So will the Enhanced CD take off? In many ways, it's success in the hands of the record companies. Many music fans would probably be willing to pay an extra £3-5 for an interactive guide to their favourite artist, but what if you don't want to know what the name of the singer's dog, or don't own a CD-ROM drive? Also, how many people will want to take an Enhanced CD out of their hi-fi system, pop up stairs, boot up their computer and then use the interactive program?

    Even so, the Enhanced CD is certainly a more appealing product than a music CD-ROM, such as Peter Gabriels Xplora 1, which costs around £50 and is probably only used a few times and then consigned to the back of the CD collection. Enhanced CDs on the other hand, can be played on your music CD deck if you get fed up with the interactive portion.

    The biggest problem is compatibility. Audio CDs are buy-and-play items - you slip the disc in your audio CD deck, press play and away you go. Unfortunately, CD-ROMs are not so simple to install and use. They can be fiddly to set up and you may find that your drive isn't compatible with the disc. For these reasons, our Editor's Choice is the Cranberries Doors and Windows. Not only does it offer high quality sound, graphics and video, but it will play on a PC and a multimedia player attached to your TV. Nice disc, shame about the price.

    Expect to see many more Enhanced CDs from companies such as Sony (artists lined up include Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey), Atlantic, EMI and Microsoft, and from artists such as Squeeze, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, The Beastie Boys and The Rolling Stones.


  • Sarah McLachlan
    The Freedom Sessions
  • The Cranberries
    Doors and Windows
  • EBN
    Telecommunication
  • Various
    Don't Play Track One
  • The Duratti Column
    Sex and Death
  • Mike Oldfield
    The Songs Of Distant Earth
  • Nyack
    11 Track Player
  • The technology