A gold compact disc is one in which gold is utilized in place of the high-purity aluminium or silver commonly used as the reflective coating on ordinary CDs and CD-Rs respectively. Gold disks are available as both CDs and CD-Rs as well, and are compatible with standard players and recorders. The advantage of the gold reflection layer lies in its corrosion resistance. As such, gold CDs were seen as a potential solution to the incidence of CD rot on early CDs (mainly manufactured by PDO UK). In 2014, Audio Fidelity, an American publisher of audiophile CDs, announced that it was abandoning the gold format and moving to the hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) format for future releases. In 2016, the Australian division of Sony Music began reissuing budget-priced (under $10) gold CDs issues under the "Gold Series" branding.

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