[Nick Zwar]

Here is an article from HiRes Audio Online that gives nice overview of the rise and fall of the compact disc. Now I have “followed” the rise and fall of the compact disc both as someone who is very interested in developing audio technology as well as a collector and buyer of compact discs for most of my life, and this here aligns with my experience.
The sales and use of compact discs peaked at the turn of the millennium. That’s when they were totally mainstream, and by far the best and easiest way to listen to whatever music you wanted.
Then came a sharp decline. The Internet, MP3, Napster… these all had considerable impact. However, there were still so many CDs pressend and in circulation, which means in the years of the decline of CDs, CDs reached their lowest price in history… they were a mass product that was still manufactured and widely distributed, but people were also starting to dump their collections right and left and throw them on the market. So lots and lots of CDs were either “redistributed” on the secondary market, or ended up as garden tree deco or whatever. Now the situation is different. Very few CDs are still manufactured, they have become a niche product like vinyl. The secondary market is no longer a “deals and steals” market anymore, but one that looks and caters more to collectors and afficionados who look for certain editions or want to complete something.
CDs on the whole — new or used — will never be as cheaply available anymore the way they were maybe 10 years ago.

The Rise and Fall of the Compact Disc