Page "CD-R" Paragraph 7

Initially in the United States, there was a market separation between " music " CD-Rs and " data " CD-Rs, the former being several times more expensive than the latter due to industry copyright arrangements with the RIAA.

Physically, there is no difference between the discs save for the Disc Application Flag that identifies their type: standalone audio recorders will only accept " music " CD-Rs to enforce the RIAA arrangement, while computer CD-R drives can use either type of media to burn either type of content.