CD-R is not a reliable long-term storage medium

[Partridge]

How long should we expect a CD-R to last. It looks like 20 years may be an approximation.

I took out a couple of copies of a CD-R (Skeeter Davis- The Hillbilly Singer) that I had made from an LP that had never and still has not been issued on commercial CD. One copy would play 9 of the 10 tracks but the sound was far away with 90% of the sound being a loud hiss. The other back-up copy I had made registered as a blank disc. Another Skeeter Davis CD I had made would still play fine but audible artifacts were beginning to be heard in the first two tracks.

I had put those adhesive labels on two of the CDs (see below). That appears to hasten the destruction. I had previously had a live Linda Ronstadt CD-R erase itself.

Has anyone else here had problems with recordable CDs?

[the Scribe]

When I ran a Ronstadt Fan Club a man who came upon ownership of the original reel to reel tape of the last concert Linda did at McCabes (1976 I think) made a copy for me on cassette. A friend was going to a recording academy in town for schooling and he had the main engineer there transfer the concert onto CD-R. I used to play it all the time, more than most albums but after some time passed some songs just disappeared. I thought maybe I had the wrong cd (as I had two made) but your post here explains what probably happened. Seems like a criminal act to me. I just hope the original tapes are in good hands and were well taken care of but I doubt it. That last McCabes concert was the best in my opinion. Cornish Pirate had parts of it which he posted on the old site I believe. Some are still available. Hope he is ok as we haven't seen him here in a while.

[sliderocker]

The issue may be with the CD player or DVD player you are using to play a CD-R on. A friend recorded several songs for me on recordable CDs and DVDs and gave to me as a gift. My main CD player on my stereo would not play the songs at all and the DVD player I had at the time also wouldn't play the videos my friend had for me. I had a small boom box which played the songs without any problems and another DVD player that played the videos. It may be the equipment you have. Even so, just as a suggestion, I would encourage anyone to make back up copies and keep making back up copies as one never knows when a recordable disc will go corrupt. CDs and DVDs should last 20 years or longer, but you have to take care of them, keeping them in pristine shape as much and as close as possible. All it takes to corrupt a disc are scratches and dirt, and it doesn't matter if it's a recordable disc you made yourself or a disc issued by a record label. When done playing, back into the jewel box they should go.

I saw record company CDs and home recorded CDs at garage sales beaten up and in lousy shape. Same for DVDs. Takes a lot of nerve to ask a dollar a title on a CD or DVD in either form and it's all scratched up or there's dirt or some other substance on it that makes the disc unplayable. All my CDs and DVDs, record or movie company/TV company release or home made recording, are still playable. And that was because if someone played them, the disc had better be back in its casing and put back on the shelf. If someone didn't do that, first, it was taking your life in your hands and second, I'd chew you up a good one and wouldn't allow you to touch my stuff again. My niece once rolled my car nine times in accident. How it didn't kill her was a mystery to us all. We joked she was like a cat, had nine lines and used up eight of them. I didn't freak out over that but she was bad about leaving my CDs out of their cases. And that was far more upsetting to me than losing my car. I used to tell her that her last cat life was going to be in danger if she didn't take care of my stuff. She wised up, although it took a little bit of time.

[Tony]

The two discs that won't play were stored for years in a jewel box case on a shelf protected from light and not a scratch on them. I tried to play them on three different players, and the only one that would partially work was my car CD player, but the music was very faint. I think CD-Rs that have the adhesive labels are more prone to problems.

[the Scribe]

I have only used my cds on one player and they stopped working unfortunately. Terrible waste. I was warned that because they were a new technology at the time the life may be 10-15 years. I should have believed it and found other ways to save it long term.

[Tony]

The Skeeter Davis Hillbilly Singer disc was not a total loss. I have played it a few times over the years. The best songs from that album were on my ipod, which unfortunately bit the dust also.