Most Expensive Compact Disc

Audiophiles may lament the fact that sometimes the source of their music doesn’t live up to the standards set by their tens of thousands of dollars in audio equipment. Vinyl records and compact discs both degrade rather easily, after all, and many audiophiles still contend that CDs just sound worse. Last year, a Japanese recording engineer named Suenori Fukui may have solved both problems by inventing the world’s most expensive CD—and it’s made of glass.

As glass is a completely transparent medium, unlike the plastic used in other CDs, the laser in your CD player can read the information on this expensive disc perfectly. Additionally, glass is less prone to scratching than plastic and neither heat nor humidity will harm the most expensive compact disc in the world. Of course, detractors point out that one thing that glass is famous for is shattering.

Glass CDs currently need to be made by hand, which has contributed to its significant price tag of 98,700 yen ($883 USD). The first glass CD made available to the public was Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air on G String,” sold by N & F Label. Judging by the lack of media attention in the year or so since it was released, though, you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for your favorite band’s entire discography to be released on glass.

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