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High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape
The cassette tape was revolutionary. Cheap, portable, and reusable, this small plastic rectangle changed music history. Make your own tapes! Trade them with friends! Tape over the ones you don't like! The cassette tape upended pop culture, creating movements and uniting communities.
This entertaining book charts the journey of the cassette from its invention in the early 1960s to its Walkman-led domination in the 1980s to decline at the birth of compact discs to resurgence among independent music makers. Scorned by the record industry for "killing music," the cassette tape rippled through scenes corporations couldn't control. For so many, tapes meant freedom—to create, to invent, to connect.
Marc Masters introduces readers to the tape artists who thrive underground; concert tapers who trade bootlegs; mixtape makers who send messages with cassettes; tape hunters who rescue forgotten sounds; and today's labels, which reject streaming and sell music on cassette. Their stories celebrate the cassette tape as dangerous, vital, and radical.
This entertaining book charts the journey of the cassette from its invention in the early 1960s to its Walkman-led domination in the 1980s to decline at the birth of compact discs to resurgence among independent music makers. Scorned by the record industry for "killing music," the cassette tape rippled through scenes corporations couldn't control. For so many, tapes meant freedom—to create, to invent, to connect.
Marc Masters introduces readers to the tape artists who thrive underground; concert tapers who trade bootlegs; mixtape makers who send messages with cassettes; tape hunters who rescue forgotten sounds; and today's labels, which reject streaming and sell music on cassette. Their stories celebrate the cassette tape as dangerous, vital, and radical.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2023
47 people are currently reading
695 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 10, 2023
As I first delved into this I experienced a warm and fuzzy nostalgia trip into my own love of personal recording using cassette tapes. The history of its creation and evolution along with citing certain listening devices like those Panasonic tape recorders from the 60s, boomboxes from the 70s, and the Sony Walkman from the 80s were covered in words and pictures. Caught up in good memories, I happily unearthed my vintage Radio Shack brand Realistic personal cassette player with radio as well as my Sony Walkman- both in perfect working condition. I could write my own book about how much I loved making my own tapes for myself as well as creating loving gifts for others- but I won't bore everyone. Let me just say that I would use nothing less than the superior Maxell XLII-S 90 "High Epilaxial" cassettes with the beautiful gold metallic label.
Once the book proceeded beyond this point I became less engaged, as it was an endless dirge of examples of people that record on and exchange these tapes, establishing friend relationships in the process- with many creating a business for themselves. The practice initially took off with DJs in the burgeoning hip hop industry, but also became a huge thing for Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Metallica fans, among others. Also, the personal cassette tape is portable, can be personalized and re-used. The author did a very good job of covering the subject, but it's up to the reader how interested they are in the many obscure "tapers" who were recounted in this book.
Thank you to the publisher University of North Carolina Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
November 30, 2025
When I picked up this book, I expected a walk down memory lane - a rewind, if you will, to the time of the cassette tape's glory. To my surprise, the book wasn't just a nostalgic trip; it turned out to be an intricate exploration of how this compact medium brought on a revolution in music sharing and collaboration.
Masters does a fine job in painting the cassette not merely as a physical object but as a catalyst for cultural shifts. The book shines when detailing the vast changes in music consumption and creation brought about by the ability to record, copy, and pass on music freely. It captures a fascinating era where copyright concerns were secondary to the joy of sharing and the innovation it sparked. The chapters that dive into how the cassette tape allowed for unprecedented levels of grassroots music distribution are particularly compelling, painting a vivid picture of a time when mixtapes could be as influential as any radio hit.
Masters is at his best when he focuses on the personal impact of cassettes, weaving in anecdotes and reflections that give the history a relatable context. He manages to evoke the emotional connection many of us had with these plastic rectangles and the labor of love that was creating a mixtape.
Masters paints a detailed picture of a world where the ability to duplicate and distribute music so easily led to a wild, unchecked spread of content. It’s compelling to consider this as a precursor to our modern streaming culture. This is where “High Bias” offers its most thought-provoking insights, making clear that the cassette tape era was not just about music but about ownership, control, and the democratization of distribution.
Yet, this book was cumbersome at times. There are so many instances when Masters' narrative could benefit from a tighter edit, as he often veers off-course with a dry recounting of historical events that could've been condensed.
This book is undeniably successful in sparking a reflection on how a simple invention like the cassette tape can lead to monumental shifts in how we create, share, and enjoy art. Despite some uneven pacing and the occasional tangent, "High Bias" is a worthy read for those interested in the crossroads of technology, copyright, and culture.
Masters does a fine job in painting the cassette not merely as a physical object but as a catalyst for cultural shifts. The book shines when detailing the vast changes in music consumption and creation brought about by the ability to record, copy, and pass on music freely. It captures a fascinating era where copyright concerns were secondary to the joy of sharing and the innovation it sparked. The chapters that dive into how the cassette tape allowed for unprecedented levels of grassroots music distribution are particularly compelling, painting a vivid picture of a time when mixtapes could be as influential as any radio hit.
Masters is at his best when he focuses on the personal impact of cassettes, weaving in anecdotes and reflections that give the history a relatable context. He manages to evoke the emotional connection many of us had with these plastic rectangles and the labor of love that was creating a mixtape.
Masters paints a detailed picture of a world where the ability to duplicate and distribute music so easily led to a wild, unchecked spread of content. It’s compelling to consider this as a precursor to our modern streaming culture. This is where “High Bias” offers its most thought-provoking insights, making clear that the cassette tape era was not just about music but about ownership, control, and the democratization of distribution.
Yet, this book was cumbersome at times. There are so many instances when Masters' narrative could benefit from a tighter edit, as he often veers off-course with a dry recounting of historical events that could've been condensed.
This book is undeniably successful in sparking a reflection on how a simple invention like the cassette tape can lead to monumental shifts in how we create, share, and enjoy art. Despite some uneven pacing and the occasional tangent, "High Bias" is a worthy read for those interested in the crossroads of technology, copyright, and culture.
