CD Rotting

[fr8nks]

There was a problem reported in 1994 that first appeared in American Record Guide Magazine of CD bronzing. It was a form of rotting that eventually made the CDs unplayable. The problem affected several labels and was traced to a production plant in the U.K. If the letters PDO appeared in the fine printing around the center hole of a commercial CD, it was at risk of deteriorating. If you owned one or more of these CDs, they were replaced free of all charges including shipping and handling by sending an email to an individual whose address was posted in several articles. The discs were replaced without questioning but the jewel boxes and liner notes were not included. I had about 22 CDs that contained the letters PDO on them and new ones were sent to me in the United States without questions and free of charge and without returning the originals. I have seen CD bronzing on certain labels of CD-Rs that were stored in high heat for several weeks but the manufacturers have disclaimers exempting them from liability.

Warning!!!  If you have a CD that is turning brown, make a copy of it before it is too late.

[albion]

I bought several PDO discs in the early 1990s from Hyperion, ASV and Unicorn-Kanchana, which went the way of all flesh - the Hyperions were replaced without quibble but Unicorn (as did ASV) went out of business shortly thereafter and I had to replace them with second-hand copies which I fervently prayed (before they dropped through the letter box) would not be afflicted with the lurgy.



Recently I returned a William Mathias disc (bought 'new' from Amazon but produced in the early 1990s) to Nimbus that had bronzed - this hadn't been manufactured at the PDO plant: Nimbus were surprised to say the least and are going to carry out chemical tests on the offending article, but they quickly sorted out a newly-pressed replacement (all their newer issues, as with the recent Lyritas produced through Wyastone, have the actual time and date of manufacture printed on the disc itself).



However, I also have a large number of PDO-originated discs that are completely blemish-free and show no signs of deterioration after over twenty years ...