Overview

Liner notes and disc from an early CD release of David Bowie's album Heroes

The audio compact disc (CD) is a thin multilayered optical disc that is typically approximately 1.2mm thick with a diameter that ranges from 80mm to 120mm with the overwhelming majority of discs produced measuring 120mm. The bottom layer of the disc is a polycarbonate platter with pits representing data etched into the top. Over this layer is placed a reflective metallic layer generally composed of aluminum or in rare instances gold. A layer of lacquer is applied over this layer and art or other labeling is screen printed over this lacquer layer. The discs are played using a player with a rotating spindle and a laser that reads the disc. The compact disc was the result of a joint venture between Philips and Sony to develop a standardized optical medium for audio that began in 1979 and culminated with the Redbook CD Digital Audio standard in 1980 and the first commercial release in 1982 (Peek et al. 53-55, 58).

Selection and Continuity

Prior histories of the audio CD focus on the development of the technology and the development of the compact disc audio standards by Phillips and Sony with the increased audio fidelity that the format brought with it as its major enhancement (Peek). This was certainly the focus of those developing the audio CD. It may be true that the potential fidelity of CD audio and its dynamic range may have surpassed all previous formats. Fidelity has rarely been the driver of the public’s or else reel-to-reel recordings would have been dominant for nearly thirty years. There are other things to consider. The audio CD presented two things that were different from prior audio media that may be very important for understanding the way people interact with music and why the CD might change listeners’ relationships with their music. The first is continuity. The CD brings an album without sides. This is even specifically brought up in between songs on Tom Petty’s album, Full Moon Fever. After the music on track five ends and before track six begins Tom Petty says,

“Hello CD listeners. We’ve come to the point in this album where those listening on cassette or records will have to stand up or sit down and turn over the record or tape. In fairness to those listeners, We’ll now take a few seconds before we begin side two… Thank you.” (Petty)

Petty is obviously striking a playful tone with this, but it is still notable coming from a 1989 release when CD is really just starting to catch on. People were obviously thinking of this even if they were not considering in depth how this altered their relationship to the albums they were listening to. This example resembles Wolfgang Shivelbush, The Railway Journey in both method and content. With the CD we are also dealing with a rearrangement of peoples’ relationships to time and space, and in this case doing so through the work of artists (Shivelbush, 33-44).

The second point to consider though perhaps contradictory to the first is selectability. One could select a track with prior audio formats, but the listener had to either physically lift a needle and attempt to place it in the right spot or fast forward, rewind, and/or turn over the cassette. All the listener had to do with the CD is press a button and the machine did the rest. If one wanted to repeat a track, once again, all that was required was the press of a button. One could even randomize the tracks and combine them with tracks from other albums with the push of a shuffle button. Tasks of the hand and mind are largely replaced by the machine. Every album becomes a single at the press of a button. This could possibly explain why sales of singles dissipate as the CD rises to prominence. After all, the ascendance of digital sales rides almost solely on sales of singles, so it seems unlikely that people just lost interest in owning recordings of single songs (Swenson, supposedly from RIAA data cannot confirm due to pay wall).

Album sales by format 1973 to 2013

Peek, Hans, Jan Bergmans, Jos van Haaren, Frank Toolenaar, and Sorin Stan. Origin and Successors of the Compact Disc: Contributions of Philips to Optical Storage. Springer Science and Business Media: 2009.

Petty, Tom. “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” Full Moon Fever. MCA 1989. (CD)

Schivelbush, Wolfgang. The Railway Journey. University of California Press: Berkeley. 1977.

Swenson, Andrea. “40 Years of album sales data in two handy charts.” Thecurrent.org. 20 Feb. 2014.