Do you know why compact discs hold 74 minutes of music?

We're talking uncompressed music, not MP3s.

Allegedly, it was because the president of Sony liked a certain Beethoven symphony and it was 74 minutes long.

But apparently there's four different stories there, so pick whichever one you like.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1216