The shimmering disc – twelve centimeters of plastic with crystal-clear sound – was developed through a collaboration between the major players in the gramophone industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The first disc to be commercially released on CD was ABBA's "The Visitors" in 1982. The popular breakthrough is said to have come in 1985 when Dire Straits released the album "Brothers in Arms". Just a few years later, CD sales surpassed those of vinyl.
The 1990s belonged to the CD, but as early as 1999, the beginning of the end came when the file-sharing program Napster made it possible to digitally share music. In 2001, Apple's iPod was released, and when Spotify emerged in 2008, the CD was already hopelessly outdated – seen as old-fashioned and ridiculous.
Increasing the most
But in recent years, something has happened. On Tradera, the CD is the category that has increased the most in terms of sold auctions. The category grew by 43 percent last year alone.
Even in physical record stores, there is an increased interest in buying used CDs. Monika Kiss at Omega Records in Stockholm has invested in and built up her CD business over seven years and seen how interest has increased gradually, not just in the store but also on the marketplace Discogs.
Many of the customers in the store are in their twenties. She believes that they are attracted to the reuse aspect of buying used, but also that young people are starting to get tired of streamed music.
You want something physical. The physical medium provides a much more active listening experience.
Much cheaper
At Bengans record store in Gothenburg, they are also selling well-used CDs and have noticed that it is the younger customers who are starting to buy. Indie, hip-hop, and punk are popular among customers aged 13-20, according to store manager Hans Bergendorff.
Much of what is available on CD cannot be found in any other format or is expensive to buy on vinyl.
The fact that vinyl prices have skyrocketed also favors used CDs, which are much cheaper, believes Jens Peterson Hällefors at Omega Records.
You can build up a record collection without it costing an arm and a leg. Many records cost like a cup of coffee.
But it's not just young people who are buying. A large customer category is men in their 55-year-olds, those who started buying records when CD technology emerged and who have stuck to the format, or are "hybrid consumers" who consume both CDs and vinyl.
Interest in new CDs has not grown in the same way as for used ones. But in 2023, revenues from CD sales increased for the first time in a long time, according to statistics from the Swedish industry organization Ifpi, although they still only account for a few percent of the total.
Low average price
The most expensive CD sold on Discogs is the album "Falling Hearts" by the Korean band Runner. It was re-released in 2022, but the original from 1991 has been bought by collectors for $3,000 – over 30,000 Swedish kronor.
But even though demand is increasing and there are rarities that become very expensive, your CD collection is unlikely to be worth a fortune. Last year, 250,000 CD records were sold on Tradera, and the average price was 72 kronor.
We reject a lot, partly because there's a lot on the market, partly because the condition is important, says Monika Kiss.
Earlier, she could donate scratched records to charity organizations, but today, fewer and fewer accept them. It's not just any records that sell.
But what do CD buyers want?
Radiohead always sells. And Kent, it will probably sell even more when the concerts approach, says Monika Kiss.
Just Kent is one of the artists where prices can really take off.
The most expensive CD sold on Tradera in the last three years is the single "Spökstad" by Kent, which sold for 8,233 kronor. The band is also behind the third and fifth most expensive CDs with the singles "747" and "Heavenly Junkies", which went for 5,346 and 5,050 kronor, respectively.
But singles becoming that expensive is an exception. The resale market for CD singles is almost non-existent, and what sells are albums and box sets.
When people start buying digital records again, the need for something to play them on naturally increases. But just like with records, it's the second-hand market that's growing. Both Tradera and Blocket have seen an increase over the past year, while Elgiganten doesn't see an increase.
CD (Compact Disc) was developed in 1974-83 through a collaboration between the leading manufacturers in the gramophone industry.
The first disc to be commercially released on CD was ABBA's "The Visitors" in 1982.
In 1986, the first CD single was commercially released – "Angeline" by John Martyn.
In 2000, CD sales reached their peak in the USA with 943 million records sold.
