Dont you just hate stickers on CD's that wont come off?

I weep for our generation.

Not nearly as much as I hate CDs which are shrinkwrapped (HMV are particularly guilty in this respect? I mean WHY? You end up virtually having to slash the bastard open with a hunting knife because the "pull" bit is clearly intended only for the paws of a malnourished dormouse.

They used to do it with vinyl as well, as I recall; run your thumb carefully down the specially serrated sleeve edges, and hey presto you suddenly have an extra thumb with scarlet/crimson finish.

Also the irritating "pull off" title stickers which you get on the top of US imports and which NEVER come off in one piece.

I mean, what's the DEAL with this shrinkwrapping DEAL?

what's the etiquette with this, though? i think we're all agreed that stickers on vinyl lp covers is always wrong but i'm not so sure about cd covers. obv, remove the '£14.99'/'****...uncut magazine'/ 'like tenaglia...muzik magazine' stickers, but, i don't know, the 'parental advisory' ones for example are cultural artifacts and 'special editions' are often just special because they've got a bump and flex remix and a sticker on them.

and re. marcello. shrinkwrapped vinyl - still sealed - is orgasmic.

Lighter fuel should remove all but the most stubborn stickers.

Leave the labels on. >value.

Hey don't blame us Brits alone for sticker woe! It's these US imports to Europe that suck ass the most, especially those (security? barcode?) labels that are stuck across the top edge of the jewel case. You can't even get at the flamin' CD until you remove it. And do they come off in one piece, ever? Do they f**k!

GRRRRR...ECT.

(ha ha marcello beat me to it, but i couldn't wait to let off steam)

Yeah, those US sticker things are evil. If you try to open the box without removing them properly you break the front of the case, and when you get them off they instantly half-stick to everything else in your room. Grr.

The worst stickers are the ones Oxford Westgate library puts on its sale stock but that serves me right for buying all their ex-rental CDs and then realising that I don't like them and can't sell them. (Might go through all my unwanted but unsaleable cds and see if anyone on here wants them, but I'm not very good at getting round to stuff like that.)

I should try to remember to remove stickers as soon as I get cds, it's always bad getting to the second-hand record shop and deciding what you want to buy in exchange and then realising half your CDs have "Sale! 1.99" stickers on when you were hoping they'd think you'd bought them full-price.

STICKER STICKER STICKER. ALL THIS STICKER TALK IS DRIVING ME UP THE WALL.

(N. had a bad experience with a sticker walking home from school alone one night. Personally, I think he should just stay away from this thread)

HORNS! HORNS!

Re: CDs which are shrinkwrapped

It's an extra layer of security protection in stores, to stop thieving gits steal CDs.

Rebecca, I'll have a word with my mother and tell her to stop putting those stickers on the library cds. I suspect she'll tell me to shut up though.

*ulp*

Nono, tell her that selling the cds on rocks and I do love them really, it's just my fault I always think, "Hey! Only three quid! I must own all of these CDs by people I've hardly even heard of now!"

Oh, and congratulate her for having found the strongest, most inlay-card-ripping glue in the universe.

(I am strangely proud that in the time between the library getting the Ligament album and me buying it from them it was taken out for the grand total of one week, by, er, me. Hmm)

I will congratulate her, and she will say 'what, no, I don't do the music section, silly, I do the main library' and I will say 'you led me to believe you covered the whole library, what else have you been lying to me about?'. I am always strangely impressed by the selection of cds there; it seems quite varied.

This is kind of obvious, but then it took me a couple of years to figure out:
Easy way to take off the barcode sticker on top of the cd case is to take cover of cd case off by the bottom hinge, and then pull the cover from the bottom of the cd case. The sticker still doesn't usually come off in one piece, but it will get you into the case faster.

I don't take them off, generally. I am often pleased when pulling out an old CD or record or tape at seeing that I only paid £2.99 for it, or something like that. If they came off dead easily (as with books, almost always) I might remove them, but it doesn't trouble me.

My favorite- buy CDs online, they come shrinkwrapped (argh) with the security stickers across the top under the shrinkwrap (AAARRRGGHHHHH!!). I always snap the hinges of the cases trying to pull it open a bit to tear the sticker. Sadly, I've discovered a cure for this problem, but it's far too expensive: amazon.co.uk CDs. No shrinkwrap, no security stickers on most of them! If only there was free international shipping, and the exchange rate wasn't so expensive....