February 18, 2024
4.5 Stars!
“The cassette tape is imperfect. It degrades, it tangles, its adds noise, it adds hiss. It puts a smudgy fingerprint on everything it touches, and everything that touches it does the same. It eventually dies, though it often lasts longer than you expect.”
HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC! (and er…corporate greed.)
The music industry went all in when it came to the heavy handed scare tactics It appeared that no claim, number or fact was dramatic or sensationalist enough. It was a monster, a cancer! And yet it was never actually illegal.
“In the early 1970s in the US, vinyl albums sales topped cassettes sales by almost twentyfold; by 1981, that factor was just around two. Only a year later cassettes took over LPs in sales.”
Masters traces the origins and history of the cassette, but the major breakthrough came when Philips produced the first cassette tape in 1963, the next landmark was the arrival of the Sony Walkman in 79 and then Philips would play a critical part in the downfall of its own creation when it produced the first compact disc in 1983. Within a decade it would outsell both tape and vinyl in the US.
It’s amusing with the advent of the Walkman to hear some of the suspicion and outrage generated by people wearing headphones in public spaces, whereas today they are depressingly ubiquitous and almost the norm.
“The better it sounded, the worse it sounded.” So said someone when trying to re-record Springsteen’s 1982 album “Nebraska” which was done on a 4-track. And this really sums up the idea and magic of the cassette tape. It’s not always about the sound quality, but more the quality of the sound and what people are really getting from it.
This idea has been taken a few steps further in more recent years, through acts like Ariel Pink, John Maus and Vektroid and the many developing sub-genres of lo-fi such as chillwave, synthwave and vaporwave which all take vital elements of cassette technology, samples, nostalgia and blend them together with various production treatments to create some really memorable and unique sounds which channel that same sound and energy, summoning the ghost of the golden age of the cassette and mixtape.
So often the mixtape is closely aligned with other DIY formats like zines, sharing many of the same values of democracy and community, allowing a lot more people to participate in what is ultimately an affordable, accessible art form, leaving plenty room for experiment, to try new creative approaches without commercial pressure or public expectation or fear of being ridiculed or discredited. Creating a kind of collective safe space with a potentially huge audience, with little to nothing to lose, and much to be gained as well as so much fun, excitement and experience to be had along the way.
In the same way that cinephile nostalgics crave and hunt down old VHS tapes and others vinyl, Kodak cameras and typewriters, it’s all a bid to recapture some of the simplicity, idealism and authenticity, or at least the ideas of those values and qualities. Especially when tech seems to progress at an ever increasing breakneck speed, it can feel exhausting and overwhelming and so the sanctuary of these declining or defunct formats can be a comfort in the face of such constant change.
Yes it can be guilty of escapism into a nostalgic yesteryear, but it’s also about so much more than that too. After all how many art forms or platforms have the ability to so effortlessly transcend ideas of class, caste, wealth, language, religious and political barriers in the way that the cassette culture did?...It also played a vital role in political subversion in places as diverse as China, Latin America and North Africa.
This is a hugely enjoyable read, with some excellent research. Masters covers a lot of ground and doesn’t just stick to Anglophonic countries, he speaks to experts, fans and collectors who have spent years sifting through the racks in West Africa, S E Asia, The Middle East and elsewhere, often finding the odd gem which reaches way beyond its parochial beginnings. And this is one of this book’s strong suits, its broad reach and deeper investigation of its subject matter. His love for the subject comes through nicely and overall this is a fine achievement and I highly recommend it. I also got a good list of documentaries and books to chase up afterwards too, which is always a bonus.
“The cassette tape is imperfect. It degrades, it tangles, its adds noise, it adds hiss. It puts a smudgy fingerprint on everything it touches, and everything that touches it does the same. It eventually dies, though it often lasts longer than you expect.”
HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC! (and er…corporate greed.)
The music industry went all in when it came to the heavy handed scare tactics It appeared that no claim, number or fact was dramatic or sensationalist enough. It was a monster, a cancer! And yet it was never actually illegal.
“In the early 1970s in the US, vinyl albums sales topped cassettes sales by almost twentyfold; by 1981, that factor was just around two. Only a year later cassettes took over LPs in sales.”
Masters traces the origins and history of the cassette, but the major breakthrough came when Philips produced the first cassette tape in 1963, the next landmark was the arrival of the Sony Walkman in 79 and then Philips would play a critical part in the downfall of its own creation when it produced the first compact disc in 1983. Within a decade it would outsell both tape and vinyl in the US.
It’s amusing with the advent of the Walkman to hear some of the suspicion and outrage generated by people wearing headphones in public spaces, whereas today they are depressingly ubiquitous and almost the norm.
“The better it sounded, the worse it sounded.” So said someone when trying to re-record Springsteen’s 1982 album “Nebraska” which was done on a 4-track. And this really sums up the idea and magic of the cassette tape. It’s not always about the sound quality, but more the quality of the sound and what people are really getting from it.
This idea has been taken a few steps further in more recent years, through acts like Ariel Pink, John Maus and Vektroid and the many developing sub-genres of lo-fi such as chillwave, synthwave and vaporwave which all take vital elements of cassette technology, samples, nostalgia and blend them together with various production treatments to create some really memorable and unique sounds which channel that same sound and energy, summoning the ghost of the golden age of the cassette and mixtape.
So often the mixtape is closely aligned with other DIY formats like zines, sharing many of the same values of democracy and community, allowing a lot more people to participate in what is ultimately an affordable, accessible art form, leaving plenty room for experiment, to try new creative approaches without commercial pressure or public expectation or fear of being ridiculed or discredited. Creating a kind of collective safe space with a potentially huge audience, with little to nothing to lose, and much to be gained as well as so much fun, excitement and experience to be had along the way.
