40 years of the compact disc
After vinyl which over time has returned to rise in the salesjust in the fortieth anniversary also the CD has returned to arouse interest among those who buy music. In the month of October this support officially celebrated 40 years since the release of the first reader of audio compact discs. It was 1982 when this new musical format appeared on the international market, leaving vinyl and audio cassettes behind. If in the first half of the 80s it was a status symbol, due to its high cost, in the second half, with the increase in supply, it was gradually added to almost all stereo systems in homes around the world and in cars. The CD managed to dominate the market up to two thousand, then the digital revolution with the arrival of the first readers Mp3 changed the use of music.
But since the beginning of the year, the good news that gives new life to the compact disc. For the first time in 17 years, CD sales have increased. Also thanks to the pandemic that made us spend much more time at home has brought everyone closer to Hi Fi systems. History also tells us that the very first copy was printed in a German plant of Philips in August 1982, hosting Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony conducted by Herbert von Karajan with the Berliner Philharmoniker. The first to be marketed, a few months later and initially only in Japan, was “52nd Street” by Billy Joel. Success came in the middle of the decade, with Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms”, which went down in history in 1985 as the progenitor of a long dynasty capable of selling over a million.