Labels Worry As CD/DVD Hyrbrid Format Hits Snag
In what can’t be good news for the record industry, Yahoo! News/Reuters reports that, “plans to sell new hybrid CD/DVDs have hit legal and licensing snags that threaten to scuttle a mass rollout that the hard-hit music industry had been counting on to aid its recovery, people familiar with the matter said this week…Some 13 titles by artists like David Bowie and Linkin Park were sold in Boston and Seattle. The idea is to put music on the CD side and concert, interview or recording session video on the DVD. They have sold for about $18.99 in retail stores…But before the products can be ready for mass markets, several issues remain including a contract dispute between a technology developer and manufacturer and questions dealing with the licensing of “CD” and of music rights.
…Retailers had expected the discs for the fourth quarter, but industry sources said they now believe the labels, which have grappled with playability and thickness issues before, are now targeting early 2005 in light of new snags.
“They’re hijacking our technology,” said Phil Carlson, North American Division president of German-based DVD Plus International Inc, who said “there are ongoing conversations” between lawyers for his firm and the major music labels. “