In the same way that cinephile nostalgics crave and hunt down old VHS tapes and others vinyl, Kodak cameras and typewriters, it’s all a bid to recapture some of the simplicity, idealism and authenticity, or at least the ideas of those values and qualities. Especially when tech seems to progress at an ever increasing breakneck speed, it can feel exhausting and overwhelming and so the sanctuary of these declining or defunct formats can be a comfort in the face of such constant change.
Yes it can be guilty of escapism into a nostalgic yesteryear, but it’s also about so much more than that too. After all how many art forms or platforms have the ability to so effortlessly transcend ideas of class, caste, wealth, language, religious and political barriers in the way that the cassette culture did?...It also played a vital role in political subversion in places as diverse as China, Latin America and North Africa.
This is a hugely enjoyable read, with some excellent research. Masters covers a lot of ground and doesn’t just stick to Anglophonic countries, he speaks to experts, fans and collectors who have spent years sifting through the racks in West Africa, S E Asia, The Middle East and elsewhere, often finding the odd gem which reaches way beyond its parochial beginnings. And this is one of this book’s strong suits, its broad reach and deeper investigation of its subject matter. His love for the subject comes through nicely and overall this is a fine achievement and I highly recommend it. I also got a good list of documentaries and books to chase up afterwards too, which is always a bonus.
2023
October 15, 2025Non-fiction November TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press
September 3, 2024
Even before I began reading this book, as I held it in my hand, the idea of delving into the history of the cassette tape conjured many memories in my mind.
For example, if I were to think back to myself as a teenager in the 1980’s, I can literally see myself huddled up against my radio/cassette player, hearing the DJ announce that “Doctor! Doctor!” by the Thompson Twins was coming up. I can see myself pressing the PLAY and RECORD buttons simultaneously, then a split second later, hitting the PAUSE button. I listened to the DJ drone on with my finger on the PUASE button trigger, and as soon as I was sure that he or she was done talking, I’d press the PAUSE button again…this would start the tape rolling in the recorder, and the magic had begun!
The process was repeated over and over until I had a mixtape filled with my favorite songs. The process of filling a tape with musical gems could take days, even weeks of attentive radio listening.
And as I started into this book, I encountered so many stories that brought back cassette themed memories for me, i.e. the SONY Walkman, the creation of J-Cover drawing on mixtapes, and the patient process of re-spooling a tape gutted cassette using a HB pencil.
But for the majority of the time, I found myself enthralled with all the new and amazing things I learned that was brand new information to me.
The first came as I encountered the story of Phillips engineer Lou Ottens, the inventor of the compact cassette. On page 20 there is a photo of a bespectacled Ottens, holding a cassette in his hands, dressed in a suit and tie, like a NASA engineer. As I gazed at this photo, I found myself thinking that there’s no way this guy could appreciate just how massive the “tape revolution” he’d unwittingly unleashed would actually become.
I read about the phenomenon of “concert tapers” who smuggled tape recording equipment into stadium concerts, (i.e. Grateful Dead) and I assumed at first that Masters was referring to bootleggers who would illegally record concert performances and then later sell these recording for a profit. And while he does tell tales of bootleggers, the true “taper” he talks about is a person who records a concert with an entirely different goal in mind. The true “taper” wasn’t interested in making a profit on their recordings, but rather they wanted to “capture” all the different previously unreleased songs, or special versions of known songs that might occur at only one concert.
Masters spent quite a bit of time on the culture and personalities of these “tapers” as someone who was a devoted fan of a certain performing band but was not content with just owning the studio released “official” albums. Instead, these hard-core fans, the ones who were also dedicated tapers, would only feel that they had a complete collection of the band’s body of work if they owned all the live recordings of all the live performances ever done by the band. The taper would attend the concert, record the performance, and catalogue that recording, (city, date, location, etc.) then add it to their collection. These tapers would travel great distances to see their favorite band in another city, and if they were unable to do so, would find a way to trade with another taper who happened to be at that concert, and needed the recording they’d captured in their city.
I was absolutely spellbound as I read Masters accounts of the stories of the people and personalities that were present among this unique group of music appreciators.
And the other group I learned about was the people who were equally passionate about their pastime as was the taper. These people, known as “tape hunters,” would travel far distances, even to other countries and continents, in order to find music that was in danger of becoming “extinct.” They’d find these tape copies, listen to them over and over, and the ones they liked most would be the ones they’d choose to “save from extinction.” This process involved searching for the original artist, (sometimes this took years), they’d then get their permission to use their recordings on the various platforms they’d use to share this unique music with new audiences. Often this process involved extreme dedication by the tape hunter, but new music was discovered by listeners, and artists might get paid for work they thought was lost forever.
I learned about the cassette tape as a liberator of independent musical expression and its role as an enabler for unknown musicians to find audiences in countries where the music industry was subject to state control, or corporate oligarchy.
I was also amazed as I read about the record industry’s response to the invention and introduction of the compact cassette in the 1960’s. The industry was described as almost apoplectic, frantically declaring that the cassette would “kill music” because people could so easily, and inexpensively make their own recordings of previously released work. It was interesting how the industry first tried to smash down the nascent medium, then when they realized that the cassette was overwhelmingly popular, and widely embraced by people, they gradually switched their tactics by trying to get in the game themselves. The “One-Plus-One” program ushered in by Island Records was one such attempt to cash in on the phenomenon.
I was so engaged as I read about the wide variety of colorful characters that emerged during the heyday of the cassette. These included: “Jazzy Joyce” the lone soldier, and Owsley the cassette confiscating sound engineer for the Grateful Dead. There was Howard Stelzor’s “Cassette Symphony” and Sinde Bjerga’s “Thousand Angry Wasp” cassette recording idea.
And the equipment that became tied with the cassette movement became almost as unique and unforgettable as the characters that used them. These included the Nakamichi 550, the Grateful Dead “taper’s” go-to recorder, then the SONY 1525D which made their job significantly easier. Then there was the infamous JVC RC550 ghetto blaster that earned the nickname “El Diablo.”
