In 1983 a new music technology, the Compact Disc, arrived in Europe and America to revolutionize the digital audio market, opening the doors to multimedia devices, video, images and text.
The so-called “CD” was created after an alliance the companies Sony and Philips. In 1982, the CD started to be distributed in Japan. After a while, thanks to its great success, hundreds of companies joined the technology through licensing.
The first CD that was released in the United States was “52nd Street”, Billy Joel’s sixth album. The first CD player was the CDP-101, released in Japan. It weighed 7.6 kilos and had a cost of 168,000 yen ($1,807).
The CD in Ecuador
The first CDs that arrived in Ecuador came under the record label of companies like Warner, Wea, Poligram, Universal and EMI. Due to its high cost, the country continued to sell cassettes and LP (long-playing records of 33 rpm).
Angela Feraud, granddaughter of Jose Domingo Feraud Guzman, who was the founder of the music store “JD Feraud Guzman” and Fediscos in Ecuador, remembers the transition from LP to cassette and then to CD.
She tells that in 1990, when few people had the CD player, began demanding CDs, immediately the company opted for this optical digital support.
What is actually the CD?
The essential materials for manufacturing a CD are plastic polycarbonate, to which is added a reflective layer of aluminum. It is believed that its size, 12 inches in diameter, was welcomed by the creators because it is the same as the diagonal measure of a cassette. It was a manageable size.