Found a CD that iTunes cannot read

Question

I had loaded my CD collection on iTunes a couple of years back. I decided to reload it with higher quality but now iTunes is not able to read one of the CDs. It is not even able to play it before loading it to iTunes.
Any body have an idea?

Answer 1

Surely, to be precise, it's your computer's CD drive that cannot read the CD, isn't it?
I'm not familiar with the Mac, is there another progamme on the Mac that can play CDs, and if so, have you tried it?
Another possibilty (apart form the CD drive being the problem) is the CD itself. Despite what we were "reliably told" when CDs first came out, they don't last forever and I have several that have partially failed. By that, I mean that they do play but there is a popping noise while listening to them, usually on the last song. However, I believe this same fault could cause the CD to become unreadable.
The CDs I have problems with were manufactured in the UK between 1988 and 1992, but it's possible that the same or similar faults have occurred on CDs manufactured elsewhere too. If you look carefully at one of these faulty CDs, you will notice that the silver (playing) surface of the disc has begun to turn a bronze colour, usually starting at the outside edge of the disc. Careful examination of the inner ring of the CD will reveal some text stating "Made in the U.K. by PDO." (My heart sinks wherenever I discover one of my CDs has this written on it.)
So even if your disc is not one of the UK faulty ones, it could still be faulty, even if made somewhere else.
I'm checking one of my troubelsome CDs now: 1 AND ONLY - 25 YEARS OF RADIO 1. It's a two CD set and (unusually) it's the label side of both discs that have bronzed, badly. If I look at the silver playing surface, parts of it have chipped off beneath the protective plastic layer. When I play either CD, I can hear the drop-outs (music clipping). The chipping of the silver surface has affected the inside ring of the disc as well and this is where the Table Of Contents (of the CD) (- the TOC) is stored. If a CD player cannot read that inner TOC ring, it cannot play the disc.
So first thing, try the CD in other CD drives and players. If it's the CD itself, it may work on some players but not others.