At the other end of the cultural continuum was my learning of the origins of the word cassette itself. I had no idea how far it went back, and that it was a French word, meaning “small cases.”
I could literally go on for pages about all the intriguing things I learned about the compact cassette while reading Marc Masters book, but instead, I suggest you give it a read yourself.
Congratulations to Marc Masters for writing such an informative, engaging, and entertaining book about the little rectangular plastic device that played such a central role in my growing up years.
Five enthusiastic stars!
For example, if I were to think back to myself as a teenager in the 1980’s, I can literally see myself huddled up against my radio/cassette player, hearing the DJ announce that “Doctor! Doctor!” by the Thompson Twins was coming up. I can see myself pressing the PLAY and RECORD buttons simultaneously, then a split second later, hitting the PAUSE button. I listened to the DJ drone on with my finger on the PUASE button trigger, and as soon as I was sure that he or she was done talking, I’d press the PAUSE button again…this would start the tape rolling in the recorder, and the magic had begun!
The process was repeated over and over until I had a mixtape filled with my favorite songs. The process of filling a tape with musical gems could take days, even weeks of attentive radio listening.
And as I started into this book, I encountered so many stories that brought back cassette themed memories for me, i.e. the SONY Walkman, the creation of J-Cover drawing on mixtapes, and the patient process of re-spooling a tape gutted cassette using a HB pencil.
But for the majority of the time, I found myself enthralled with all the new and amazing things I learned that was brand new information to me.
The first came as I encountered the story of Phillips engineer Lou Ottens, the inventor of the compact cassette. On page 20 there is a photo of a bespectacled Ottens, holding a cassette in his hands, dressed in a suit and tie, like a NASA engineer. As I gazed at this photo, I found myself thinking that there’s no way this guy could appreciate just how massive the “tape revolution” he’d unwittingly unleashed would actually become.
I read about the phenomenon of “concert tapers” who smuggled tape recording equipment into stadium concerts, (i.e. Grateful Dead) and I assumed at first that Masters was referring to bootleggers who would illegally record concert performances and then later sell these recording for a profit. And while he does tell tales of bootleggers, the true “taper” he talks about is a person who records a concert with an entirely different goal in mind. The true “taper” wasn’t interested in making a profit on their recordings, but rather they wanted to “capture” all the different previously unreleased songs, or special versions of known songs that might occur at only one concert.
Masters spent quite a bit of time on the culture and personalities of these “tapers” as someone who was a devoted fan of a certain performing band but was not content with just owning the studio released “official” albums. Instead, these hard-core fans, the ones who were also dedicated tapers, would only feel that they had a complete collection of the band’s body of work if they owned all the live recordings of all the live performances ever done by the band. The taper would attend the concert, record the performance, and catalogue that recording, (city, date, location, etc.) then add it to their collection. These tapers would travel great distances to see their favorite band in another city, and if they were unable to do so, would find a way to trade with another taper who happened to be at that concert, and needed the recording they’d captured in their city.
I was absolutely spellbound as I read Masters accounts of the stories of the people and personalities that were present among this unique group of music appreciators.
And the other group I learned about was the people who were equally passionate about their pastime as was the taper. These people, known as “tape hunters,” would travel far distances, even to other countries and continents, in order to find music that was in danger of becoming “extinct.” They’d find these tape copies, listen to them over and over, and the ones they liked most would be the ones they’d choose to “save from extinction.” This process involved searching for the original artist, (sometimes this took years), they’d then get their permission to use their recordings on the various platforms they’d use to share this unique music with new audiences. Often this process involved extreme dedication by the tape hunter, but new music was discovered by listeners, and artists might get paid for work they thought was lost forever.
I learned about the cassette tape as a liberator of independent musical expression and its role as an enabler for unknown musicians to find audiences in countries where the music industry was subject to state control, or corporate oligarchy.
I was also amazed as I read about the record industry’s response to the invention and introduction of the compact cassette in the 1960’s. The industry was described as almost apoplectic, frantically declaring that the cassette would “kill music” because people could so easily, and inexpensively make their own recordings of previously released work. It was interesting how the industry first tried to smash down the nascent medium, then when they realized that the cassette was overwhelmingly popular, and widely embraced by people, they gradually switched their tactics by trying to get in the game themselves. The “One-Plus-One” program ushered in by Island Records was one such attempt to cash in on the phenomenon.
I was so engaged as I read about the wide variety of colorful characters that emerged during the heyday of the cassette. These included: “Jazzy Joyce” the lone soldier, and Owsley the cassette confiscating sound engineer for the Grateful Dead. There was Howard Stelzor’s “Cassette Symphony” and Sinde Bjerga’s “Thousand Angry Wasp” cassette recording idea.
And the equipment that became tied with the cassette movement became almost as unique and unforgettable as the characters that used them. These included the Nakamichi 550, the Grateful Dead “taper’s” go-to recorder, then the SONY 1525D which made their job significantly easier. Then there was the infamous JVC RC550 ghetto blaster that earned the nickname “El Diablo.”
At the other end of the cultural continuum was my learning of the origins of the word cassette itself. I had no idea how far it went back, and that it was a French word, meaning “small cases.”
I could literally go on for pages about all the intriguing things I learned about the compact cassette while reading Marc Masters book, but instead, I suggest you give it a read yourself.
Congratulations to Marc Masters for writing such an informative, engaging, and entertaining book about the little rectangular plastic device that played such a central role in my growing up years.
Five enthusiastic stars!
August 19, 2023
High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape will be published on October 3, 2023. The University of North Carolina Press provided an early galley for review.
As a kid of the 70's, I used cassette tapes to record favorite songs off of the radio or to make silly recordings of myself doing "shows" or "broadcasts". In college, I went through a phase of buying a lot of new music on cassette as that was more portable at the time. I used pencils to respool many an unwound tape that the player had tried to eat. So, this topic was instantly fascinating for me.
