Cassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes . It is characterized by the adoption of home-recording by independent artists, and involvement in ad-hoc self-distribution and promotion networks

Social network

A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...

 - primarily conducted through mail (though there were a few retail outlets, such as Rough Trade

Rough Trade Shop

Rough Trade are two independent record shops based in London, UK.The first Rough Trade shop was opened in 1976 by Geoff Travis in the Portobello Road district of west London. In 1978 the shop spawned the famous Rough Trade Records, which was to go on to be home to bands from The Smiths to The...

 and Falling A in the UK) and fanzines

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

. . The culture was in part an offshoot of the mail art

Mail art

Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...

 movement of the 1970s and 1980s, and participants engaged in tape trading

Tape trading

Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of demo tapes encompassing musical genres such as punk, hardcore, and extreme metal. The practice which was most prevalent during the 1980s and 1990s, also saw people distribute recordings of live music shows...

 in addition to traditional sales. The culture is related to the DIY ethic of punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, and encouraged musical eclecticism and diversity .

Initiating Factors

Several factors led to the rise of cassette culture. The development of the cassette tape recording format was important - the improvement of tape formulations and availability of sophisticated cassette decks in the late 1970s allowed participants produce high-quality copies of their music inexpensively . Also significant was the fact that bands did not need to go into expensive recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

s any longer. Multi-track

Multitrack recording

Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...

 recording equipment was becoming affordable, portable and of fairly high quality during the early 1980s. 4-track cassette recorders developed by Tascam

TASCAM

TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Montebello, California. Tascam is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first cassette-based multi-track home studio recorders. Tascam also introduced the first low-cost mass produced multitrack recorders...

 and Fostex

Fostex

Fostex is a Japanese manufacturer that is one of the largest transducer and OEM speaker makers in the world, founded in July 1973 by Foster Electric Co. Ltd.-Company history:Fostex , founded in July 1973 by Foster Electric Co...

 allowed artists to record and get a reasonable sound at home . As well, electronic instruments, such as drum machines and synthesizers, became more compact and inexpensive . Therefore, it became increasingly feasible to construct home-recording studios, giving rise to an increase of recording artists. Add to this the fact that college radio was coming into its own. For many years there were non-commercial college radio stations but now they had a new found freedom in format - giving rise to regular cassette-only radio shows that showcased and promoted the work of home recording artists. With the influx of new music from sources other than the major record companies—and the quasi-major medium of college radio to lend support—the audio boom was on.

United Kingdom

In the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 cassette culture was at its peak in what is known as the post-punk

Post-punk

Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

 period, 1978-1984. UK cassette culture was championed by marginal musicians and performers such as Barry Lamb, Storm Bugs

Storm Bugs

Storm Bugs were a post punk DIY industrial music band formed in 1978 in Deptford, London, by Philip Sanderson and Steven Ball who had met at school in the Medway Towns, England....

, the insane picnic

The insane picnic

In the early 1980s, English band The Insane Picnic were one of the pioneering D.I.Y. cassette bands, composed of members Peter Ashby, Barry Douglas Lamb and Owen Turley. They recorded several releases for the English independent record label Falling A Records...

, Instant Automatons, Stripey Zebras

Stripey Zebras

Stripey Zebras were a post punk band from Southend on Sea in Essex, UK. The group formed in 1980 with a line-up consisting of*Martin Fulton - Vocals*Graham Burnett - Drums*Martin Hardy - Guitar*Stephen Dobson - Bass/Vocals*...

, What is Oil?, The APF Brigade

The APF Brigade

The APF Brigade were an anarcho-punk duo from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The group was founded by Andi Export and Jon Hindle in the early 1980s.- Genre :...

, Blyth Power

Blyth Power

Blyth Power are a British rock band formed in 1983 by singer/drummer Joseph Porter, formerly of Zounds and The Mob.Blyth Power's music shows strong influences from punk rock and folk music, and the band members have described their sound as a cross between The Clash, Steeleye Span and The...

