Amazon “On Demand” CDRs?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by crookedbill, Mar 29, 2019.

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  1. thetman

    thetman Forum Resident

    Location:
    earth
    so how exactly can you tell if you are buying a cdr version from amazon/ does it state it it in the description? I've checked some cds that I bought and nothing mentioned on the item page about car. Or are they just not telling people.
     
  2. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I think it says it in the description somewhere. You might have to poke around a little in the area where they list the release date, number of pages (for books) and stuff like that. I've definitely declined to by certain CDs in the past because I noticed that info somewhere in the fine print.
     
  3. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    You really have to dig to find it. I never found it on my Killing Them Softly page and I spent either $20 or $22 on it. Could have gotten the FLAC for $10.49.

    The barcode was printed on the disc which was strange and my first tip that this was an Amazon cheat job. Yes it's not a bootleg, but it's also not the genuine article and there's zero resale value in it. $20 seemed fair since a genuine CD from the same label used to pop up for $16 from time to time and that's how I got mine. $20 is not fair for something I could have done with a blank CD-R and a trip to Kinko's.

    Still pissed off about this as you can tell. :(
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  4. thetman

    thetman Forum Resident

    Location:
    earth
    I would be pissed too. seriously, I have bought tons of cds over the years from Amazon and never knew this. I checked a lot of my past orders to look at the item pages but saw nothing indicating that they were cd rips.
    luckily I have slowed down a lot in my purchases. I have so much music to tie me over for many many years. I know its more expensive but if there are some titles that I really like I may just buy from cdjapan. big fan of the mini-lp versions. i have some david gilmour on pre order from them.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  5. crookedbill

    crookedbill Forum Resident Thread Starter

    FYI, for those asking - if you're buying a CD on Amazon and want to know whether you're getting a CDR, scroll down to a section called "Editorial Reviews" and it'll say "When sold by Amazon.com, this product will be manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply."

    Also, the album art will usually have a "picture border" around it. If and when you receive the CDR, it'll come in a generic plastic jewel case with that border around the cover art and the rest of the art and disc will look super basic - just the artist name, album name, tracklist, barcode, and maybe a blurb in very small print on the back near the barcode saying something like "manufactured by Amazon" (I don't have my CDR copies with me at the moment). It's not impossible to tell if you're getting (or got) a CDR, but they don't make it very obvious before you buy. You have to dig a bit.

    Again, if it's a CDR manufactured and sold by Amazon, it's not a bootleg. It's part of their "on-demand" program, with consent from the original band or label.
     
  6. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Makes you wonder why they go out of their way to hide the info.

    It's all very generic and as far as I know the barcode printed on the disc is a dead giveaway.
    Doesn't change the fact that it sucks! :p :disgust:
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  7. crookedbill

    crookedbill Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I don't disagree.
     
  8. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I guess it's nice if it's the ONLY lossless option, but if they'd just offer a FLAC download you could do this yourself for a fraction of the cost.
     
  9. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    So, since posting in this thread, I've purchased three additional Smithsonian Folkways titles. All came as CDR's. I'm biting my tongue and deciding that a CDR is better than not owning the music.

    Having visited their web site I was able to download the booklets, and that's where I'm really unable to get over things. I need a printed booklet, and not one I printed myself.

    Anyone know an easy way of checking to see which of their titles had an official release - in an actual jewelcase with a booklet - and which did not? Or is the easiest way to find out checking on Discogs for earlier releases and hoping for the best?

    If I can determine the titles that had a proper release, I can target getting secondhand copies of those and skipping these CDR's........
     
  10. Furiousangel

    Furiousangel Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I feel your pain friend! I ordered from Amazon four soundtrack CDs within one month. I had heard rumors that Tolkien soundtrack would only be issued as a CD-R. I called Amazon's customer service and long story short they promised and guaranteed that the soundtrack they are selling is indeed on a traditional CD. The CDs arrived and sure enough both of them, "Priest" was the other, both were manufactured by Amazon. Just the other day I purchased the new release Godzilla King of Monsters, it arrived today and yep it is manufactured by Amazon. And for the record all four titles are available on CD.
    One record label you should never trust and always verify if possible is Water Tower, they seem to have a contract with Amazon. Amazon used to be great about making notations that a CD is in fact a CD-R. They stopped doing that obviously. And obviously they have a financial gain to be made by withholding this information or placing it where you would be likely to notice it, especially if you placed it in a cart with other things. I'm sorry I cannot give you any information as to what source material they used, but to also answer another gentleman's question as to what's the big deal? The big deal is and we all should know this, is that CD-Rs are junk, the audio quality is poor, the inserts and other printed materials are poor as well. Everyone should know that CD-Rs become denigrated in a very short time. The overall quality and archival status is comprable to that of cassette tapes. I don't know guys, this little scam is making it more difficult to be a collector. They're either opting out of releasing a CD in favor of a digital download and this is beyond reason, vinyl LPs!? And now we have to contend with this!? The only solution, and I know it's going to hurt some of you, is to avoid these products which include the digital download and especially vinyl. Anyway I'm new here this is my first reply, happy to be here oh, and thanks for taking a moment to read my ramblings.
     
