That, or Sony didn’t want to pay the fee to extend the licensing agreement. Sony has a history of screwing over their customers and being a cheap skate. (Removing Linux from PS3, releasing controllers without force feedback because they didn’t want to pay the license fee, installing root kit malware on PCs of buyers of their CDs)
“Just as much as Google.” LMAO. We have an expert here.
Welcome! 😃 This is a very common problem with the CD-ROM drives inside CDTV players. Because these drives are such early CD-ROM technology they are a proprietary standard developed specifically for Commodore’s CDTV line, so unfortunately there are no replacements out there (approx 80,000 units were ever made in 1990 and 1991).
The good news is that the issue you’re describing is very common and is almost definitely fixable by replacing the aging capacitors inside the drive assembly. The site below has an excellent recap and drive (dis)assembly guide:
http://blog.worldofjani.com/?p=5880
A recap should make the drive function for many more years to come. Good luck!
Edit: and a good clean and re-lube while you're in there is a good idea too, as suggested by stevestevesteve!
Welcome! This community is dedicated to the CDTV (Commodore Dynamic Total Vision) player from 1991.
Note: some of the content that was previously available on the CDTV subreddit will be reposted here in the next couple of days.