, The Peace & Freedom Band

The Peace & Freedom Band

The Peace & Freedom Band were a British group, formed in 1986, by two underground poets - Luton-born Paul Rance, and Hartlepool's Andy Bruce.Basically coming out of Peace & Freedom magazine - which was then a music/poetry fanzine edited by Rance, and later photocopied by Bruce - The Peace & Freedom...

, Academy 23

Academy 23

Academy 23 was a British experimental music project created by Andy Martin and Dave Fanning, immediately after disbanding their former group The Apostles. Founded in London in 1989, the band released music primarily on audio cassette, as part of the cassette culture movement...

, Sean Terrington Wright

Sean Terrington Wright

Sean Terrington Wright is a British songwriter, singer, guitarist, record producer, artist, writer, and poet. He has collaborated with Kim Fowley, Najam Sheraz, Mark Linkous, Mark Tinley, Enrico Coniglio, Yvalian, Josh Woodward, & many indie artists...

, Frenzid Melon, Cleaners From Venus, Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played punk rock, pop-influenced music, world music, and folk music...

, 5ive Ximes of Dust and many of the purveyors of Industrial music

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

, e.g. Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle were an English industrial, avant-garde music and visual arts group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions...

, Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire (band)

Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...

, and Clock DVA

Clock DVA

Clock DVA are an industrial music, post-punk and EBM group from Sheffield, England. The group was formed in 1978, with two members, Adolphus "Adi" Newton and Steven "Judd" Turner. Along with contemporaries Heaven 17, Clock DVA's name was inspired by the Russian-influenced Nadsat of Anthony Burgess'...

 . Artists self-releasing would often copy their music in exchange for "a blank tape plus self-addressed envelope". But there also existed many small 'tape labels' such as Snatch Tapes, Falling A Records

Falling A Records

Falling A Records is a Essex, England based independent record label formed in the late 1970s, and heavily involved with the D.I.Y cassette movement of the early 1980s...

, Datenverarbeitung (in Germany), Deleted Records, Face Like a Smacked Arse, Fuck Off Records, Music for midgets, Man's Hate (which distributed the International Sound Communication

International Sound Communication

International Sound Communication was a series of compilation cassettes, compiled and distributed as a mail art project by Andi Xport from Peterborough, England, in the mid 1980s...

 compilation series), New Crimes Tapes, Rasquap Products, Sterile Records

Sterile Records

The Sterile Records record label was formed in London in 1979 by Nigel Ayers and Caroline K of the post-industrial music group Nocturnal Emissions. With a background in the mail art networks, their intention was to create and promote a new form of music...

 and Third Mind Records that operated in opposition to the capitalistic aim of maximizing profit. There was great diversity amongst such labels, some were entirely 'bedroom based', utilising new home tape copying technologies (see below) whilst others were more organised, functioning in a similar way to more established record labels. Some also did vinyl releases, or later developed into vinyl labels. Many compilation albums were released, presenting samples of work from various artists. It was not uncommon for artists who had a vinyl contract to release on cassette compilations, or to continue to do cassette-only album releases (of live recordings, work-in-progress material, etc.) after they had started releasing records.

Cassette culture received something of a mainstream boost when acknowledged by the major music press. Both the New Musical Express (NME) and Sounds

Sounds (magazine)

Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...

, the main weekly music papers of the time in the UK, launched their own 'cassette culture' features, in which new releases would be briefly reviewed and ordering information given. In the U.S. magazines such as Op Magazine

Op Magazine

OP Magazine, based in Olympia, Washington, was a music fanzine published by John Foster and the Lost Music Network from 1979 to 1984. It was known for its diverse scope and the role it played in providing publicity to DIY musicians in the midst of the cassette culture...

, Factsheet Five

Factsheet Five

Factsheet Five was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers....

and Unsound rose to fill the void.

The October 2011 edition of Record Collector

Record Collector

Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...

 magazine published an article about the significance of cassette culture in the UK and listing 21 rare but sought after cassette releases.

