A major record label will give music fans a chance this month to judge whether music DVDs might become the medium of choice over CDs. But listeners will need to make up their minds in a hurry: like the taped orders in Mission: Impossible, the DVDs will self-destruct -- or be rendered useless, anyway -- soon after they are played.
In the promotion by Atlantic Records, retailers in the Southern US will offer a free sample DVD to buyers of a CD by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group. Once the packaging is opened, the disc will work for only eight hours before being made unreadable by a dye sandwiched between the DVD's layers that interacts with air, leaving it opaque.
PHOTO: NY TIMES
The limited-use technology was developed by a New York company, Flexplay. With a maximum life span of 60 hours, such optical media have been a solution in search of a problem.
Originally envisioned as a way to protect software, the technology was offered to movie studios and other users concerned about piracy. This year, such discs were given to the press at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America in Miami and to promote the James Bond movie Die Another Day.
As a promotional device, said Alan Blaustein, Flexplay's chief executive, the self-destructing discs may have found their niche -- while more generally establishing the potential of DVDs.
`Getting the customer away from thinking ... '
"By getting the consumer away from thinking of music as a three-minute single but thinking of it as a whole package that includes audio and video, they get the customer to purchase the DVD-oriented format," he said.
The 10-minute disc is intended to pique the listener's interest in a 47-minute DVD, The World According to Nappy, which includes performance video, interviews, Web links, selections from the group's CD Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz and two additional tracks.
The DVD has a list price of $14.98 but is available on the Web for $9.99.
Sales of music DVDs are far below those of music CDs -- and, like the Nappy Roots effort, they are largely intended as a complement to a CD release rather than as an alternative format.
But as record companies try to find ways to revive lagging album sales, consumers can expect to see DVDs become more prominent, said James Lopez, vice president for urban marketing at Atlantic Records.
"There's a long way to go to close that gap, but slowly and surely the industry will," he said.
But the promotional disc's limited life span may upset consumers who have definite ideas of ownership and unlimited use once they buy CDs, DVDs and other software, said P.J. McNealy, research director of the consulting firm Gartner G2.
Consumers also are adept at distinguishing top-quality content from material not good enough for the finished product.
"Unless there's stunningly tremendous additional content," McNealy said, "consumers may not warm to it."
Another issue that may inhibit producers from taking advantage of the limited-use discs is the absence of digital protection. For the disc's life span, its contents can still be copied and reproduced.
Flexplay's main competitor, Spectradisc of Providence, Rhode Island, is focused on the movie business. Nabil Lawandy, its founder and chief executive, said the limited-use discs might serve as an alternative format for movie viewing in hotels or airports by travelers who don't want to deal with returning rentals. Consumers might also welcome a tiered approach to rentals, with cheaper, single-viewing sessions available on disposable disks, he said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS