U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for Oct. 1: CD Players

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 -- Following is the daily “Profile America” feature for Oct. 1 from the U.S. Census Bureau:

SATURDAY, OCT. 1: CD PLAYERS

Profile America for Saturday, Oct. 1. Those who enjoy recorded music have an ever-growing number of ways to listen to their favorites. Downloading songs from the Internet is becoming a major source of entertainment and generating the kind of controversy and legal action which often accompanies new technology. While MP3 players and I-Pods are increasingly popular, most music is still bought on compact discs. The first CD player went on sale on this day in 1982, costing about $1,200 in today’s money. The first artist to release a commercial CD was Billy Joel. About 750 million CDs are sold each year, down from the peak of close to 950 million in the year 2000. Find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov.

Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2005, p. 509; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2004-2005, t. 1135, http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-04.html

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Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments ready to air on a monthly CD or on Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the “Newsroom” button). For further information, contact Rick Reed at 301-763-2812, fax at 301-457-3670, or e-mail at rreed@census.gov.

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