Lorde’s ‘Virgin’ CD Not Working in CD Players, Fans Say

Lorde is selling CD versions of her new album, Virgin, that are crystal clear, recyclable, and not listenable — at least for some fans. Across social media, fans have been voicing issues with the clear CD, saying that it doesn’t work on several different players.

One fan on TikTok recorded a video that shows that their stereo can’t read the Virgin disc at all. “Seems like older models with older sensors won’t play it,” they wrote in their caption. “Pretty disappointing, I know it was for an aesthetic but at least press it on normal CDs, too.” Another TikTok user shared their frustration in a video and showed how even their in-car CD player couldn’t read the disc either. “Whoever decided to design this is an idiot,” the fan said. “The worst part is, this is the only version of the CD.” This is true; Lorde‘s website only shows a sold-out listing for the clear Virgin CD, along with several vinyl variations.

Reddit users shared the same experience about trying to play the CD in their car. “Tried to put the disc into my car CD player and usually when a CD is put up to it, it just pulls the CD in. But this CD wasn’t even registering so I can’t even get it inside the cd player…. I’m sooooo freaking bummed. Immediately tried a different cd to see if it was the player but it took the other cd and started playing so it’s definitely the disk,” one user wrote. (Rolling Stone reached out to representatives from Lorde’s team for comment on the CD issues.)

One TikTok user really aimed to get to the bottom of the CD issues. In a video, the user explains the driving theory behind why the clear Virgin has trouble playing across various machines: “A certain kind of older technology that isn’t in older CD players like mine is the reason why it’s not working because in more expensive, newer CD players, it works.”