This is the actual record itself. Note the large grooves. The grooves are what enables the record to be played - just like a CD. If the physical surface of the disk gets scratched, the record will skip - just like a CD. The markup for this cheap piece of plastic was typically 1000%, all of which went as profit to the record label - just like a CD.

Sadly, the "new vinyl smell" of this disk had evidently long since dissipated.