On 8th March 1979, Philips revealed the very first Compact Disc (CD) and CD player prototype to the press at Eindhoven, Netherlands. The CD player prototype had an LED display and four buttons, and a top-loading mechanism. It was called the "Pinkeltje" and it set in motion one of the most seismic shifts in the history of the recorded music industry.Philips and Sony were both separately developing digital disc technology during the 1970s, and the two technology innovators from Europe and Japan joined forces to create the standard for the CD. Philips had the physical format for the discs, while Sony offered their expertise in digital error correction.The first CD shown at this 1979 demo by Philips measured 11.5cm in diameter, but it was later standardised to 12cm. Why? To ensure the format was large enough to accommodate the entirety of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which ran for 74 minutes. Sony's inaugural CDP-101 player launched first in Japan in 1982, while the consumer-ready Philips CD100 launched in Europe a year later.On 1st March 1983, the first CD players landed in the UK. By 1988, CD music unit sales surpassed those of vinyl albums.
