IBM Corp and Blockbuster Entertainment Corp were yesterday due to launch their joint venture to market systems for duplicating audio compact disk recordings in retail stores: the idea is that record companies could eliminate the need to press hundreds of thousands of copies of major recordings – instead the store would tap into central databases at each record company to collect the tracks requested and record them onto a blank disk; although no pilot systems have yet been launched, IBM said the system also could be used to make and sell computer software and video games on demand; the IBM-Blockbuster system is expected to be designed to distribute albums in original form, rather than enabling customers to mix and match their choice of tracks, and negotiations are reportedly already under way with several record companies; a typical CD would take about six minutes to make, complete with the glossy packaging buyers expect.
