SONY's Norio Ohga, developer of the CD, dies at 81

In this May 1991 file photo, former president and chairman of Sony, Norio Ohga, holds a Sony Mini Disc in New York. Sony says Ohga, credited with developing the compact disc, has died Saturday, April 23, 2011. He was 81. Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer said Ohga helped redefine the Japanese manufacturer not only as an electronic hardware company but helped it also expand into software or entertainment. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

MUSIC: Former opera singer transformed electronics maker.

TOKYO - Opera singer Norio Ohga complained about the quality of Sony tape recorders before he was hired by the company, developed the compact disc and championed its superior sound. Love of music steered the former Sony chairman's career and in turn, he transformed the Japanese electronics maker into a global software and entertainment empire.

The company president and chairman from 1982 to 1995, Ohga died Saturday in Tokyo of multiple organ failure, Sony said. He was 81.

The flamboyant music connoisseur steered his work through his love of music. A former opera singer, Ohga insisted the CD be designed at 12 centimeters (4.8 inches) in diameter - or 75 minutes worth of music - to store Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in its entirety.

From the start, Ohga recognized the potential of the CD's superior sound quality. In the 1970s, when Ohga insisted CDs would eventually replace record albums, skeptics scoffed. Herbert von Karajan, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock spoke up in defense of Sony's digital sound.

Sony sold the world's first CD in 1982 and CDs overtook LP record sales in Japan five years later. The specifications are still used today and fostered the devices developed since.

"It is no exaggeration to attribute Sony's evolution beyond audio and video products into music, movies and game, and subsequent transformation into a global entertainment leader to Ohga-san's

foresight and vision," Sony Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Stringer said Saturday, using the Japanese honorific.

Ohga's focus on music, films and video games as a way to enrich the electronics business helped create Sony's success in his era.

"We are always chasing after things that other companies won't touch," Ohga said in a 1998 interview with The Associated Press. "That is a big secret to our success."

Ohga is survived by his wife, Midori. Sony said a private wake will be held later.

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