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But record companies were only pressing small amounts of CDs for fear of ruining their lucrative cassette and vinyl markets.
From its humble beginnings there have been more than 1.8bn CDs sold around the world.
Bruce Springsteen's hugely successful Born in the USA was the first CD to be manufactured in the US.
One of the most influential moments in the history of the CD was the release of the Dire Straights album Brothers in Arms in 1985 which featured heavy promotion of the Philips brand.
It was at this stage that many people became switched on to the fact that CDs probably had a future and Brothers in Arms became the starting block for many households' collections as the price of hardware fell.
A few years later record companies became switched on to the fact that consumers were now not just buying new CDs but were replacing their old vinyl LPs with copies on compact disc.
According to Music Week magazine, it was in 1988 that CD revenue overtook that of vinyl - £167.9m compared to £144.1m for the old format.
A year later CDs were outselling vinyl by nearly four million in the UK.
U2's Joshua Tree became the first million-seller in the UK in 1989.
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