Uploaded December 2014 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
When Sony & Philips published the "orange book standard" in 1990, it made possible multi-session CDs that could be written more than once. With the proper software, any writable CD (not simply the re-writable discs) can have data written to them multiple times.
For music CDs, a multi-session format can allow material, in addition to the songs, to be added to the disc. For example, this extra material could be items like pdfs, pictures, documents, movies, and web links.
Whether or not a CD is a multi-session disc can be determined by looking at the laser side of the disc. If it's a multi-session disc, there'll be a definite break in the data close to the outer edge. The data from the center to the break will be the songs tracks on the CD. The outer band (if there is one) will be the CD-ROM portion, which can be read when the disc is inserting into the computer.
When Sony & Philips published the "orange book standard" in 1990, it made possible multi-session CDs that could be written more than once. With the proper software, any writable CD (not simply the re-writable discs) can have data written to them multiple times.
For music CDs, a multi-session format can allow material, in addition to the songs, to be added to the disc. For example, this extra material could be items like pdfs, pictures, documents, movies, and web links.
Whether or not a CD is a multi-session disc can be determined by looking at the laser side of the disc. If it's a multi-session disc, there'll be a definite break in the data close to the outer edge. The data from the center to the break will be the songs tracks on the CD. The outer band (if there is one) will be the CD-ROM portion, which can be read when the disc is inserting into the computer.
