Any question answered...

i've got a cd player from the early 2000s, and standard data cds with audio written on won't play on it. if i write the audio to a cd-r which is designed for the audio standard is it more likely to play?

I have a feeling the recordable CDs labeled 'audio use' were made to work with audio devices that recorded sound direct to audio CDs - and that was the only benefit of that term being printed on the disc.

I think if your CD player won't play a disc made on a computer with a CD-R it won't work with an 'audio use' disc made in the same way either.