The images used of various cassette tapes throughout the book really took me back; seeing them will be an instant nostalgia trigger for readers of a certain age. Masters understands their allure, their tactile sensations, their audio idiosyncrasies, and he celebrates all of that here.
This book made me really appreciate the cassette format a lot more. It reminded me of the thought and time that went into making a mix-tape; burning a mix-CD or just creating a mix-playlist are such quicker processes. I also enjoyed hearing about the community aspects of tape trading and the thrill-of-the-hunt aspects of finding new music in this manner from other places in the world.
As a kid of the 70's, I used cassette tapes to record favorite songs off of the radio or to make silly recordings of myself doing "shows" or "broadcasts". In college, I went through a phase of buying a lot of new music on cassette as that was more portable at the time. I used pencils to respool many an unwound tape that the player had tried to eat. So, this topic was instantly fascinating for me.
The images used of various cassette tapes throughout the book really took me back; seeing them will be an instant nostalgia trigger for readers of a certain age. Masters understands their allure, their tactile sensations, their audio idiosyncrasies, and he celebrates all of that here.
This book made me really appreciate the cassette format a lot more. It reminded me of the thought and time that went into making a mix-tape; burning a mix-CD or just creating a mix-playlist are such quicker processes. I also enjoyed hearing about the community aspects of tape trading and the thrill-of-the-hunt aspects of finding new music in this manner from other places in the world.
June 17, 2024
Did I like it? I don’t know man. I thought I was gonna get technical history of the cassette tape and I did sort of it at the beginning. Then it went into permutations and world culture and all this stuff that should’ve been way more interesting to me and just wasn’t. I definitely wanted to make it way more than I actually liked it.
I think part of it is that I just can’t buy the idea that anybody would prefer a cassette tape over other music delivery systems. I get it if it’s your only outfit, but to defy over an album or a CD or a download just seems so bizarre to me. I guess I just didn’t buy into the basic premise of this book. Mostly I just found it boring and I’m kind of surprised I finished it
I think part of it is that I just can’t buy the idea that anybody would prefer a cassette tape over other music delivery systems. I get it if it’s your only outfit, but to defy over an album or a CD or a download just seems so bizarre to me. I guess I just didn’t buy into the basic premise of this book. Mostly I just found it boring and I’m kind of surprised I finished it
July 2, 2023
When my grandfather died, I found a box of old cassette tapes. They were recordings of meetings he attended as a sports official. We had no tape player to listen to the tapes, but we still hold onto the tapes because there's something sacrilegious about throwing away an object that has my grandfather's voice. I thought about this while reading Mark Masters's "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape." Masters describes in immense detail the history, use, decline, and the adoration for the cassette tape.
Masters reminds readers how the cassette was so important to up-and-coming bands/artists who were not a part of the music community. They could sell, trade, and offer tapes of their performances to get their name and work out into the world. The tape was a way of equalizing access to music. Audience members would record concerts and performances and they would trade amongst themselves because each taped performance was a different experience (The Grateful Dead is an example of this).
Masters also shows how the tape was such a personal object as so many people used tapes to connect with lovers and friends. The cassette became a love language for lovers, and also a means of connecting to people with similar love of music and tapes.
The book is exhaustive in the amount of information, and Masters includes so many quotes, interviews and secondary sources that I feel like I got an enjoyable seminar on the history of tape.
Masters reminds readers how the cassette was so important to up-and-coming bands/artists who were not a part of the music community. They could sell, trade, and offer tapes of their performances to get their name and work out into the world. The tape was a way of equalizing access to music. Audience members would record concerts and performances and they would trade amongst themselves because each taped performance was a different experience (The Grateful Dead is an example of this).
Masters also shows how the tape was such a personal object as so many people used tapes to connect with lovers and friends. The cassette became a love language for lovers, and also a means of connecting to people with similar love of music and tapes.
The book is exhaustive in the amount of information, and Masters includes so many quotes, interviews and secondary sources that I feel like I got an enjoyable seminar on the history of tape.
February 5, 2024
An excellent read. Not simply any mere exercise in nostalgia or vintage object fetishism, this plumbs an esoteric history of a whole community, operating both globally and in local enclaves, hanging together by what the medium enables and inspires. I took many notes on artists, labels, and books I want to explore. The section on the fertile tape trading scene of yore felt revelatory. The section on the current tape scene is great in that it bears witness to people currently toiling in passionate obscurity on the periphery of larger music culture, doing important work to keep independent and experimental music affordable, viable, and thriving. Hausu Mountain, Tabs Out, Orange Milk, and more all get deserved space. And really let's not beat around the bush - the people releasing the most exciting experimental music and the people putting out cassette releases is basically a 1:1 overlapping circle.
As someone who has both released music on cassette and has built up a small tape collection over the past decade and change, there was still a lot for me to learn here. And at the risk of some slight hyperbole, I actually feel I'm a better and more consciously aware musician and music listener after having read High Bias. Give it a look if any of this sounds remotely interesting to you.
As someone who has both released music on cassette and has built up a small tape collection over the past decade and change, there was still a lot for me to learn here. And at the risk of some slight hyperbole, I actually feel I'm a better and more consciously aware musician and music listener after having read High Bias. Give it a look if any of this sounds remotely interesting to you.
February 14, 2024
So good it got me to read an entire chapter on the Grateful fuckin' Dead.
January 20, 2025
Very good data. Only for fans and freaks, really.
November 25, 2023
marvellous stuff
February 7, 2024
Excellent look at a topic near and dear to my heart. Makes me want to get a new tape deck.
May 14, 2024
What an awesome book! Saw a tweet from the author about Steve Albini’s passing while I was at work shipping Shellac and Big Black records listening to the audiobook of this and thought “Wow what a melding of worlds!” And then Awesome Tapes from Africa was mentioned (who we used to distribute for) and I got to learn a little more about Hailu Mergia past just listening to his tapes. I need to buy the physical copy of this book because there’s so many things mentioned that I want to learn more about!!
