Total CD album sales of $4.3 billion in 1991, made up 55.4% of the total recorded music revenue that year, according to the RIAA. In 1999, consumers spent $13 billion on CDs – 88% of the $14.6 ...

But it’s an inarguable fact that music sales reached their all-time peak when the CD was king. No audio device did a sharper job of separating fans from their 20-dollar bills.