25 Years of the CD

This makes me feel old:

Exactly 25 years ago the word's first compact disc was produced at a Philips factory in Germany, sparking a global music revolution.
More than 200 billion CDs have been sold worldwide since then and it remains the dominant format despite the growth in digital downloads.

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In the last 10 years CD sales have been dropping worldwide while digital download sales are rising rapidly.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), digital sales will account for a quarter of all worldwide music sales by 2010.

CD sales in the UK have dropped 10% in the first half of this year, while download purchases have increased by 50%.

My first experience of CDs was borrowing them from the local library and copying them onto tapes,before that I taped from the radio.It allowed me to start collecting music as I couldn't afford to buy music as a kid. I can though remember the first record my parents bought me. And no, I'm not telling !

I now have LPs, tapes and CDs in my collection. I also download and am very attached to my ipod. I spend too much time on trains and I like to be able to shut out the noise and babble around me. I do though still like to have something solid, a CD or an LP, that I can hold and look at. I tend to buy CDs and then upload them and even when I have downloaded I still end up burning a CD to have a copy.

Some are nostalgic for LPs and I must admit I do like that crackle at the start when the needle hits the groove. I like the artwork on the covers and the sleeve notes . I like nosing in second hand record stores at the old LPs . The covers often say so much about the time , as much as the music does.

I suppose I just like music in all its formats .

Pic: London Calling, The Clash. A favourite band and album cover.