I am also an electronic ambient musician who made the decision on my last two tapes to release a version to streaming that’s audio of a damaged cassette of the album with a special unique version that can only be heard on that track and so much of this book restored my confidence in that decision to do the weird thing even if it’s only appreciate by a few genuine fans.
Highly recommend to all music enthusiasts and collectors and just people who like learning about the history of media and music and culture.
I am also an electronic ambient musician who made the decision on my last two tapes to release a version to streaming that’s audio of a damaged cassette of the album with a special unique version that can only be heard on that track and so much of this book restored my confidence in that decision to do the weird thing even if it’s only appreciate by a few genuine fans.
Highly recommend to all music enthusiasts and collectors and just people who like learning about the history of media and music and culture.
September 19, 2023
Really excellent and interesting look at cassette tapes and cassette culture. There are a bunch of really cool independent labels that this book introduced me to and it made me want to make my own tape.
August 15, 2023
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher University of North Carolina Press for an advanced copy of the history and the gift that audio cassettes were, and how those little things changed music in many ways.
I worked in a music store when compact disc's were taking over, LPs were considered dinosaurs and cassettes were starting to be considered the horse and buggy. Cd's were great, great sound, though few music companies outside of classical music tried to do so, great length, 70 minutes, but yeah double albums were still made double cds for money. And the rest. I however loved my cassettes. The sound system had I think 3 double cassette units and two regular cassette systems, along with a record player, CD player and VCR. I think the boss added a laser disc just because. So I would buy Maxell gold's and tape everything, even the stuff I bought, that way it was still clean, and only my tapes would get hurt. I could stick a 90 minute cassette, record all sorts of stuff, with movie dialogue and have the greatest mix tapes ever, humble brag. I miss those days. And I think so does Marc Masters the author of High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape. The book is a history of the creation of cassette tapes,a hagiography on their many uses, and a love song to all the great music and musicians that used that humble plastic in oh so many ways.
The book begins with the idea of making something that could record phone messages so that people back in the day could know who called and why. The technology was there, it just took a lot of trial and effort to bring everything together, starting with paper recordings to a medium that might seem more familiar. Soon the music industry began to take notice, as most recordings of the time were made in one take, without a chance to start over or fix a minor mistake in what could have been a great performance. Soon cassette players were getting a little smaller, and trade wars took place between companies, stealing and copying ideas, but leading to a standard form, that helped in both production and adoption. The book looks at the controversies that cassettes caused, with music people fearing copying of music, and lose of profits. Also the book looks at the use of multi-track recorders in developing music both in rock and hip hop, and how bands could send out numerous demos of their recordings to music labels.
As I wrote earlier a real love story to a humble piece of plastic. I loved cassettes. I loved unfolding the inner sleeve reading the small print, with lyics and tiny pictures. Or making collages for mix tapes that I would give to people to share new bands or share my soul. The writing is very good, well-researched and written so that the technology is easy to understand, and the passion that performers had for the medium came through. There are plenty of stories, about tapes that made history, or changed careers, and about the recent resurgence that is much more than hipster nostalgia.
Recommended for music fans, and for people who love reading about fans of music. There are plenty of stories, with lots of information for people who might be neophytes with cassettes, or oldsters who can record a whole side with no breaks in the songs, complete with special effects, movie noises and spoken word intros.
I worked in a music store when compact disc's were taking over, LPs were considered dinosaurs and cassettes were starting to be considered the horse and buggy. Cd's were great, great sound, though few music companies outside of classical music tried to do so, great length, 70 minutes, but yeah double albums were still made double cds for money. And the rest. I however loved my cassettes. The sound system had I think 3 double cassette units and two regular cassette systems, along with a record player, CD player and VCR. I think the boss added a laser disc just because. So I would buy Maxell gold's and tape everything, even the stuff I bought, that way it was still clean, and only my tapes would get hurt. I could stick a 90 minute cassette, record all sorts of stuff, with movie dialogue and have the greatest mix tapes ever, humble brag. I miss those days. And I think so does Marc Masters the author of High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape. The book is a history of the creation of cassette tapes,a hagiography on their many uses, and a love song to all the great music and musicians that used that humble plastic in oh so many ways.
The book begins with the idea of making something that could record phone messages so that people back in the day could know who called and why. The technology was there, it just took a lot of trial and effort to bring everything together, starting with paper recordings to a medium that might seem more familiar. Soon the music industry began to take notice, as most recordings of the time were made in one take, without a chance to start over or fix a minor mistake in what could have been a great performance. Soon cassette players were getting a little smaller, and trade wars took place between companies, stealing and copying ideas, but leading to a standard form, that helped in both production and adoption. The book looks at the controversies that cassettes caused, with music people fearing copying of music, and lose of profits. Also the book looks at the use of multi-track recorders in developing music both in rock and hip hop, and how bands could send out numerous demos of their recordings to music labels.
As I wrote earlier a real love story to a humble piece of plastic. I loved cassettes. I loved unfolding the inner sleeve reading the small print, with lyics and tiny pictures. Or making collages for mix tapes that I would give to people to share new bands or share my soul. The writing is very good, well-researched and written so that the technology is easy to understand, and the passion that performers had for the medium came through. There are plenty of stories, about tapes that made history, or changed careers, and about the recent resurgence that is much more than hipster nostalgia.
Recommended for music fans, and for people who love reading about fans of music. There are plenty of stories, with lots of information for people who might be neophytes with cassettes, or oldsters who can record a whole side with no breaks in the songs, complete with special effects, movie noises and spoken word intros.
October 3, 2023
High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape is a concise but comprehensive history of the cassette tape tracing it through it's technological development through the era of its widespread usage to the memories of mixtapes, desire to capture disparate noises or enduring desire to have something physical in our digital age.
