Why Some People Are Turning Back To CDs For Music Enjoyment

If you Google this question- Is physical media making a comeback?- you will see a nearly endless collection of online articles about that particular phenomenon. Most of those stories were written over the course of the last year. For me, physical media isn't making a comeback. I'm just pulling it out of storage.

For years, I have had totes and totes full of compact discs. Initially, those totes were stacked in the closet of the guest room. Then, I moved them out to the garage for a couple of years. However, in the last couple of months, I moved them back inside, out of their storage containers and onto a gigantic corner shelf in my home office. I just can't get rid of them. I love them, want to display them, and want to listen to them. Sure, I have Alexa, but it's just not the same.

I wish I could remember the very first CD I ever purchased. I think, but am not 100% certain, that it was the soundtrack to Purple Rain by Prince.

That's right around the time that compact discs were bursting onto the scene and into music stores around the world.

THE HISTORY OF COMPACT DISCS

CDs, or compact discs, revolutionized the music industry in 1982. Co-developed by Philips and Song, CDs became immediate opposition for vinyl records and cassette tapes. Before the compact disc, I was all about cassettes. Every Sunday morning, I sat in my bedroom listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40. When a song came on that I didn't have, I would hit record.

READ MORE: Get Ready For Mix Tape Mania

FUN FACTS ABOUT COMPACT DISCS

While the very first commercial compact disc made available was classical music, it didn't take long for the new format to infiltrate the mainstream. In fact, here's a fun fact in case you ever make it onto an episode of Jeopardy!. The very first CD to sell a million copies was 1985's Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits.

THE HISTORY OF THE DISCMAN

The year before, the Discman made its debut. In case you don't remember, the Discman was a portable CD player. And, proof that Generation A (people born between 2010 and 2025) are becoming obsessed with physical media, my friend Mary-Katherine's son Rollins just informed her he wants a Discman.

I don't blame him. I just recently purchased a brand new CD player I can sync with my Samsung Frame television. I am now reliving all that music that sits on the shelves in my office. Just last week, I cleaned my house to these two: The Best of Branigan by Laura Branigan and This Time: The First Four Years by Culture Club.

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Full disclosure. My very first job after graduating from high school was at Disc Jockey records. I spent two years of my life immersed in retail music. Looking back, the job was a blast, but I didn't make very much money. I gave a large percentage of my paycheck back to the store each month. Merchandising the music made me want to buy it. And I did. Well, a lot of it. As you can see, I still own most of it.

I have also been searching online retailers like Amazon and Ebay to search for some old titles I either got rid of, lost, or never bought the first time around. I also scored a couple of fun finds for my collection recently at a flea market. Check these out!

By the way, I snagged those for a dollar a piece. After all these years, my CD collection continues to grow. In terms of my own personal media, I'll quote Olivia Newton-John. "Let's get physical!"

What about you?