I only use Verbatim 'Super AZO' full face inkjet printable CD-Rs, and I have a Primera Signature III CD printer.

They have proved reliable - no-one has ever complained about a faulty one (other than people whose CD player won't accept CD-Rs!), and I've had very few fail during writing. Some of those that did fail probably weren't faulty, as I've had no failures since I changed the mastering drive unit.

Cheaper inkjet printables tend to allow atmospheric moisture to cause the inket to 'spread', resulting in a print that looks as if it was done on blotting paper after a couple or so years.

I've duplicated a few thousand over the years, though I would agree with previous posts that they are only economically viable in short runs of 100 or less.

As for the actual value, I believe the content rather than the materials used should dictate the price. If the artiste has produced a quality recording, but hasn't the financing to support volume production and distribution, there is nothing wrong with selling a CD-R for the same price as a glass mastered copy. It's not the CD that's being sold, but the opportunity to listen to the music...

Very important... if you want radio play, ALWAYS include track timings in the list of contents. We frequently receive CDs for air play, and it's a fiddle trying to balance the time available when there's nothing on the 'sleeve notes' (showing my age there...!).

Off on a tangent now... 4m30s is the most a track should run if you want air time, because limited time available and a 7 minute track usually means omitting a perfectly good track in favour of two other perfectly good tracks... sorry, but that's the reality.

Consider... our programme runs for an hour. However, the first three minutes at the top of the hour is the IRN news. The next minute is station ID and promos. We have two 'ad breaks' of around two minutes. The hour is now down to 52 minutes!

Gripe over...!