Marc Masters is an accomplished music journalist, having written for NPR, Rolling Stone and Bandcamp Daily. In 2007 he published No Wave . Here, in High Bias, Masters explores both the mainstream music industry and the more fringe, experimental or underground practitioners in the cassette culture.
The book is divided into seven chapters focused on specific facets. The first two chapters detail the creation and development of the cassette tape and its playing infrastructure (boom box to Walkman). Chapters three through six go in-depth with specific cultures looking at the international tape trading, culture and practices of live music recorders, those searching for unique or history music globally and the craft of creating mixtapes. The last chapters the supposed "cassette comeback," when like with records or CDs they never went away.
Masters writes well, offering clear descriptions and interweaving many interview or oral sources into the textual narrative. His focus is from the 1960s to the present day.
Aside from the historical focus, a recurrent theme is the interest of the value of a physical product for music and control. The recorded music industry did not like the cassette tape, as it enabled the every-person the capability to create their own albums or playlist by recording from records or the radio, it distributed something that was under high control. A fact that has gone full circle as music is highly accessible to those with the ability to pay for access either just for the internet or through streaming services. Many of the interviewees or Masters himself talk about how some tried to transition to Spotify or other digital platforms and found the experience lacking compared to the time intensive crafting of mixtapes. Digitization is also a recurrent theme, with many of the tape collectors who journeyed around the world to build up collections creating blogs or websites to help share their sounds.
Marc Masters' High Bias is both a nostalgic look back at the radical possibilities of the cassette and it's ongoing value as a distribution method for more experimental or politically challenging content. A recommended read for music scholars, diy enthusiasts or those interested in the technological development of recorded music.
I received a free digital version of this eBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Marc Masters is an accomplished music journalist, having written for NPR, Rolling Stone and Bandcamp Daily. In 2007 he published No Wave . Here, in High Bias, Masters explores both the mainstream music industry and the more fringe, experimental or underground practitioners in the cassette culture.
The book is divided into seven chapters focused on specific facets. The first two chapters detail the creation and development of the cassette tape and its playing infrastructure (boom box to Walkman). Chapters three through six go in-depth with specific cultures looking at the international tape trading, culture and practices of live music recorders, those searching for unique or history music globally and the craft of creating mixtapes. The last chapters the supposed "cassette comeback," when like with records or CDs they never went away.
Masters writes well, offering clear descriptions and interweaving many interview or oral sources into the textual narrative. His focus is from the 1960s to the present day.
Aside from the historical focus, a recurrent theme is the interest of the value of a physical product for music and control. The recorded music industry did not like the cassette tape, as it enabled the every-person the capability to create their own albums or playlist by recording from records or the radio, it distributed something that was under high control. A fact that has gone full circle as music is highly accessible to those with the ability to pay for access either just for the internet or through streaming services. Many of the interviewees or Masters himself talk about how some tried to transition to Spotify or other digital platforms and found the experience lacking compared to the time intensive crafting of mixtapes. Digitization is also a recurrent theme, with many of the tape collectors who journeyed around the world to build up collections creating blogs or websites to help share their sounds.
Marc Masters' High Bias is both a nostalgic look back at the radical possibilities of the cassette and it's ongoing value as a distribution method for more experimental or politically challenging content. A recommended read for music scholars, diy enthusiasts or those interested in the technological development of recorded music.
I received a free digital version of this eBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
December 1, 2023
Marc Masters, music writer for bandcamp, pitchfork, crank automotive and numerous print outlets, makes a persuasive case here that the cassette tape changed the world, especially for those who grew up across the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Each chapter is devoted to a particular way that tapes had impact, a particular subgroup of people who benefited from them (or gloried in them). Chapter 1 describes how quickly the cassette took off once invented (by Lou Ottens) and how technological contributions (walkman, boombox, dubbing decks) facilitated its spread. Chapter 2 documents how the easy access to cassettes allowed hip-hop and go-go artists to distribute their latest sounds, outside the realm of the major labels, and helped metal, punk, and indie rockers to get demos and home-recorded personal musical statements into the hands of fans. Chapter 3 delves deeper into the world of home tapers and those who release obscure or outside art via tapes as well as the underground artists who use (and abuse) cassettes as part of their performances. Chapter 4 focuses on the bootleg cassette (illicitly recorded at concerts) which grew into a band-supported documentation and trading industry for some artists and fans (think the Grateful Dead). Chapter 5 reveals how widely the cassette made its impact with a look at the proliferation of farflung local tape stores in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, hawking otherwise unknown traditional and hybrid musics that occasionally got heard in the West as a result of intrepid "tape hunters" devoting their lives to searching and exposing great music. Chapter 6 spotlights the cultural phenomenon of the personal mixtape, traded between friends or given as gifts, and argues that the CD-R or streaming playlist just isn't the same. The final chapter seeks to explore and explain the slight return of the cassette, primarily for the release of experimental and iconoclastic musics via tape labels accessing new distribution channels (like bandcamp). Throughout the detailed and well-researched book, Masters keeps things informal and friendly, offering perceptive commentary and deep insights that hold together the many stories and interview excerpts. The level of specific and varied detail here is vibrantly enjoyable to read but also adds up to offer a persuasive case for why the cassette was (and is) a very big deal. As one who has lived through this era (and recorded family conversations in the 70s, made monthly mixtapes in the 80s and 90s, bought underground cassettes directly from the artists, and even visited tape stores in Indonesia), I can testify that this is an accurate and awesome book. Highly recommended!
