As I recall, the flippin' music industry railroaded this standard through to prevent full digital copies at 48 kHz. The audio equipment manufacturers were ready to go 48 khz. Of course, the recording industry has a history of screwing its partners and customers to protect its greed machine.
Of course it not only compromised CDs but totally f***ed the potential of DAT in the process, along with the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992.