Younger generation seeing vinyl as a way to connect with artists: Former Sony Music exec
Former Sony Music executive Seth Schachner breaks down a new trend of records outselling compact discs for the first time since 1987 and Ticketmaster's 'high fees' on 'Fox News @ Night.'
It has been 41 years since the very first Compact Disc (CD) was produced in the world, paving the way for the future of commercialized music.
In Germany, a factory run by Royal Philips Electronics pressed the first commercialized CD on Aug. 17, 1982, according to Time.com.
The earliest manufactured CDs was from Swedish pop group ABBA, whose album, "The Visitors," was pressed onto the format, the same source reported.
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It wasn't until 1987 when CDs began to surpass vinyls as the preferred method of listening to music, Billboard.com reported.
The very first CD to be commercially manufactured was reportedly on August 17, 1982, in Germany. Multiple sources report that ABBA's album was released in 1981 on vinyl, though it wasn't until roughly one year later that those same collections of songs was pressed onto compact discs. (iStock)
The CD peaked in the 2000s, but there was reportedly a major decrease in sales leading up to 2007, near the beginning of digital downloads and streaming platforms.
"Having been hit by the rise of filesharing and MP3 players in the early 2000s, CD sales nearly halved between 2000 and 2007, which is when smartphones and the first music streaming services emerged to put the final nail in the compact disc’s little round coffin," Statista, a data gathering and statistical reporting organization, reported.
While CDs have become a thing of the past, modern listeners appear to have gone further back in time, as vinyls have become a trending source of music.
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"Obviously CD sales have dipped as CDs become outmoded by streaming services and there are fewer cars that can actually play CDs," Jason Lipshutz, senior director of music at Billboard, told Fox 5 New York in March of this year.
While CD sales have declined over the last 23 years, vinyls have risen in popularity over the last several years and have finally surpassed CD sales. (iStock)
"And now we're looking at a whole new market of vinyl lovers who want to have the kind of listening experience of sitting down [and] playing a record, flipping it halfway through, enjoying the sound quality, etc.," Lipshutz added.
Vinyls featuring tunes from contemporary artists like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Harry Styles are currently available for purchase at retail stores such as Target and Amazon.
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Watching those born in the middle to late 2000s (Gen Z) attempt to use CDs has apparently become comical to social media users, as some who are part of the younger generation do not know how a CD operates or even functions.
Many individuals born in the mid-to-late 2000s do not even know what a CD is or how it is used, as seen on TikTok. (iStock)
One TikTok went viral as a mother watched her 10-year-old daughter struggle to open a CD case from 2006, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Viewers were quick to comment on the viral video, saying, "Welp, I’m officially old," one user wrote.
"I’m 19. How is this happening already," another viewer asked in the comments.
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"Give her a cassette tape," another person joked.
In the same way vinyl records have made a comeback, CDs could become popular again as millions of people are searching hashtags such as #cdcollection on TikTok. (iStock)
Despite the decline in CD listening, that may change in the future as some TikTok users have shared their current CD collection under the hashtag #cdcollection, which has 153.5 million views.
The hashtag #cdcollector has 85 million views on the video-sharing platform.
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Since history sometimes repeats itself, it could arguably take another 41 years for CDs to become the trending music source — but only time will tell.
Gretchen Eichenberg contributed to this report.
