The history and evolution of CD's
The compact disc (CD) originated from the optophone, which used light to record and playback sounds. Later, this design was used by Sony and Phillips to create the LaserDisc, which used laser beams to transmit sound onto a disc to be played back at a higher quality. Later, this technology was used to create the compact disc, which used similar technology but played audio with less errors, higher quality, and an increase in play time. Upon its release in 1982, CD's became very popular, selling almost 400,000 in the first three years. Soon, they were dominating the at-home music market, and were the most popular music-playing device until digital downloads and later streaming platforms became popular.
The Sony and Phillips companies worked together to make CD's compatible and universal. Their collaboration allowed for people to be able to buy any CD from any store and play them in their devices such as the Walkman, the first portable CD player. In addition, CD's proved to be more durable than records and their increased sound quality made them extremely popular despite their high prices at the time.
Below is a recording of the first CD's ever produced. It is Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony. This piece of music elicits powerful emotions with its use of dynamics and texture. The differences in the volume of what is played show the change of tone in the music, as it goes from soft to loud and back down again. The texture of the harmony and melody playing together create layers in the music that cause the listener to lean in to the music, eagerly wanting to hear the next part.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcOBjcatRSE
The next recording is David Bowie's album, Blackstar, which is well known for its innovative sound. This shows the evolution of CD's as they became not just one recorded song but many that could be played off the same disc. This album presented an innovative new sound that combined sci-fi themes with electric-style instruments and produced something that made the listener feel as though they were floating through space. The changes in pitch help enforce this other-worldly theme while showcasing the singer's impressive vocal range. In addition, the melodies in this music show Bowie's different emotions while creating this music. Without the high-quality recording equipment and playback technology make this album able to be played and enjoyed in high quality because of the innovations made in CD's over the years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszLwBaC4Sw&list=PL_VDqxGpwYjUPsYUReXDVZM67bJd40na9
Over time, the evolution of the CD has both changed and expanded the quality and availability of different pieces of music. The CD went from being very expensive and difficult for people to aqcuire, to being one of the most popular pieces of music transmission before streaming services and digital downloads took over the music world.
Sources Cited:
“Compact Discs (CDs) Invented | Research Starters | EBSCO Research.” EBSCO, www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/compact-discs-cds-invented.
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/compact-discs-cds-invented
Wikipedia contributors. “Compact Disc.” Wikipedia, 9 Oct. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc
Hi, Kate. Great blogpost! You have curated an informative post that stemmed to the creation of CDs to its evolution that can hold numerous amounts of songs. I have also appreciated the historical route as you provided an example of one of the first CD’s to be produced. It’s amazing how a simple and small record disc could play songs.
ReplyDeleteCDs reminds me of vinyl records in some kind of way. Comparing to the vinyl and record players, it is truly innovative and evolutionary, as it can be portable. It is not a surprise for the CD to be tremendously popular. However, I am curious with the sales of record players/vinyl records after the invention of the CDs. Did it lose its popularity? I noticed around 2020 (or later) there was a huge hit with record players. It’s quite amazing to learn how trends can come back.
Your analysis was amazing! It is descriptive and informative, and I believe you could separate each point and musical elements into separate paragraphs, or provide their own headings! Other than that, the depth of analytic information was done well.
Though the first CD was produced in the 80s, and even the birth of streaming and digital downloads, it is still quite immensely popular. I hypothesize that fans of musical artists could be the reason for its demand. For instance, buying albums so their favorite artist could be placed into the Billboard charts. Here is an article that discusses its rise in popularity, and it even provides insight how fewer CD players within automobiles could make it harder for CDs to stay popular: https://www.headphonesty.com/2024/08/cds-suddenly-back-demand-thanks-surprising-audience/.
Amazing blogpost, and thanks for sharing your insightful work!
Hi Kate,
ReplyDeleteAs a 2000's kid I found the analysis of the evolution CD's to be very informative. I used to help my dad burn and package his CD's to take with him to the many different churches he sang through the gospel groups he toured with, but it is odd to think that just a few decades prior there was no such thing as a Compact Disk. I grew up in music studios, and I am intimately familiar with the process of making a CD, but I had never considered how much of an innovation they were. During my time in the studios one thing I noticed was how long the recording process was. This is something that wouldn't have been possible with traditional vinyl albums as they lacked the play time, and it would have been difficult and expensive to record instruments individually, requiring the instruments to be performed together for the recording rather than being able to mix each line. The digital nature of the CD makes this easier, thus giving artists more liberty to write music that incorporates every small idea they have and an ability to mix tracks better for a more balanced music.