United States

In the US, cassette culture activity extended through the late '80s and into the '90s. Although larger operators made use of commercial copying services, anybody who had access to copying equipment (such as the portable tape to tape cassette players that first became common around the early 1980s) could release a tape, and publicize it in the network of fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

s and newsletters that existed around this scene. Therefore cassette culture was an ideal and very democratic method for making available music that was never likely to have mainstream appeal. Arguably, such freedom led to a large output of poor quality and self-indulgent material in the name of 'artistic creativity'. On the other hand, many found in cassette-culture music that was more imaginative, challenging, beautiful, and groundbreaking than output released on vinyl.

In the United States, Cassette Culture was associated with DIY sound collage

Sound collage

In music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...

, riot grrrl

Riot grrrl

Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...

, and punk music and blossomed across the country on cassette labels like Ladd-Frith Psyclones

Psyclones

Psyclones is an experimental music industrial band started in 1980. Psyclones are a long standing band with a diverse sound, ranging from punk/post-rock/synth-pop to electronic industrial/ambient music. They released their Greatest Hits CD which spans over a decade of intensely rich, enthusiastic...

, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

Launched from the Lower East Side, Manhattan, in 1983 as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the Tellus cassette series took full advantage of the popular cassette medium to promote cutting-edge downtown music, documenting the New York scene and advancing experimental composers of the time...

, Swinging Axe, Pass the Buck, E.F. Tapes, Mindkill, Happiest Tapes on Earth, Apraxia Music Research, and Sound of Pig

Sound of Pig

A significant cassette culture label started in the early 1980s by Al Margolis in New York City. Featuring his projects If, Bwana and Sombrero Galaxy plus a wealth of international artists Sound of Pig released hundreds of original cassettes throughout the 1980s. Also the sound one hears....

 (which released over 300 titles), Portland's label From the Wheelchair to the Pulpit, and in Olympia, Washington

Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...

 on labels like K Records

K Records

K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...

 and brown interiour music. Artists such as PBK

PBK (composer)

PBK is a composer that works in the genres of Noise and/or Ambient music.-Background:American composer, Phillip B. Klingler, better known as PBK, has been active in the experimental music underground since 1986. His soundwork correlates to electroacoustic, classic industrial and free jazz genres...

, Big City Orchestra

Big City Orchestra

Big City Orchestra is a long running art/anti-art group based generally in California. They have an ever rotating cast of musician and nonmusician members...

, Alien Planetscapes, Don Campau, Ken Clinger, Dino DiMuro

Dino DiMuro

Dino DiMuro is an independent composer, musician and producer.-Training:DiMuro's musical education began with piano lessons, from his grandmother, and his uncle, composer ....

, Tom Furgas, The Haters

The Haters

The Haters are a noise music and conceptual art troupe from the United States. Founded in 1979, they are one of the earliest and best-known acts in the modern noise scene...

, Zan Hoffman, If, Bwana

If, Bwana

-History:Al Margolis has been working under the musical pseudonym If, Bwana since New Year's Day 1984. He has since earned an international reputation for his experimental noise music.-Recording history:...

, Hal McGee, Minoy, Dave Prescott, Dan Fioretti, dk, Jim Shelley

Jim Shelley (musician)

Jim Shelley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, painter, and teacher. Since the release of his first album, 12 Songs, in 1979, Shelley has usually recorded his albums in his home studio on a four or eight track machine, more often than not performing all the instrumental and vocal...

, and hundreds of others recorded numerous albums available only on cassette throughout the late '80s and well into the '90s.

A notable pioneer of cassette culture and 'outsider' music in the United States is R. Stevie Moore

R. Stevie Moore

Robert Steven Moore is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. In addition to having numerous albums released on labels around the world, the prolific Moore has self-released over 400 cassette and CD-R albums since 1968, as well as dozens of home videos, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore...

, who, through the 'R. Stevie Moore Cassette Club', has been releasing DIY, home-recorded music steadily since the 1970s. Moore lives in New Jersey and continues to make many releases in the cassette-only format.

Creative packaging

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 "J-card" insert, but some labels made more of an effort. The Chocolate Monk-released album "Anusol" by the A Band

A Band

The A Band are a British musical collective formed in Nottingham in the late 1980s. In 2005, The Wire compared the band's importance to that of AMM and SME, and noted their lack of musical training....

