Have you ever wondered why, when you put your CD ref in your internet-connected computer, your media player will give you song titles, etc. for the disc? And why they are sometimes NOT the correct song titles?
The explanation...
Some years ago, it became obvious that many people would be playing audio CD's on their web-connected computers, either for background or to develop their music collections. Wouldn't it be great if the song titles (needed to organize this collection) were available to make this job easier? Thus the development of service companies (some NOT for profit...in the true spirit of 'the web'...and some FOR profit) to take on this task. Record labels and individuals submit the data (primarily song titles and times, but including graphics of CD inserts) to companies like Gracenote (CDDB), FreeDB, and others to make this possible.
Here's is how it works...
When a disc is played on a media player on any internet-connected device, a 'request' is made to the database (including Gracenote's CDDB), which tries to match the product in the CD drive by various parameters, including number of tracks and length of each track. Then, it transmits data, including music genre, composer name, language, year released, and more, back to the user's computer. The media player DOES NOT look at the ISRC codes or the UPC/EAN barcodes, and sometimes not even the CD-Text! The entry uses the TOC of the disk, accurate to the CD frame as the fingerprint of the CD. With only a single track, the odds of matching some other disc is great. However, the more cuts, the less possible it is.
So, how does one upload one's CD info to the database?
In iTunes and N2MP3 (and probably several other programs that use the CDDB/Gracenote database), it's as simple as reworking the information in the fields presented and selecting a menu option (under "Advanced" in iTunes) that's marked "Submit CD Track Names" or something similar. This allows an individual the capability to upload simple information (song title, artist, etc.).
Windows Media Player does not use Gracenote.com (CDDB) for it's info. Submissions are through All Music (www.allmusic.com).
Full submission of all data (including audio and graphics) are only accepted through the avenue of specialized accounts. This is how songs appear for on-line sale through the various providers. For iTunes, product is only accepted via their iTunes Producer software that does the rip, encode, and meta data formatting, and submits as a full single file uploaded to that labels account.
One company, called CDBaby, has deals in place with all the various online services. Another independent company called Loudeye also does the rip, encode, and meta data formatting for iTunes submissions.
And finally... what does this have to do with CD-Text? Well, all of the above has nothing to do with the 'text' displayed when you put your CD into an enabled CD player (in your car or home). These devices are not connected to the internet so they do not have access to any on-line database. Their text display (showing 'CD-Text') presents info has been included when the physical disc was created, either as part of 'pre-mastering' or 'mastering'. MasterMix will include CD-Text data in the preparation of your 'CD-Ref' or 'PMCD' at your request. Any duplication from these production masters will contain the same 'text' data, providing the duplicating equipment allows it. This will be displayed on a CD-Text enabled CD player as the disc is inserted & played.
