August 17, 1982. About two years after I was born, the first audio CD was mass produced. The company that had the scoop was PolyGram (part of Philips) and it was the CD: "Claudio Arrau's rendition on the piano".
A while after that the Swedish group ABBA released their album ABBA's album "The Visitors." that sold about 376,000 copies in the first year.
The Red Book - World Standard for Audio CDs |
Philips and Sony worked almost simultaneously and initially independently on their own CD projects. Both companies started off with their own individual development programs, but finally agreed upon a common CD standard, which stipulates norms and specifications on data storage, error correction, etc., in the so-called Red Book (IEC-908). This standard has enabled every CD player and every CD-ROM drive to be able to play any audio CD.
The Ninth Symphony and the Diameter of an Audio CD
Philips originally suggested that a compact disc should have a diameter of 11.5 centimeters and a playing time of 60 minutes. In this regard, the Internet provides us with different stories that have one thing in common: the aim of getting the Ninth Symphony by Beethoven, one of the longest compositions with a playing time of 74 minutes, completely onto one audio CD. According to one story, the world-famous conductor Herbert von Karajan, whose concert recording appeared at that time on the PolyGram label, demanded that Philips introduce a CD with a sufficient playing time for his favorite piece.
Another version says that the wife of the then-Chairman and founder of Sony Akio Morita urged her husband to exercise his influence so that Beethoven could be appropriately honored.
Whichever story is true, a diameter of 12 centimeters was agreed upon, which made it possible to achieve a playing time of 74 minutes. Later came the CD single with a diameter of eight centimeters and a possible playing time of 21 minutes.
More about the history of the CD can be found in article on Yahoo, which is actually a release from Bayer, producers of Makrolon polycarbonate which is a main ingredient for modern day CD-R's.
Source: Yahoo.com
