May 20, 2013
Thirty years ago today, the music industry changed forever -- thanks to these little discs.
On October 1st, 1982, the first commercial music compact disc was released.
The album -- Billy Joel's "52nd Street" -- went on sale that day in Japan.
Since then, hundreds of billions of CDs have been sold, though the number is quickly winding down as music sales move to the digital realm.
CDs had already been out for several years but were not available to the general public.
The first album to sell a million CD copies: that was 19-85's "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits, best known for the smash M-T-V video hit "Money for Nothing".
An early Sony CD player sold for 730 dollars in 19-82 -- adjusted for inflation, that's about 17-hundred bucks today!
