CD technology came on the scene mainly in the 1990's. In 1994, the enhanced CD was introduced, where the music could play audio CDs on regular CD players, and CD rom drives were designed for CDs to play music on the computer with graphics and even a music video. During this decade, CD "burners" were also introduced making it possible to copy a CD.

Sound Technology: One of the steps that led to the development of CDs was digital recording in 1978. Then in 1983, the first completely digital disc was played and introduced in the US. With the CD, noise and distortion were practically non existant on the CD. Its dynamic range was wider than that of any previous commercial recording system. By 1987, CD players held a place among the high-demand electronic equipment.

There is a constant effort for R&D in the CD music industry. Not only are engineers working on making the CD itself better and higher quality, but they are also developing other technologies. For instance the mini-disc is becoming a more prominent option for music. Also, companies are working on ways to make CDs non-burnable. Their hope is to reduce the amount of copyright infringement that is occurring.