What’s the difference in the discs between an “audio” disc and a “data” disc. I see them advertised, with the “audio” discs costing more money. Thanks.
The audio disks are for stand alone consumer grade CD writers. If you have a CD-writer in your computer, use regular CDRs unless you want to give some extra money to the RIAA.
CD-R discs that are marketed as “Music CD-R” are identical to other, non-music CD-Rs. The only difference is a built-in royalty fee paid to music producers (supposedly) to compensate artists. Cite.
At least, this is true with computer burning. Some stand-alone CD recorders check for a code on blank CDs, and if it’s not a “Music CD-R”, it won’t work. At least, that’s what the linked article says; I have never personally witnessed such a thing. But if you’re using your computer to make music CDs, there’s no difference whatsoever.
I’ve had good luck with Phillips CD-RW disks, for both audio and data. They seem to be reasonably priced too.
Also, “audio CD-Rs” can only be recorded at low speeds, much slower than most CD-RW drives can handle.
There are some brands of audio CD-Rs that are made to look interesting compared to standard CD-Rs, such as “vinyl CD-Rs” those with grooved black plastic on the top surface so they look like records.