A Nostalgic Guide to CDs
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Nostalgia is big these days. Millions look to go back in time and use some of the things that were commonplace back in “their day.” For those who grew up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, CDs were a part of life.
During those days, blank CDs were in almost everyone’s arsenal. If you are a bit younger and not sure what they can do, here is a simple guide that will help acclimate you to what they can do and what they are used for.
Why CDs Were So Popular
Given that nearly everyone digests their music through digital platforms, it can seem almost foreign to think about using blank CDs. Though apps and streaming services are now the primary way of enjoying accessible audio, CDs are still among the best mass-market audio mediums there has ever been.
The reason blank CDs were so prevalent back during the 1990s and 2000s is because they were readily available, affordable, user-friendly, and simple to use. There’s a reason you still find CDs for sale at stores today. Though not as popular as they once were – there were billions of CDs sold every year at one point – they are still a reliable means of consuming music.
Recordable CDs
Where things really started to take off is with the implantation of blank CDs. For much of the 1990s, CDs came pre-formatted. Whether it be with computer software or a music CD from a popular musician, they were everywhere. But then an important thing happened: downloading music.
What began as a niche thing that not many people did eventually exploded to include millions of users. It was big enough at one point that even top musical acts like Metallica sued these software platforms for copyright violations.
Despite the threat of legal action, blank CDs became infinitely popular. With the growing prevalence of home computers, users could download their favorite songs and albums and then “burn” them onto a blank CD. This unmatched level of creation led to billions of blank CDs being sold each year.
CD-R vs. CD-RW
At the time, there were two distinctly different types of blank CDs. Though they could do largely the same thing, there was an important distinction between CD-R and CD-RW CDs. Knowing the difference between the two was helpful in avoiding frustration.
CD-Rs can be played on any machine that reads CD-Rs. That said, it might not be able to play on all digital audio players. CD-RWs were a bit more niche and could only play on compatible machines. That said, the latter also became beneficial for one important reason.
CD-Rs could only be written over once. When that had been done, that CD could no longer be altered. If you wanted to change things on that CD, you couldn’t and would instead have to buy new re-writeable CDs. The beauty of CD-RWs is that they could be used again and again. Buying a pack of 20 CD-RWs might have been a bit more expensive but could last for a long time if you want to change things up.
The Return of Nostalgia
While there may have been concern about CDs becoming extinct entirely, that seems to have been quelled for the time being. The return of nostalgia, which now contains the aforementioned period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, means the return of CDs.
There may be far fewer CDs being produced than ever before, but they still remain a fixture in megastores like Walmart and Target. Not every artist has a CD now but it isn’t necessarily difficult to recreate that nostalgia.
