Nick:

>Without getting into the subject of quality vs.  quantity, there is
>a technical justification in many cases.  The Sony/Philips "Red Book"
>standard specification for the production of Compact Discs sets an absolute
>limit of 74 minutes and 33 seconds* as the maximum duration of a CD.  Any
>disc that having a longer duration is in technical violation of the
>standard and may have playback problems on some CD players.
>
>Although some CDs having longer durations have been manufactured, they are
>rarely seen coming from major labels.  The majors typically have house
>rules that prohibit violation of the Sony/Philips standard.  In addition,
>most pressing plants (the places that actually make the CDs) will not
>accept a tape or CDR master that exceeds the standard duration.

This doesn't square with my experience.  I have many CDs from all major
labels that exceed 74:33.  Durations in excess of 78 minutes are not
uncommon at all among Philips, DG, EMI releases (especially reissues).

On the other hand, I don't have *any* CD which exceeds 79:59. Are you sure
the red book standard is not closer to 80 minutes than 74:33?

 [There's a lot of confusion surrounding this issue, and I meant to
 respond earlier, but ran out of time.  Nick is correct that the red
 book specifies 74:33 as the limit, but this is a "nominal" maximum,
 not a technical nor even practical limit.  Nick may also be correct
 that majors have rules that prohibit violation of the standards, however,
 if this is the case, they certainly break their own rules frequently.
 I have over 400 discs in my collection that exceed the nominal maximum.
 Among the major labels, RCA, Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Mercury
 Living Presence, London, Archiv, ECM, Sony, and Virgin are all
 represented; and some are 79+ minutes long.

 The number of smaller labels that exceed the spec are also numerous,
 including Capriccio, Supraphon, Collins, Koch-Schwann, Marco Polo,
 Naxos, CPO, Bridge, BIS, Orfeo, Claves, Hyperion, AS&V, Gimell, Cedille,
 Dynamic, Chandos, Thorofon, Delos, Dorian, Astree, Harmonia Mundi,
 Etcetera, MD&G, Nimbus, Olympia and the list goes on.

 Discussions of CD technology, being generic in nature, are really not
 appropriate to MCML, so lets continue privately if so desired.  -Dave]

Ulvi
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