Stopping Pirated Music at the Source

July 24 -- Listen very carefully when you play any new music CDs on your PC.

If you hear some unexpected noise, it may mean your disc is being tested for a new type of technology that prevents you from making copies on your computer.

Several major music labels have been experimenting with a new technology that will prevent the making of digital copies of audio CDs using a CD-ROM drive.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, music thieves pirated more than $4.2 billion last year. And while the $40 billion music industry has been successful in stopping some online piracy — case in point, Napster — many more swapping sites are out there.

Called SafeAudio and developed in conjunction with Israeli company TTR Technologies, the theft-blocking measures work by encoding “errors” into digital music as it is being “pressed” into the CD at the music factory. Standard audio CD players and CD-ROM drives are able to correct for these errors during normal playback so there is no discernable difference in the quality of the music.

Adding Snap, Crackle, and Pop

But if a user tries to use a CD-ROM drive to “rip” or create compressed audio copies from the SafeAudio CD, the errors aren’t corrected. In fact, they produce annoying pops, clicks or even blank segments in the resulting digital file, making them less likely to be passed around illegally.

SafeAudio is just one of the latest anti-copying technologies to be making the rounds in the music industry. Back in May, country crooner Charley Pride released a CD with a similar blocking technology developed by SunnComm in Phoenix.

According to William H. Whitmore Jr., vice president of marketing for SunnComm, more than 50,000 Tribute to Jim Reeves CDs have been shipped with its MediaCloQ protection scheme, with hardly any returns. “It’s far exceeded expectations,” says Whitmore.