Multimedia Music

      CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-Plus, CD-Extra, and E-CD. What do all of these CD formats mean and where is the CD technology headed? In particular, what is the CD’s new relationship with music?

The CD or compact disc was originally devised as a low cost format for which to record and distribute music – I suppose that if you want to be technical, it was devised as a safe investment choice à la certificate of deposit. While CDs still remain at the forefront of retail music consumption, all subsequent evolution of the format has focused on CD-ROM in which the emphasis is on the video display. The past few years have witnessed the emergence of these two into one medium.

The first introduction to the CD format was what was known as CD-DA (Compact Disc-Digital Audio), which is the type of CD that you commonly encounter at record stores. Following this innovation was the emergence of the CD-ROM, which stores computer data, 650 megabytes to be exact (i.e., a lot of information). Certainly, it was only a matter of time before these two formats fused into one: the interactive music CD.

Today’s interactive music CD is commonly referred to as an Enhanced CD (E-CD). While some refer to it as a “CD-Extra” or “CD-Plus,” all of the terms are interchangeable. Enhanced CDs combine multimedia data (CD-ROM) with traditional audio CDs (CD-DA). Simply put, they are normal audio CDs that will play in any stereo CD player, but they can also play in your CD-ROM drive to engage one in an interactive experience.

The kicker is that you must have a CD-ROM drive capable of handling multisession CDs. A multisession CD is one that has been recorded on more than once, in this case, multiple CD formats are pressed onto one CD – the Enhanced CD. The E-CD stores all computer data after the last audio track which alleviates some of the problems with past attempts at interactive music CDs that forced those listening to the music on their stereo to skip tracks that contained the computer data or risk harming their precious stereo equipment.

Although the first true CD-Extra to be commercially released was done so only a year and a half ago (Sugar’s Besides, which contained a digitized video), already much of the record industry is hailing the new format as the “next big thing” and the “emerging industry standard.” Unfortunately, Enhanced CDs are still plagued by the question of whether they will work in one’s CD-ROM drive or not.

Here’s the basic rundown of what minimum hardware is required in order to run Enhanced CDs: Windows: Windows 3.1 or 95, 486/66mHz, 4mB free RAM, 16-bit sound card, 13” VGA or SVGA color monitor, double-speed CD-ROM drive. Macintosh: Mac LCIII or better, 68030/25mHz, 8mB RAM, System 7.1 or later, 256 color display monitor, double-speed multi-session CD-ROM drive. Also, most of the E-CDs you buy will include updated driver software in the form of an extra Corel Driver CD, files with compressed software, or links to a Web page where the driver software can be downloaded.

Currently, there are probably just under 60 or so CD-Plus/Extra titles on the market from such varied artists as Alice In Chains, Bush, the Cranberries, Bob Dylan, Sarah McLachlan, Moby, Monster Magnet, the Rolling Stones, and Soundgarden amongst others. These discs tend to only cost a few more dollars than the typical music-only CD and can be purchased in retail record stores. In some cases (for example, Prong’s Rude Awakening, Spin Doctors’ You’ve Got To Believe In Something, and The Doors Greatest Hits), the multimedia content is provided as a bonus to a full album’s worth of songs.

In addition to the music, the typical Enhanced CD contains videos, a photo library, interviews, and an audio screen (for listening to the audio tracks). Some of the “full-blown” Enhanced-CD’s do offer something more.

