Lorde has released a new album—on a completely transparent CD. And not all of her fans are thrilled about it…
A CD essentially consists of a transparent layer, a data layer, and a reflective layer hidden beneath a label. That reflective layer is crucial for properly bouncing the laser beam back to the lens of a CD player’s pickup mechanism. This is, hopefully, common knowledge—and it certainly makes sense. So while Lorde’s idea of releasing her new album on a fully transparent CD is undeniably charming, it turns out to have some practical drawbacks. The most common complaint? No surprise: the disc doesn’t play. A few lucky fans did manage to get it working—on more forgiving devices like certain PlayStations, for example.
That said, the outrage among fans seems fairly mild. After all, they now own a unique collector’s item. And actually listening to the album? Well, that’s always possible via a streaming service.