--- title: Why Music Fans of the 1980s Ditched Vinyl for CDs description: On Aug. 17, 1982, the first compact disc was produced canonical: https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-17T15:00:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:46:24.157Z article:section: History og:title: Why Music Fans of the 1980s Ditched Vinyl for CDs og:description: On Aug. 17, 1982, the first compact disc was produced og:url: https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde5f2dc68acb2ed1/69885c6ae20a87d3c9a8c6fd/cds.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: CD og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Music Fans of the 1980s Ditched Vinyl for CDs twitter:description: On Aug. 17, 1982, the first compact disc was produced twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde5f2dc68acb2ed1/69885c6ae20a87d3c9a8c6fd/cds.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Music Fans of the 1980s Ditched Vinyl for CDs ## Video: Giorgio Moroder Describes the Perfect Pop Dance Song [Watch (HLS stream): Giorgio Moroder Describes the Perfect Pop Dance Song](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/J4PWndMR.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2015-02-06. At the age of 74, electronic music producer Giorgio Moroder is releasing his first album in three decades._  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 17, 2015 3:00 PM UTC  A Philips technician gives a demonstration on how to use the new compact disc (CD) on Mar. 7, 1981 in Paris. A Philips technician gives a demonstration on how to use the new compact disc (CD) on Mar. 7, 1981 in Paris.AFP/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 17, 2015 3:00 PM UTC It was on Aug. 17 of 1982, at a factory outside the city of Hanover in Germany, that the band ABBA received a very particular honor: [According to Philips](http://www.newscenter.philips.com/main/standard/about/news/press/20070816%5F25th%5Fanniversary%5Fcd.wpd), the company that ran the factory, a CD of the band’s album _The Visitors_ was pressed that day. And it wasn’t just any CD—it was the first CD ever manufactured. The new technology would go on sale in Japan later that year, and in other markets around the world the following March. Though CD players at the time cost hundreds of dollars—up to $1,000 when TIME reported on their introduction to the U.S. market, though competition was expected to more than halve their cost quickly—manufacturers were confident they’d be a hit. (CDs themselves sold for about $17 at the time, which is the same as about $40 in today’s dollars.) One of their big advantages was the sound quality they promised, as the article explained: --- > “” --- Of course, today’s music fans may read those paragraphs with a laugh. Studio gimmicks are alive and kicking — and vinyl records, the kind TIME poo-pooed back in the ’80s, are having a [resurgence](http://time.com/3652761/vinyl-sales-2014/). One major [reason](http://time.com/3663568/vinyl-sales-increase/)? Sound quality. **_Read more, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Here Come CDs](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-03-21/page/81/) _Read more:_ [_On its 50th birthday, the cassette tape is still rolling_](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2148631,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/"},"headline":"Why Music Fans of the 1980s Ditched Vinyl for CDs","datePublished":"2015-08-17T15:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:46:24.157Z","description":"On Aug. 17, 1982, the first compact disc was produced","url":"https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/","keywords":["Technology","Tech","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde5f2dc68acb2ed1/69885c6ae20a87d3c9a8c6fd/cds.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde5f2dc68acb2ed1/69885c6ae20a87d3c9a8c6fd/cds.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CD","caption":"CD","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/technology/","name":"Technology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/","name":"Why Music Fans of the 1980s Ditched Vinyl for CDs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Giorgio Moroder Describes the Perfect Pop Dance Song","description":"At the age of 74, electronic music producer Giorgio Moroder is releasing his first album in three decades.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/J4PWndMR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-06T22:07:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/J4PWndMR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3971914/cd-history-music/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```