		Soundgarden – Alive In The Superunknown There are five paths you can take from the main menu. You can access the “Video Forest” where you can find four videos by exploring the on-screen planets. In addition, you can make each video display full-screen by clicking on it, and you can attain the lyrics for each video. The “Photo Space Jam” allows you to view various collections of band photos while listening to instrumental Soundgarden tunes. Of course, there is an “Audio Player” that will enable you to play the CD audio tracks while having some fun with the graphics. Finally, you can descend down the stairway (while psychedelic music plays) into the “Superunknown” where you can explore two decks to find videos (one which you can visually manipulate), play a primitive game of “breakout,” and then using the nebula at the bottom of the stairs, determine your visual experience in the “Superunknown” while the song of the same title plays.
		Monster Magnet – I Talk To Planets Similar to the Soundgarden title, this disc grants you the opportunity to explore four basic scenarios. You can view a bunch of full-screen videos as well as access the customized video “Astrogator” hidden inside a virtual “souped-up” Pontiac LeMans, which lets you choose some of the imagery that you will see as part of a random montage. The disc has a cosmic, space-age, monster-movie feel complete with a lab scene where you can devolve lead vocalist Dave Wyndarf into an acid-hued, primordial mass. You can also vent out your aggression by destroying such space junk as cheeseburgers, beer cans, and doughnuts while enjoying several “Monster” songs. And damn does that stuff whiz by fast!
		Various Artists – Bored Generation In addition to containing 10 tracks from various hardcore/punk and rap artists such as The Offspring, Rancid, Helmet, Primus, Beastie Boys, and Souls of Mischief, this Epitaph compilation offers digitized sports footage that is enough to whet any “boarder’s” aural and visual appetite. You can revolve around a virtual punk’s cluttered room to reveal hyperlinks to footage of surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, and stage diving video that can even be played in “slow-mo” if you deem necessary. The disc also provides a merchandising screen, band bios and discographies for those appearing on the CD, snowboarder profiles, subscription information for related magazines, and recommended Web sites.

Most of the CDs that contain multimedia data as simply an added bonus to the album offer about the same thing: a video, a discography, artist bio, photos, interviews, etc. The newly released Doors Greatest Hits contains a video and lyrics for the bonus song, “The Ghost Song” plus online information. Prong’s latest release Rude Awakening has a full video for “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck,” interviews, and a discography with music clips all presented in a “book” format. New age artist Ottmar Liebert’s Opium offers photos of the artist over various landscapes plus track information for each of the songs on the CD. The soundtrack for the motion picture Romeo + Juliet is an Enhanced CD that offers color film stills, narration highlights, film script text, and loops of the soundtrack’s songs paired with various film images.

All of this new power and technology that has surfaced with CD-ROMs has even lead to the development of a new type of entertainment magazine. Launch is an entertainment CD-ROM (a virtual Rolling Stone, if you will) that offers artist interviews and performance clips, reviews of music with sample sound clips, interviews with actors/comedians, playable game demos, original animated films, creative digitized commercials, and, of course, a sampler of the latest Enhanced CDs and CD-ROMs. Check it out at your favorite book or news store – it is quite impressive.

Hopefully, this new format of CD will become even more interactive for music lovers. Although most CD-Plus/Extra discs to date lack the ability to manipulate music, one must bear in mind that we are merely at the cusp of innovation for this new medium. Peter Gabriel’s new Enhanced CD, Eve allows users to both mix music and edit videos. In addition, many current titles only contain four or five music tracks due to the fact that they are dividing the 75 minutes available for music space with computer data. So until a method is rendered that allows for more space for “ordinary” music tracks, consumers who buy these CDs exclusively for the music will lose out.

The Internet is also likely to play a key role in the future of the Enhanced CD. Many labels plan to incorporate Web links into their forthcoming E-CDs which can provide users with up-to-date artist information – such as tour dates and timely contests – that wouldn’t be possible in the manufactured media.

No matter what direction the Enhanced CD technology is headed, let’s just hope that for the sake of the art form itself, musicians realize that it is the music which must come first – it should not take a secondary position as existing only to provide a soundtrack to a multimedia presentation. Music in its strictest form is a “one-sense” medium (i.e., aural), and the visual element, like music videos, is simply an extra bonus; consequently, CD-Plus/Extra discs will most likely supplement not replace traditional audio CDs. These new CDs should simply serve the function that is inherently implied in their name: music CDs with the computer data as an Extra or Plus.