It may not affect the balance of the disc, but it could definitely have some effect on the "spurious" reflections happening in the transport well. There have been numerous articles written, and tweaks created to reduce these "spurious" reflections of the laser light bouncing around in the transport. The infamous "Green Pen" and other tweaks have been created to reduce this phenomenon. It is entirely possible that various types of label printing could have similar effects, either better or worse.
Have I finally lost my mind?
Is it possible that the writing/art on the ‘top’ of CD’s is effecting the sound? Anything that spins has harmonic imbalances thus causing an error in the data and in turn effects the signal the laser is reading, right? Have I finally gone off the deep end or is there any possible truth to this- I noticed that hi-fi pressings often are very balanced and even bare in the art department. Some is of course simply a sticker or the like(hopefully being balanced- I hope) others have texture and tangible depth thus creating imbalances, surely it must! I have no clue why this crossed my mind today, though I am curious what others have to say on the subject- or has this been brought up before??