome.
• "A neverending dream" by Mythos & Watergate: This CD includes the "copy control" warnings, but is reported uncorrupted. It is an 'enhanced' CD.