  11. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    At the very least they should make it clear what you're getting. It's ridiculous. If this happens to me again I'm going to simply send it back for a refund. Even if I can get passed the CDR, no booklet kills it for me - and no, a PDF doesn't cut it. A PDF is what I would get is I pirated the music..............
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  12. thetman

    thetman Forum Resident

    Location:
    earth
    So now Amazon isn't even telling people if its CDR or not? thats crazy. And why would they send a CDR of a recent movie soundtrack ( godzilla king of monsters).
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  13. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Or, in @Furiousangel's case, they're specifically telling you it's not and then sending you a CD-R anyway.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  14. Gene Parmesan

    Gene Parmesan Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA, USA
    I had pre-ordered "Now That's What I Call Yacht Rock" and received it yesterday. It's a CD-R. No indication was given when I ordered it. Now there's the usual message on the product page: "Note: This product is manufactured on demand when ordered from Amazon.com."

    I probably wouldn't have noticed it except for the UPC on the back cover, which looked 'off' to me:
    [​IMG]

    Lesson learned: don't pre-order CDs from Amazon in the future.
     
    Dave112 likes this.
  15. thetman

    thetman Forum Resident

    Location:
    earth
    isn't this a new release? that sucks.
     
  16. Gene Parmesan

    Gene Parmesan Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA, USA
    Yup. Released 8/2/2019.
     
  17. There's seems to have been a secular movement within the music industry this year to increasingly replace pressed CDs with CD-R's. This is happening across too many fronts to be coincidence. You have eBay now listing almost all pressings as CD-R (see other thread), Amazon carrying more and more CD-R's, and some labels completely abandoning pressed CDs.

    Q4 is the music industry's biggest sales period and these moves will all be in place to further undercut CD as a viable retail option, hastening the format's end. Anyone telling you that the industry wants to save CD is wrong. Every move I've seen made this year by the big three labels tells me they want CD off the stage sooner rather later.
     
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  18. thetman

    thetman Forum Resident

    Location:
    earth
    What a shame. soon the only safe bet will be new box sets or maybe purchase from cdjapan, HMVjapan. I would still think ( or hope) if a major artist has a new release that it would be a legit cd ( like the upcoming Beatles abbey road). But I do see all CDr's on the horizon for any older, more obscure artist if you want to obtain their catalog.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  19. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Wow, I cant believe people knowingly buy these? Might as well rip your own music from YouTube!
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2019
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  20. thetman

    thetman Forum Resident

    Location:
    earth
    not sure they are knowingly buying them. I know Amazon used to state on the product page if was a CDR or not. But lately there have been reports of not seeing the disclaimer posted but still receiving a CDR. seems a bit dishonest for the consumer.
     
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  21. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    To be fair, they are using lossless audio. But it's still a bull**** product that isn't worth ten percent of what they charge. As far as I'm concerned, a legal/sanctioned knockoff is still a knockoff and it should be the cost of the MP3 download plus shipping. $13 - not $25.
     
    Bingo Bongo likes this.
  22. RosenkreutzXIII

    RosenkreutzXIII Active Member

    Location:
    USA
    Would anyone by chance know or be able to find out if the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog CDr uses lossless audio? I was curious if it did or not as I believe its the only Amazon produced CDr I own, but if the audio is lossy then I'm probably better off just getting 320 MP3s from Google Play instead of wasting space on a lossy CD.
     
  23. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I don’t understand how Amazon let’s third party sellers who sell an “on demand” CD-R copy list theirs right in with the listings for the real thing. It’s not the same thing and should not be able to compete for buyers in the same page listings.

    But I can understand Amazon themselves doing it - because they are out to make bucks and do not care about any potential harm that they do to another seller to make that buck. They are dishonest in many other ways so I am not at all surprised.

    But Archiv Music mix their boots in with the real thing is crummy.

    When I would list a classical title and see the CD-R version listed, I would always state NOT THE CD-R COPY being sold by other sellers of this title but the real West Germany original pressing!!!! Be aware of the CD-R copies of this title being offered.
     
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  24. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    I hear you on that, and personally I buy pretty much all my used CDs on discogs, eBay, and dclutter.com (in that order of frequency).

    However, I can understand why some folks buy used CDs from Amazon instead. They already have an account set up there, whereas not as many people have an eBay and especially a discogs account. And despite the fact that eBay and discogs - plus PayPal of course - have very good buyer protection, people perceive that Amazon will protect them better if there is an issue; and if you have a problem on Amazon, even with a 3rd party seller, you can more easily reach a traditional customer service rep, via live chat or phone, and almost always get an immediate resolution. You don't need to file a dispute or claim and wait for anyone to investigate.

    Again, this is not my own practice, and personally I agree with you - I find the Amazon Marketplace to be a huge pain for used CDs and steer clear of it. But I can understand the appeal of it to some folks. compared to the alternatives.
     
    Dave likes this.
  25. mikeyman66

    mikeyman66 Member

    Location:
    Florida
    The Amazon CD-R's "MOD (Media On Demand)'' is only offered when the actual release is no longer available or produced. It is always best to find it elsewhere as an original.

    Amazon does however refund the monies spent for the disagreeable purchaser. A lot of times even giving the individual the option to just keep the original CD-R purchased.

    By The Way -> There is an awesome documentary coming on CNN this Friday 08/16/2019
    CNN Special Report: Age of Amazon

    https://www.cnn.com/videos/tech/2019/08/09/cnn-special-report-age-of-amazon.cnn
     
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