This summer, discs are expected to cost 30 to 35 cents on average, after being "down as low as 10 cents a disc" on a spindle, says Peter Brown, removable-storage analyst at IDC.

While that percentage increase seems like a lot, it's still less than last year's average cost for CD-R media, pegged by IDC at 47 cents per disc.

However, the increase in CD-R media prices lowers pressure on CD-Rewritable media, which should stay around current prices (about 70 cents per disc) instead of dropping. The reason is that CD-RW media is less affected by market fluctuations; the formulation of rewritable discs is a costlier process. Plus, adds Brown, "the volumes are still not going to be quite as much as you're seeing with CD-R media."

Announcements of price hikes are pending from CD media sellers Memorex, TDK, and Verbatim, a subsidiary of Japanese giant Mitsubishi Chemical. A TDK spokesperson declines to say how soon consumers will notice the hike, but says it will be substantial in relation to where the prices are now.