A Little Night Music - 1990 Studio Cast - CD or CD-R? (and similar releases)

I'm finding it difficult to find out information about this, and other label's releases now they have chosen to use CD-Rs instead of pressed CDs.

The JAY website lists some as CD-Rs. Soundofmusic.de labels others, as does Amazon. None of them appear to be totally truthful or accurate.

Many collectors will feel short changed if sold a disc which is more easily bootlegged, so is the digimix here a pressed CD or a CD-R? It would be useful to add accurate information whenever it is known.

I'm going to go through the sources above and add info. accordingly. If anyone has come across other CD-Rs not noted, it would be useful to add them as well (VAI have also recently been selling DVD-R and BD-R discs as well).

This is a complicated issue. I’ve been told that most original releases are pressed CDs. After these are sold out, there is a re-press with a “disc on demand” (CD-r-like disc). I’ve received a couple of releases like this from them. Metropolis and the Australian Nine come to mind. Not only are the CDs not pressed, the front side of the disc is a sticker and the booklet is sometimes a re-print.

I was told that they were working on a way to notate which release was original or not on the website, but they have been truly busy lately. The best way to know for sure is to send them a message. They’ve been great about getting back to me with the info.

Also, if it helps, some of the discs that have only ever been available on vinyl previously have onot been released as disc on demand, such as the 1967 London The Boy Friend. The new DigiMix releases of The Canterbury Tales, The Boys from Syracuse and Oh What a Lovely War are all “disc on demand” CD-r discs.

I think If anything hasn't had a previous JAY/TER CD release it's going to be a CD-R now. Some in the database that I haven't changed yet are Cinderella, Swan Down Gloves and Pull Both Ends (I got copies of the latter two straight as they were released and they were CD-Rs). I wouldn't be surprised if anything with a Digimix is also a CD-R (including any bonus discs). If anyone has actual pressed CDs of these I'd be most interested to know (though you need a program that recognises disc types to be truly sure). The 67 Boy Friend is also (newly?) listed on the disc on demand page.

Some straight to CD-Rs we already have on the database, such as Something's Afoot. Has anyone seen a pressed CD Free as Air revival? Mine received early was a CD-R. Same with Ragtime.

I presumed the newly released CDs such as Unexpected Joy, Neurosis, R.R.R.E.D and so on are pressed CDs but, again, not much information out there about those. One clear distinction on their website, except for the actual D-O-D page, is a catalogue number with DD instead of CD but if shows like Metropolis are going down that route, it's a whole new other problem!

For what it’s worth, my release of Something’s Afoot is a pressed CD

In 2020, I ordered the studio cast recording of SOMETHING'S AFOOT and the 2-disc combination of the Original London Cast and the 2014 Revival Cast of FREE AS AIR. They were not identified as Disc on Demand or CD-Rs on the Jay website yet that's what was sent. When I complained about being misled, John Yap said he would put the correct information on the website and send me a CD of SOMETHING'S AFOOT. As of today (three years later), the info on the website has not been changed and I have not received a replacement CD.

The fact that they are using sticker labels on the actual CDs is worrying to me, as those will eventually cause the discs to become unplayable.

This is all useful info. I use a program called CDinfo to see what discs actually are. It can be difficult to tell at times from looking but, using this program, if it's a pressed CD it just gives you a track list but, if it's a CD-R it is likely to give you the make of it, the dye (e.g, PhthaloCyanine) and so on. Whilst that specific data may sometimes be inaccurate the fact that it reportsit means it's seeing a CD-R. I'm led to believe that the disc capacity being something like 702.8MB is also a sign that it's a disc that has been written on.

If anyone can confirm having a disc like Free as Air or Something's Afoot that does not give such details, that would at least prove that some pressed discs are out there. I just checked my Free as Air and it's a CD-R (though the colour was a give away), the same as one of the early disc on demand releases Pull Both Ends.

Jay Records issued both CDs and CD-Rs of SOMETHING'S AFOOT.

John Yap wrote: "we do have manufactured CDs of SOMETHING’S AFOOT in stock. Since the pressing, I have tinkled with the mix further and ended with a better mixed version of the recording. We have made a small stock of the improved mix version on Disc on Demand to let those whom we recognise as regular customers. Since we recognised you as being one, we decided to send you the better mixed Disc on Demand copy of SOMETHING’S AFOOT, however, if you would rather have the manufactured CD, I will be happy to let you have one."

For what's worth, I ordered a copy of the Little Night Music DigiMix CD last summer, and I received a disc on demand copy. It's also worth noting that it seems like the version I got added a second or two of silence at the end of each track, meaning that Night Waltz II and It Would Have Been Wonderful don't directly segue into each other as intended and instead have a brief awkward pause in between them. That error combined with receiving a disc on demand CD is a pretty annoying combination.

Yes - that's an unfortunate problem with CD-R discs and how they are formatted. The tracks (if they blend into each other) can't.