I'm sure many of us on the forum had 'those experiences' with cheap media. The very 1st brand I tried would show signs of distortion within about 4 mths. I was told the TOC (Table Of Contents) which is the main directory of the disk & tells the cd reader where items can be found, of that brand would start to corrode within 12 mths. That means both audio & data cd's becoming unreadable. That co. was sued & went broke. But they're back on the market with new owners. But this same principle is the same for most el cheapo cd's as the point you made.