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Compact discs could be cut while you wait in American record stores next
year. The project is a joint venture between IBM, the computer giant, and
Blockbuster Entertainment, which has more than 3400 music shops in the US
and elsewhere.

The plan is for music publishers to deposit computer-readable, digital
recordings of all their releases in a centralised library. Computerised
booths in music stores would be equipped with high-speed communications
links to the library. When a consumer uses the computer in the booth to
order a specific compact disc, it would retrieve the digital recording from
the central library and produce a compact disc from it. The machine would
also print a colour sleeve.

Eventually, company officials say, the foray into ‘just-in-time publishing’
could extend into other products, such as audio tapes, computer software and
video games.

The plan would enable retailers to handle spurts in demand, such as the
release of a new recording, and to avoid losing sales because products are
out of stock. The scheme also would cut shipping costs.

Many music publishers are wary of the idea, fearing that the system could
cut their royalties. They worry that people may make copies of recordings
without paying royalties for them.

Sony Music Entertainment says it will oppose the venture: ‘Since commercial
copying is illegal and it’s not clear to Sony Music what benefit the
consumers would derive from in-store copying, we are not supporting this new
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Officials from IBM and Blockbuster insist that the system would count how
many times a digital recording in the central library was used, providing a
foolproof way of knowing how much to pay to the publisher in royalties.