I didn't start working here until 2006, so I don't really know how they were purchased, but they didn't standardize on Mitsui MAM-A until 2002 or so. Before then, there was an assortment of gold media from different brands. The masters have been stored in standard jewel cases in drawers in our office.
I've also had great luck with the Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs. We go through about a thousand discs a year for people who prefer to have a CD copy of their music to being able to download a file, and I can't remember the last time I had a failure. However, now that our master copies are 24-bit wav files on network storage, I haven't been as concerned with how those discs have been aging.
I suppose we probably have enough samples for an interesting study on the longevity of optical media, but unfortunately I just don't see us having the time to devote to something like that.
I've also had great luck with the Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs. We go through about a thousand discs a year for people who prefer to have a CD copy of their music to being able to download a file, and I can't remember the last time I had a failure. However, now that our master copies are 24-bit wav files on network storage, I haven't been as concerned with how those discs have been aging.
I suppose we probably have enough samples for an interesting study on the longevity of optical media, but unfortunately I just don't see us having the time to devote to something like that.