Some media formats see endless celebration and devotion, their disciples carrying the torch through whatever the new and normal becomes. Vinyl record, such a classic and cherished format of the 20th century, perseveres and finds new and old audiences drawn to it.

But there are formats, despite their ubiquitous presence at one point in history, that find themselves left in the dustbin, free from any further consideration. Older formats are often resigned to the status of outdated relics, a method of use that made sense at the time but now struggles to find purpose.

The compact disc, or CD, left the stage rather unceremoniously. People seemed more than happy to leave it in the past. It was never really about what the CD format had to offer, the advantages of its use over what came before and after. It had much more to do with how the record industry decided to sell its last great cash cow to the public.

A record industry that revelled in the large profit margins of overpriced yet cheap-to-produce discs throughout the 1990s was suddenly licking wounds by the 2000s when internet access, and the ease of sharing small-sized MP3 files, became commonplace. It no longer made sense to spend £15 on an album, when for most people........

© Herald Scotland