"A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape or mix tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette tape, CD, or digital playlist. The songs are either ordered sequentially or made into a continuous program by 'beat matching' the songs and creating seamless transitions at their beginnings and endings with fades or abrupt edits. Essayist Geoffrey O'Brien described the mixtape as perhaps the most widely practiced American art form.
Homemade mix tapes became common in the 1980s. Although the compact audio cassette by Philips appeared at the 1963 Berlin Radio Show, the sound quality of cassettes was not good enough to be seriously considered for music recording until further advances in chemical formulations of the tape. Before the introduction of the audio cassette, the creation of a pop music compilation required specialized or cumbersome equipment, such as a reel-to-reel or 8 track recorder, that was often inaccessible to the casual music fan. As cassette tapes and recorders grew in popularity and portability, these technological hurdles were lowered to the point where the only resources required to create a mix were a handful of cassettes and a cassette recorder connected to a source of pre-recorded music, such as a radio or LP player. The 8-track tape cartridge was more popular for music recording during much of the 1960s, as the cassette was originally only mono and intended for vocal recordings only, such as in office dictation machines. But improvements in fidelity finally allowed the cassette to become a major player. The ready availability of the cassette and higher quality home recording decks to serve the casual home user allowed the cassette to become the dominant tape format, to the point that the 8 track tape disappeared shortly after the turn of the 1980s. The growth of the mixtape was also encouraged by improved quality and increased popularity of audio cassette players in car entertainment systems, and by the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1979.
A distinction should be drawn between a private mixtape, which is usually intended for a specific listener or private social event, and a public mixtape, or 'party tape', usually consisting of a recording of a club performance by a DJ and intended to be sold to multiple individuals. In the 1970s, such DJs as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, Kool Herc and the Herculoids, and DJ Hollywood would often distribute recordings of their club performances via audio cassette, as well as customized recordings (often prepared at exorbitant prices) for individual tape purchasers. These recordings tended to be of higher technical ability than home-made mixtapes and incorporated techniques such as beat matching and scratching. One 1974 article in Billboard reported: 'Tapes were originally dubbed by jockeys to serve as standbys for times when they did not have turntables on hand. The tapes represent each jockey's concept of programming, placing, and sequencing of records. The music is heard without interruption. One-to three-hour programs bring anywhere from $30 to $75 per tape, mostly reel-to-reel, but increasingly on 8-Track and cassette.'
Throughout the 1980s, mixtapes were a highly visible element of youth culture. However, the increased availability of CD burners and MP3 players and the gradual disappearance of cassette players in cars and households led to a decline in the popularity of the compact audio cassette as a medium for homemade mixes. The high point of traditional mixtape culture was arguably the publication of Nick Hornby's novel 'High Fidelity' in 1995. Since then, mixtapes have largely been replaced by mix CDs and shared MP3 playlists, which are more durable, can hold more songs, and require minutes (rather than hours) to prepare.
While the process of recording a mix onto an audio cassette from LPs or compact discs is technically straightforward, many music fans who create more than one mixtape are eventually compelled to confront some of the practical and aesthetic challenges involved in the format. From a practical standpoint, such issues as avoiding an excessive amount of blank tape at the end of one side (which requires careful planning of the length of each side of the mix) and reducing the audible click between songs (which requires mastery of the pause button on the cassette recorder) have been identified as part of the shared experience of mixtape aficionados. From an aesthetic point of view, many enthusiasts believe that because a tape player, unlike a CD player, lacks the ability to skip from song to song, the mixtape needs to be considered in its entirety. This requires the mixtape creator to consider the transitions between songs, the effects caused by juxtaposing a soft song with a loud song, and the overall 'narrative arc' of the entire tape. Many enthusiasts also devote substantial attention to the packaging of a mix tape intended as a gift, sometimes going so far as to create cover art and customized liner notes.
From an artistic point of view, many creators of mix tapes seem to regard them as a form of emotional self-expression, although whether a mix tape retains the same web of emotional associations when passed from its creator to the recipient is, at best, debatable. Some argue that in selecting, juxtaposing, or even editing originally unrelated tracks of pop music into a new work of art, the author of a mix tape moves from passive listener to archivist, editor, and finally active participant in the process of musical creation. On a very basic level, the creation of a mix tape can be seen as an expression of the individual compiler's taste in music, often put forward for the implicit approval of the tape's recipient."
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"'Cassette culture' refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of home-recorded music via audio cassettes. Several factors led to it's popularity: the development of the format and widespread availability of tape decks allowed participants to produce copies of their music (or other's music via 'tape trading') rather cheaply. Additionally, multi-track equipment that used cassettes and electronic instruments such as drum machines all became more affordable, portable, and of fairly high quality. These factors finally made recording at home and duplication of those recordings a low cost alternative to professional studios and distribution services.
In the United Kingdom cassette culture was at its peak in what is known as the 'post-punk' period, 1978–1984. UK cassette culture (as in the U.S.) was mainly championed by punk groups, industrial musicians, and marginal artists in general. Individuals would often freely copy their releases in exchange for a blank tape and return postage, but there also existed many small 'tape labels'. There was great diversity amongst those labels, some were entirely bedroom based, utilizing new home copying technologies, whilst others were more organized, functioning in a similar way to established music companies. Some also did vinyl releases, or later developed into vinyl labels.
In the US, cassette culture activity extended through the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Although larger operations made use of commercial copying services, anybody who had access to a tape-to-tape cassette player could release a tape and publicize it in the network of fanzines and newsletters that served niche markets. Therefore cassette culture was an ideal and very democratic method for making available music that was never likely to have mainstream appeal. Many found in cassette culture sounds that were more imaginative, challenging, and groundbreaking than output released on major and even mid-level record labels.
The packaging of cassette releases, whilst sometimes amateurish, was also an aspect of the format in which a high degree of creativity and originality could be found. For the most part, packaging relied on traditional plastic shells with a photocopied insert (though some labels, no matter how small the operation, made more of an effort). In the late 1990s cassette culture began to decline with the advent of new technologies and methods of distribution such as CDRs and MP3s, though in recent years it has seen a small yet highly dedicated revival."