, for instance, came packaged with a "suppository" unique to each copy - one of which was a used condom wrapped in tissue. BWCD released a cassette by Japanese noise artist Aube

Aube (band)

Aube is the name used by Japanese musician for his experimental noise records. He has released many CDs, LPs and cassettes since 1991, and is regarded as one of the most important noise musicians working today. He himself does not like to term his work "music," preferring the term "design": "I...

 that came tied to a blue plastic ashtray shaped like a fish. EEtapes of Belgium release of This Window

This Window

This Window was formed by Peter Bright around 1985; earlier tape experiments exist from 1979 to 1984. These tape experiments formed the basic philosophy of This Window. The analogue tape machine became the main instrument used to create ‘songs’...

's (UK) "Extraction 2" was packaged with an X-ray of a broken limb in 1995. The Barry Douglas Lamb

Barry Douglas Lamb

-Musical career:He has released a number of solo albums which are avant-garde / electronic / industrial in nature. The album "Dusk" is perhaps his best known solo work . During his most prolific period, Lamb had regular correspondence with fellow contemporaries Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze, members of...

 album "Ludi Funebres" had the cassette box buried in some earth contained in a larger outer tin and covered in leaves.

21st century

Though in the mid-'90s cassette culture seemed to decline with the appearance of new technologies and methods of distribution such as the Internet, MP3 files, file sharing

File sharing

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...

, and CD-R

CD-R

A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....

s, in recent years it has once again seen a revival, with the rise of tape labels like:
Already Dead Tapes,
American Tapes,
Bart Records,
Bemböle Cassettes,
Breaking World Records,
Brown Interiour Music,
Bum Tapes,
Burger Records,
Cakes and Tapes,
Crepusculo Negro,
Econore,
Fadal Records,
Fairchild Tapes,
Field Studies,
From the Wheelchair to the Pulpit,
Green Records and Tapes,
Healing Light,
Heresee,
I had An Accident Records,
Life's Blood Aural Releasing Entity,
Lost Sound Tapes,
Mellotronic Archive,
Mirror Universe,
Night People,
Not Not Fun Records,
Object Tapes,
Obsolete Audio Formats,
Olde English Spelling Bee,
Pizza Night,
Pop Gun Recordings,
Pug Records,
Retirement Records,
Roaches Watch TV,
Scotch Tapes,
Silenzio Statico,
Space Idea Tapes,
Spookytown,
Stunned Records,
Tapeworm,
To Hip To Hop Tapes,
Tour De Garde,
Wohrt Records & Tapes,
Woodsmoke and
Workerbee Records.

An exhibition was held at Printed Matter in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

devoted to current American cassette culture entitled "Leaderless: Underground Cassette Culture Now" (May 12–26, 2007).

External links

• Cassette Culture Discussion List
• Cassette Culture Discussion Forum
• Cassette From My Ex
• Falling A Records
• 'E.F. Tapes' page at Freenoise site
• 'Compilations' page at Cultural Amnesia site
• 'Vivre la Cassette' at Snatch site
• / 'The Sterile Records Story' at Nocturnal Emissions site
• Baldy Longhair Records (a cassette only label)
• / 'Scotch Tapes'
• / 'Cassetten' page at Rarecords for examples of packaging
• Pleasantly Surprised (UK tape label) archive site
• / Requiem Productions (Norwegian tape label) archive site
• Pass The Buck Records
• 'The story of Third Door From The Left and webeecho - two of the original UK industrial bands
• Kylie Productions UK tape label discography
• Photos of many brands of cassettes (largest collection over internet)
• My Cassette Collection: a research blog
• maximum magnetics: A Cassette Label in Chicago
• http://www.doncampau.com/livingarchive.htm Archive of Cassette Culture history
• http://www.rhizome.org/editorial/2868 101 contemporary cassette labels
• Cassette Culture music blog
• Workerbee Records Cassette Label
• Street Level Recordings / F**k Off Records website including west London squat scene DIY and Idiot Ballroom