The compact disc was the go-to format for most music fans for decades. Launched in 1982, it rose to dominance in 1988 when it overtook vinyl sales for the first time.
From there, CD was king for over a decade, continuing its dominance near undisputed until 2002, when we first saw streaming services start to nip at its lead. Even then, it took many more years for streaming to claim the top spot, with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reporting that Spotify and co. didn’t dethrone CDs as music’s top seller until 2014.
