The CD Is Dead, Long Live The CD
Sony's CDP-101 during a press demonstration in Tokyo on Aug. 31, 1982
On Oct. 1, 1982, CDs began to be sold commercially for the first time in Japan, though they wouldn’t make their way to North America and Europe until March 1983. The discs were new and an enormous technological advancement at the time. They were far more portable than the decades-old vinyl record, and a sleek alternative to cassette tapes. (Plus, you didn’t have to rewind them!)
The first album to be released on CD format was Billy Joel’s 52nd Street. The album reached the market in Japan alongside Sony’s CDP-101, the first commercially available CD player, which originally retailed for almost $1,000 (about $3,000 today). In the 1990s, CD album releases at record stores like Tower Records and Virgin Megastores became huge events, with lines of people often waiting overnight and a multitude of famous musicians making in-store appearances for promotional purposes. But by the late 2000s, the CD lost popularity in favor of iTunes and streaming services like Spotify. Let’s not forget, though, that for a little more than two decades, the CD was king.
Guns N' Roses fans wait outside Tower Records at midnight to buy the just-released albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II in New York City on Sept. 23, 1991.
Living Colour autograph copies of their latest album Time's Up at Tower Records in West Hollywood, California, on Nov. 20, 1990.
Left: Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on June 10, 1994. Right: Rob Lowe and his brother Chad Lowe purchase U2's album Achtung Baby at Tower Records in West Hollywood, California, on Nov. 27, 1991.
Michael Hutchence of INXS poses for a photo while shopping for CDs in Tower Records in New York City in October 1993.
Left: RuPaul promoting his new CD Foxy Lady at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood, California, on Oct. 31, 1996. Right: David Hasselhoff promotes his record David Hasselhoff at Tower Records in Los Angeles on June 21, 1995.
Left: Customers browse CDs at HMV Records on May 19, 1994. Right: Shoppers look through CDs at the Virgin Megastore in Los Angeles on July 28, 1995.
98 Degrees during an in-store appearance at a Sam Goody in Universal City, California, on April 10, 1999.
Left: Steve Jobs holds up Britney Spears's ...Baby One More Time and uses Apple's Quicktime software during his keynote address in San Jose, California, on May 15, 2000. Right: Britney Spears holds a pile of her new CD, Oops!...I Did It Again, during TRL at MTV Studios in New York City on May 16, 2000.
50 Cent kicks off "TRL High School Week" on MTV in New York City on April 14, 2003.
Left: Miley Cyrus promotes the Hannah Montana soundtrack at the Virgin Records Megastore in New York City on Oct. 24, 2006. Right: Rihanna poses before signing copies of her new album Good Girl Gone Bad in Universal City, California, on June 5, 2007.
A group of friends proudly display their CDs after standing in line for over 24 hours to buy Pearl Jam's album Pearl Jam at Tower Records in New York City on May 1, 2006.
Beyoncé promotes her CD B'Day in New York City on Sept. 8, 2006.
People wait in line to see Paul McCartney perform a concert to promote his Memory Almost Full album at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California, on June 27, 2007.
Kanye West signs copies of his CD Graduation at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood, California, on Sept 13, 2007.
Metallica arrives for an in-store promotional appearance at Rasputin Music store in Mountain View, California, on April 19, 2008.
A man advertises the closing of the Virgin Megastore in Times Square in New York City on March 17, 2009.
