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Now, however, the floodgates are open. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the joint venture between Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG for which Mr. Springsteen records, is leading the charge. The company has released or plans to release more than 40 DualDiscs this year, from classics like Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" and AC/DC's "Back in Black" to new releases like Jennifer Lopez's "Rebirth."


"The CD is a fading technology that has lost some of its appeal," says Andrew Lack, the chief executive of Sony BMG and one of the most vocal proponents of DualDiscs. "We had to come up with a way to give consumers a compelling experience."

Mr. Lack says he envisions a day, possibly not too far from now, when all new music releases come out on DualDisc.

Jon Landau, Mr. Springsteen's manager, cautioned that he didn't view the release of his client's newest album on a DualDisc configuration as a broader endorsement of the format. "We had a concept we thought our fans would like" -- namely, the film of Mr. Springsteen playing, Mr. Landau says. He and Mr. Springsteen considered including the movie as a separate DVD in the same package as a CD, until Sony BMG executives explained the DualDisc concept, which he says happened to be "perfectly suited" to their current plans.

Mr. Landau says Mr. Springsteen was issuing "Devils & Dust" only as a DualDisc because the singer insisted the disc cost no more than it would as a regular CD. "So there was no reason to release a CD; it became redundant," Mr. Landau says. But, the manager added, "When [Mr. Springsteen ] does his next album, there could be no DualDisc."

Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group Corp. have each issued a handful of titles, while EMI Group PLC says it is currently deciding which titles to include in its first batch of DualDiscs.

Few people working in the music industry are harboring illusions that the DualDisc will fuel the kind of sales boom that the introduction of the CD did in the early 1980s, when people began replacing their old vinyl records in large quantities. "That's not where my head is," Mr. Lack says.

Paul Bishou, vice president of marketing for new formats at Universal Music Group's eLabs division, says he envisions DualDisc as "part of the product mix," along with online downloads, ringtones and other new ways to hear music, rather than as an outright replacement for the CD.

But many hope that by giving consumers a significant extra, the new format will at least serve as a bulwark against the rampant online and physical piracy that has helped decimate CD sales for the past five years. In addition, consumers have at times griped that CDs seem like a poor value proposition next to DVDs, which offer not just a movie but also bonus features.

"This is what they need to release if they want people to keep buying their products," says Joe Nardone Jr., who owns a small chain of music stores in the Philadelphia area. "This is infinitely more valuable than any download."

Also in April, Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas will issue his first solo album, "Something to Be," as a DualDisc-only release. The DVD side of the disc will include a 22-minute documentary about the making of the album, plus a photo gallery.