PinkPantheressIf you were one of the countless PinkPantheress fans who last week decided to forgo the modern streaming method and pick up a CD copy of her Fancy Some More? remix package upon its official physical release, you might have realised you got some pretty stellar value for money.
While digital versions of Fancy Some More? are divided into three 'discs', so too is there a physical, three-CD deluxe edition and a single-disc version as well.
However, those who grabbed the latter version might come away with a few questions surrounding the technical specifications of how CDs work.
The three-CD package makes quite a bit of sense given that the full record goes for a lofty 92 minutes, but some fans have found themselves taking to the Internet to ask how it's actually possible to jam all that content onto one single disc.
Firstly, let's take a bit of a history lesson.
The story goes that when compact disc technology was being fine-tuned in the '70s, its creators were aiming for a product that boasted near to a 60-minute playing time, which was a little longer than the average double-sided LP, which often contained around 22 minutes each side.
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However, Sony's then-Vice President, Norio Ohga, reportedly suggested ensuring it should be long enough to fit a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Using a 1951 performance conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler as a reference, CDs were then designed so they could fit 74 minutes and 33 seconds, which itself necessitated increasing their planned 10 cm diameter of the disc to the now-standard 12 cm.
However, this story has long been considered apocryphal, given that by the time the first CD was actually tested in 1980, they could only fit around 50 minutes, though this had expanded to an hour by 1982.
Technology soon evolved, of course, and by 1988, discs were capable of holding a total of 80:08 in some instances. Mission Of Burma actually used it as a selling point on their self-titled compilation from that year, but warned consumers that some players might not be able to handle the increased runtime.
This too wasn't the limit, because by 2005, 82:34 was a possibility, and a new record appeared to have been set in 2016, when a box set of Mozart violin concertos (which itself contained a massive 225 CDs) featured one disc that maxed out at 86:30.
Now, anyone who has ever burnt a CD might recall that a rewritable disc always offered a maximum runtime of 80 minutes (and a data limit of 700 MB). So, why is that? And why is there a disparity between those two numbers?
Well, the way that CDs have data put onto them is very similar to a vinyl record. While you can physically see the grooves on a record, you can also do the same for a compact disc.
If you ever find yourself with a disc on hand, flip it over to the data side (the 'shiny side', if that helps) and take a look. You'll notice that there's a mix of both ‘cloudy’ and clear-looking segments on the face.
That cloudy segment is basically the music, and if you take a close look, you'll actually notice some very small clear segments, which effectively represent areas of silence, or places where no music has been included.
If you think of a CD having its data fill from the inside of the disc outwards, and you'll notice that a record that goes for, say, 40-minutes, will only have a cloudy segment extending to half the diameter.
This is also a great way of finding out if your CD has a hidden track tacked onto the end: you might notice a little strip of silence included before another brief track. (Amaze your friends with this incredibly niche talent.)
We also mentioned that 700 MB size before, and that refers to how much data those tracks can take up. Basically, lower-quality songs take up less room, and higher quality songs take up more.
So while it's easy to get 80 minutes of average-to-god quality music on the disc, if you had a batch of songs with pristine-quality audio that quickly exceeded that 700 MB size, you might only fit 20 minutes in there. (This can vary due to a number of factors, however.)
That's basically a bunch of shop talk based around what are called Red Book standards, which are the rules that discs use to ensure they can fit music, play it back, and make the whole process as simple as possible for the average music fan.
However, there are ways to get around these standards.
On the topic of hidden tracks, some manufacturers have popped an additional tune before the first song, in what is called a pregap. Effectively, they get around the standard rules of 'Track 1' by getting consumers to rewind the first track, and popping some secret audio there for diehards to discover.
One of the most famous pregap tracks was featured on Songs In The Key Of X, the 1996 compilation released to cash in on the hype of The X-Files.
A massive seller, the record's opening track actually featured two secret tracks recorded by Nick Cave and the Dirty Three, with Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum and their version of The X-Files Theme relegated to the secret position.
These songs were actually hinted at in the record's liner notes, where listeners were notified that "Nick Cave and the Dirty Three would like you to know that '0' is also a number."
Another standard that CD technology has is related to how only 99 songs can be indexed – meaning that only 99 separate tracks of audio can be included on a disc.
Some acts have gotten around this in interesting ways. Back in 1999, Fat Wreck Chords issued their Short Music For Short People compilation, which was advertised as featuring “101 bands playing 30 second songs.”
Alongside bands such as The Living End and Frenzal Rhomb being included, the label got around this technical issue that would have negated their marketing slogan by cramming an additional two songs into track 99 – meaning that Melbourne’s Caustic Soda were joined by US punk icons the Misfits and Germany’s Wizo.
A couple of years later, US grindcore outfit Agoraphobic Nosebleed issued their Altered States Of America CD, which included 99 songs and – in case that wasn’t enough – a bonus track hidden in the pre-gap.
But when it comes to actually adding in more audio that goes beyond the standards that CDs adhere to, there's a process called overburning, which is – as you might expect – where you basically burn the disc past its recommended setting. This utilises the non-standard area of a disc, and is a good way to exceed that 80 minute limit.
However, there are some caveats here, because for this to work, you have to use a disc that supports it, software that allows it, and ultimately, a player that will let you access the audio.
So, what's up with PinkPantheress' CD?
Well, while it's difficult for the average consumer to be able to overburn a disc, that doesn't mean mainstream manufacturers can't do it with greater ease.
But it still does raise some questions when folks are met with more content than they’d actually expected.
Indeed, some fans initially questioned whether the Fancy Some More? package actually contained the entirety of advertised material given how long it went.
After all, given that the third disc of the record is the entirety of her Fancy That record, it would make sense that the remix collection doesn't feature the original record and only features the new batch of remixes.
However, it appears as though the 92 minutes of content is included as advertised, but not everyone is able to actually play the disc.
Some fans have reported being able to play it perfectly in their car, though note they encounter issues when it comes to their home player. This is likely due to the aforementioned overburning, and how some systems simply aren’t set up to accommodate what is effectively non-standard playback technology.
If this sounds familiar, it's might be because last year saw Lorde embrace the concept of full transparency for her Virgin album by releasing a fully transparent CD.
That record also brought with it reports of fans unable to play the disc on their systems. "I know it was for an aesthetic but at least press it on normal CDs too," complained one fan.
So what does this mean for the future?
Well, while CD sales have been continuing to decline in the streaming age (though have seen something of a plateauing thanks to an increased fondness of physical media), it does offer myriad options for increasing the capacity of compact discs going forward.
Perhaps this means that more acts like PinkPantheress will be diving into their batch of remixes and offering fans a chance to get more value for money, or maybe we'll see bonus tracks making a full-fledged comeback.
However, there's also a chance that most acts will continue to play it safe in order to ensure that their fans can access the music.
Back in 2001, Tool's Danny Carey commented on the fact that their Lateralus album finished rather close to the 79-minute mark. "The manufacturer would only guarantee us up to 79 minutes," the drummer quipped. "We thought we'd give them two seconds of breathing room."
