Even though I cut my teeth on music through vinyl records, I explored and bought a lot more music once I'd moved on to tapes. I assembled a very comprehensive collection this way, filling out the catalogues of bands like Beatles, Rush, Iron Maiden, Cheap Trick, and Max Webster.
I know deep down that the music on these tapes can be found elsewhere, either on CDs (even the ones in my collection), as online downloads, or in streaming format on YouTube and the countless internet "radio" sites. So in one way or another, I could easily access this music and never miss the tapes. But just looking at those little, pudgy plastic cases with the glossy cover art, I feel as though it would be like putting down an old lovable dog - who isn't sick but just doesn't do much anymore. It would be criminal.
I hauled out and dusted off all this stuff for
the photo shoot
A funny thing though is that I recently read somewhere that tapes are making a little bit of a comeback. Apparently some small-time bands are again marketing themselves with tapes, embracing the methods of the "old days". The cost is not prohibitive and the retro medium has some appeal to artists who are looking for exposure and to sign with a recording label. So they're zipping off singles and EPs or whatever on cassettes, and dropping them off to any music stores that'll peddle them, and getting them into the hands of the industry execs, fingers crossed for a big break.
The down side of that strategy is that very few of us even have a tape player in our home anymore. Do the record execs even have one in their offices? Does Joe Public? Do you? I have a few, all still functional I think, but I no longer use them. Like that big ass component for audio system use. And a tape/radio combo boombox that I only use to check weather and news in the mornings while eating breakfast before leaving for work. Oh, and my ancient Sony Walkman, which is buried in the back of a drawer somewhere.
I've debated about converting some of my old tapes to MP3 format, to keep on my computer, a USB stick, and maybe even burn to CD. I don't think there's much, if any, music there worth all the trouble to convert (maybe a few Rush concert bootlegs), but there are some non-music tapes that I've considered. Like years of Rush "album release" interviews that I recorded off the radio... good for a super-fan, but that's just not me anymore. Will I even care to listen to those ever again? Probably not.
One of my last surviving mix tapes...
from sometime in the 90's
Even as I write this, I feel like I'm closer than ever to just throwing all of it into a garbage bag and heaving it into the dumpster. Then there's no going back. If I go that route, I might first pick out a handful of favourite tapes to tuck away into a small box... for old time's sake. Hey, I did that with my old 8-track tapes, too, though they are definitely more of a curiosity and a collectible than a cassette. If I had to choose just a few tapes for a "time capsule", I'd likely hang onto some Beatles rarities (like Something New and Rarities), some comedy (Monty Python, Bill Cosby), the Clockwork Orange movie soundtrack, and Lee Aaron's debut album.
I even wonder about all of the CDs clogging up too many shelves in my living room. Why couldn't those things have built-in Wi-Fi.... so I can just turn on my stereo amp and select an album that reads back to a CD stored in my closet. But even CDs are going the way of the dinosaur, or at least that's what news in the music industry is telling us. Sales are way, way down (not my fault, because I do buy CDs periodically), thanks to the internet (iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, and so on) and the digital format. Plus most of the world, and not just young people, isn't even buying albums anymore.... the average listener today would rather download just one or two songs from an artist's new release. With that kind of thinking, it won't be long before artists won't even want to go to the expense of recording full albums anymore. Just pop out a few songs now and then, they go viral online, sell like hotcakes through iTunes, then money goes into their bank accounts. Yay.
What a dreary world that would be. I think that only certain musical genres would jump on that narrow-minded bandwagon though. There are, thankfully, artists of some genres who understand the importance of the full album release. There are rock and metal bands, and jazz and classical musicians (to name a few obvious examples) who require the longer form to properly express their ideas. Concept music (like in progressive rock and metal), live jazz concert recordings, and classical symphonies all demand the forty-to-sixty (or more) minute length album. And fans of that music expect a full-length release. Something big enough to chew on for a while instead of the quick pop tune that is over before you know it.. So I predict that the "experts" are wrong. Sure, the pop and other Top 40 stuff, which is mostly disposable, can and will eschew the album for the single, but the album - a set of songs - will carry on as an MP3, a CD, a vinyl record, or even a cassette tape.
For my part, I will pop a few tapes into my little time capsule. Future generations might marvel at that junk.
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