Brits still like music CDs despite rise in Internet downloads

cd_rack.jpgWe’re still an nation who likes our CD collections, according to recent figures from the British Phonographic Industry.

Despite the rise in popularity of music downloading (both legal and not), nearly half of the people recently surveyed by PlusNet said that they thought it would be at least ten years until the CD becomes obsolete, with one n ten saying that the format would never die.

Happy birthday to the CD: 25 years old today

dvd.jpgExactly 25 years ago today — August 17th, 1982 — Philips manufactured the first compact disc, at their factory near Hanover, Germany.

Co-developed by Philips and Sony, over 200 billion CDs have been sold in that time.

The first CD to be manufactured at the plant was “The Visitors” by ABBA, though the initial catalogue of CDs launched in November 1982 were mainly classical music recordings.

Unsurprisingly, Japan were first to see CD players and discs, with European and US consumers getting hold of the technology in March 1983.