Blog Post #4: EOTO Project (CD's)

 Blog Post #4: EOTO (CD's)

(62+ thousand compact disc royalty-free images, stock photos & Pictures).

 

 

 

 

  The History of CDs

(James Russell (compact disk).

Computer Timeline writes that James Russell grew tired of his vinyl records breaking down after prolonged use. Due to his time at Reed College and his job as a physicist, he was proficient with digital data, and decided he would invent a way to listen to music without the use of a stylus dragging on the top of the vinyl record (James Russell (compact disk)). Thus, the CD, or compact disc, was invented in 1979 by James Russell. 

The idea of the CD was evolved through many different "looks" before designers settled on the shiny, circular one we use now, according to Digital Trends. This took over a year, when Sony and Phillips finalized the "red book" standard, which entailed, "a 120mm diameter disc bearing music at a resolution of 16 bit/44.1kHz" (Waniata). Although it was nearly perfected, the CD would not begin to be distributed full-scale until 1983. 

In 1979, Sony and Phillips began creating prototype CDs to show "technology enthusiasts" in both Europe and Japan. After many consumer tests, the company decided that "a thin, shiny and circular storage disc, which could hold about 80 minutes of music and could be put in a CD player to play music out loud" would be their best option (History of the CD: 40 years of the compact disc).

This so-called distribution would occur in Japan in October of 1982 through the CD player called the Sony CDP-101, and prices for this new technology went as high as one thousand dollars. Six years later, the CD surpassed vinyl sales, and then the cassette in 1991. CDs soon became the number-one way to to store and play music. They also were regarded as a safer alternative for storing music long-term due to the fact that they were smaller and less fragile than vinyl records.

(Dands' metallica collection - promos).

Around this time, the packaging for CDs began to change due to the fact that its current packaging was causing 18.5 million pounds of extra trash per year, and "due to public outcry" the packaging was changed to the ones we see now in compact, well-designed cases. They were originally in "longbox" cases which were "six-inch by twelve-inch casings of cardboard and plastic." CD cases were designed like this to prevent quick thefts as well as make it easier to flip through groups of CDs. But, they were redesigned and to continue to prevent theft, magnetized security stickers were added to the plastic "jewel-cases" (History of the CD: 40 years of the compact disc).

 

 

 The Impact of CDs 

 The invention of CDs changed how the world listened to and stored music. According to the College Media Network, 'The compact disc, AKA the CD, revolutionized the way music was recorded, produced, and presented" (Inventions That Changed Music: The Compact Disc). CDs, at first, only held music, but eventually graduated to holding videos as well. Through the use of Walkman, consumers could walk around with portable CD players, and the music industry liked the idea of, "More data storage and smaller surface area meant longer songs and more tracks per album" (Inventions That Changed Music: The Compact Disc). Radio stations were able to control music at a quicker pace, and CDs were now able to be used for promotional tools in a way that vinyls and cassette tapes were not.

Some problems that CDs solved were creating safer ways to store music, as well as promote music. But eventually, the way that CDs booted vinyls and cassettes, ended happening to CDs as well through streaming services. CD production hit an all-time record high in the year 2000, when a billion discs were shipped around the United States. But since then, CD sales have plummeted by 95 percent, due to the use of streaming services. 

But, since 2021, CDs as well as vinyls and cassettes have become more popular again due to collectors wanting to cherish "physical souvenirs" (How the Compact Disc Changed the Music Industry). 

In closing, I will always be the person who keeps the CD economy running. I have always purchased my favorite artist's CDs and I play them in my car, because thankfully I have a car with a CD player. There is just something so fun, for me personally, to collect CDs and listen to them. So, it makes me very happy to know that CDs are making a comeback, and I hope they continue to do so.

Works Cited

“62+ Thousand Compact Disc Royalty-Free Images, Stock Photos & Pictures.” Shutterstock, www.shutterstock.com/search/compact-disc. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.

Dands’ Metallica Collection - Promos, www.metcollectors.com/dands/promos/promo_albums.html. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.

“History of the CD: 40 Years of the Compact Disc.” Newsround, BBC, 12 Mar. 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47441962.

“Inventions That Changed Music: The Compact Disc.” College Media Network, www.collegemedianetwork.com/inventions-that-changed-music-the-compact-disc/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2024.

“James Russell (Compact Disk).” Computer Timeline, www.computer-timeline.com/timeline/james-russel-compact-disk/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.

Miller, Kirk. “How the Compact Disc Changed the Music Industry.” InsideHook, 2 Mar. 2023, www.insidehook.com/music/compact-discs-changed-music-industry.

Waniata, Ryan. “The Life and Times of the Late, Great CD .” Digital Trends, 7 Feb. 2018, www.digitaltrends.com/music/the-history-of-the-cds-rise-and-fall/.