The CD turns 40

  Inside the meteoric rise and fall of the shiny disc that changed music


The compact disc gave us our first taste of digital music – and we liked it.

Upon its arrival in the U.S. in March 1983, the sleek 4.7-inch plastic and aluminum disc – about the size of a drink coaster – promised crisp, clean digital music reproduction without the pops heard on vinyl LPs or the hiss from tapes.

The CD did have some drawbacks. Vinyl's coffee table-sized artwork and text were lost because of the new format's size.

And, initially, CDs were sold in not-so-eco-friendly cardboard long boxes to prevent theft. The plastic cases also had pesky little metallic tape seals called dog bones, which required a razor-edged tool to slice through.

But CDs let us listen to more than an hour's worth of music just by pushing play. We could skip tracks and shuffle, too. CDs propelled recorded music revenues to new heights in the late 1990s and early 2000s – and remained the dominant choice of consumers until 2012 when other digital formats supplanted the CD.

Over the years, U.S. music lovers have purchased 14.9 billion CDs since the format's arrival, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. 

HOWEVER:

Vinyl records beat CDs for first time in decades

Consumers bought more vinyl LPs than CDs for the first time since 1987, according to the RIAA. Consumers bought 41.3 million vinyl LPs and 200,000 vinyl singles in 2022, an increase of 3.2%. CD sales decreased 28% to 33.4 million albums and 100,000 CD singles. 

FOR FURTHER READING:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/03/18/cd-players-40-years-compact-disc/11307793002/



A dinosaur named Snowy still does, so there!!!!


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