![Image for CD turns 30: the first albums cafebabel.com bought (9 images)](https://media.cafebabel.com/resized-images/e7/82/d55a8e9c0bb0a2e3edc214ac09af9f998591.jpg)
CD turns 30: the first albums cafebabel.com bought (9 images)
Published on
1 October 1982 is the date that the first CD (Billy Joel) was available to buy. Three decades later, we are slaves to the digital world of downloads and piracy. Only 19% of consumers in the EU buy music anymore, and that would most likely be from the apple itunes store, the only service available in all 27 EU member states. Whilst online listening services such as 'grooveshark' (US), 'spotify' (Sweden) and 'deezer' (France) have entered the cross-border music consciousness, staff at cafebabel.com HQ take you back into the world of HMV or Virgin, where they spent their first coins
![Jorge, Spanish editor](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/tubular_bells_3.jpeg)
'Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. My older brother had an influence on me, he would listen to Led Zeppelin and all that'
![Ovidiu, project manager, Romania](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/cesaria.jpeg)
'Cesaria Evora's Miss Perfumado. I bought it because I loved her so much, but I did not even have a CD player'
![Jacopo, Italian editor](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/Articolo_31-Greatest_Hits-Frontal.jpeg)
Greatest Hits by Articolo 31 - this was the group who introduced rap to nineties era Italy, at least in my eyes at the time
![Adrien, graphic designer, France](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/The_Offspring-Americana-Frontal.jpeg)
'The Offspring's Americana...I know...'
![Nabeelah, UK editor](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/actually.jpeg)
'I remember I asked my mum for money to buy her Actually by the Pet Shop Boys; she said they were her favourite group. I'd play it when it was my turn to do a household chore, and I remember always dropping the hoover to run back and replay track number three'
![Agata, Polish editor](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/wilki-przedmiescia-front-cover-51705.jpeg)
Przedmieścia by Wilki - rock was huge in nineties-era Poland
![Matthieu, French editor](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/docgyneco.jpeg)
'Doc Gyneco: Première consultation defines France's nineties hip hop era'
![Juliette, budget officer, France/ Germany](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/lene#.jpeg)
'I clearly remember how proud I was to buy this one, it's the first one I chose and bought myself'
![Katharina, German editor](https://media.cafebabel.com/articles/cafebabel/public/Culture/Culture 2012/Oct 2012/CDs/kuschelrock_08_a.jpeg)
'It's hard, I can only remember my first cassette - but this cheesy German compilation Kuschelrock rings a bell' (Read more here)