November 16, 2024
Really enjoyed this, more than I expected. At first, we get the basic cassette-history lesson, which replicates the other UNC press book on cassettes I read. But then, Masters really gets into the details of exactly how the cheap, democratic, found-art aspect of cassettes enables the creation of cultures, and subcultures, and connections, with a wonderful cast of creatives and eccentrics and homemade John Cages: there's a whole history of avant-garde performances using masses of tape machines (you get all these people wandering through cities and parking garages and working out quite impressively sequenced performances built around masses of recorders being turned on and off at specific times; the cassette avant-garde was and is way bigger, deeper, and weirder than I imagined); there's the ways rap and metal and indie all built whole worlds out of similarly-obsessed...obsessives all over the place (the Pynchonesque hidden history here is the heroic role of the US Mail in delivering joy on a daily basis) who were sending each other tapes, with Metallica being the most famous example of the fan-to-superstar trajectory (it's actually striking how often famous indie musicians, in particular, had been avid Deadheads first of all); speaking of Deadheads, there's an engaging social history of how taping moved from samizdat to bulwark of the culture, and then how that practice spread (speaking of Metallica, they copied the Dead's taping policy word for word, a detail I love).
And then, which I was hoping for, he gets into the global spread of taping, which allowed multiple countries' music to escape centralized government control (apparently there's a short Ata Kak documentary I need to check out, since I love that album, one of my favorite Awesome Tapes from Africa finds) and then preserved infinite micro-scenes and idiosyncratic genres and performances. And more, and more--the mail-art exchange world, the range of absolutely consumed individual music makers turning out sometimes hundreds of tapes over the years, and of course everyone running some micro-company, some of them making sure to do all the duping themselves to fully inhabit the DIY universe, now collating and producing tapes as music projects, art projects and something in between, sort of commerce but mostly culture, and of course the history/aesthetics of mixtapes, all of which now has a whole retro critical apparatus attached.
As a demonstration of the democratic not just potential, but reality, of the tape, across a range of artistic and political circumstances, a persuasive and engaging treat.
And then, which I was hoping for, he gets into the global spread of taping, which allowed multiple countries' music to escape centralized government control (apparently there's a short Ata Kak documentary I need to check out, since I love that album, one of my favorite Awesome Tapes from Africa finds) and then preserved infinite micro-scenes and idiosyncratic genres and performances. And more, and more--the mail-art exchange world, the range of absolutely consumed individual music makers turning out sometimes hundreds of tapes over the years, and of course everyone running some micro-company, some of them making sure to do all the duping themselves to fully inhabit the DIY universe, now collating and producing tapes as music projects, art projects and something in between, sort of commerce but mostly culture, and of course the history/aesthetics of mixtapes, all of which now has a whole retro critical apparatus attached.
As a demonstration of the democratic not just potential, but reality, of the tape, across a range of artistic and political circumstances, a persuasive and engaging treat.
August 24, 2025
I was the first person in my family to have a tape player/recorder, a tiny boom box I received as a First Communion gift. The cassette tape became a major part of my childhood. I created my own “tape radio” station – WLTS (yes, those are my initials) – with my own voice as the DJ between the songs as well as my own original comedy bits (sometimes with friends or my sister). I like to think I invented the podcast. In high school and college, I became the master of making mix tapes, introducing new artists to my friends through expert sequencing. I remained pretty loyal to the tape, into the early 2000s before I finally gave into CDs and digital music.
But I still love cassettes and the book explains why. The cassette managed to become ubiquitous due to its portability as well as the portability of the devices made to play them. You could share your music with the JVC RC-M70 (the first “boom box”) or you could enjoy your own personal soundtrack with the Sony Walkman. Compact and affordable four-track recording equipment also allowed people to create their own works on cassettes.
Masters documents how several genres – hip hop, heavy metal, go go, and indie rock – owed their existence to fans sharing recordings on tape. Taping concerts also become an obsession of some fans, most notably but not exclusively of the Grateful Dead. Artists also took advantage of the lofi sound of cassettes to create their own music from superstar Bruce Springsteen to underground artist Daniel Johnston. In the developing world, the cassette allowed recording of musical styles that music companies and governments would not endorse. To this day collectors travel the world to find copies of these rare music of the people.
I was most fascinated by the artists who exchanged tapes by mail adding their contributions, creating loops and sounds by manipulating the tapes themselves. Some artists even perform live improvisations mixing together fragments of multiple tape recordings on multiple devices. I kind of feel a bit bummed that as much as I played with tapes I was never aware of these artistic communities. That being said, in the final chapter Masters details the persistence of the tape long after its reported death and how it continues to be a unique and useful technology (so if anyone wants to invite me to their cassette art community, hit me up!).
But I still love cassettes and the book explains why. The cassette managed to become ubiquitous due to its portability as well as the portability of the devices made to play them. You could share your music with the JVC RC-M70 (the first “boom box”) or you could enjoy your own personal soundtrack with the Sony Walkman. Compact and affordable four-track recording equipment also allowed people to create their own works on cassettes.
Masters documents how several genres – hip hop, heavy metal, go go, and indie rock – owed their existence to fans sharing recordings on tape. Taping concerts also become an obsession of some fans, most notably but not exclusively of the Grateful Dead. Artists also took advantage of the lofi sound of cassettes to create their own music from superstar Bruce Springsteen to underground artist Daniel Johnston. In the developing world, the cassette allowed recording of musical styles that music companies and governments would not endorse. To this day collectors travel the world to find copies of these rare music of the people.
I was most fascinated by the artists who exchanged tapes by mail adding their contributions, creating loops and sounds by manipulating the tapes themselves. Some artists even perform live improvisations mixing together fragments of multiple tape recordings on multiple devices. I kind of feel a bit bummed that as much as I played with tapes I was never aware of these artistic communities. That being said, in the final chapter Masters details the persistence of the tape long after its reported death and how it continues to be a unique and useful technology (so if anyone wants to invite me to their cassette art community, hit me up!).
July 2, 2023
High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape by Marc Masters is an absolute pleasure to read, both for the history and, if you're my age, the nostalgia.
In the mid-70s I joined the Navy and spent a fair part of my money on audio equipment. From a nice component system including reel-to-reel and phonograph, I quickly became enamored with cassettes. I would record my albums on cassettes both to play in my car and to preserve my albums. Then there was the almost constant enjoyment of creating mixed tapes for both myself and for others, finding themes and making connections. While I did progress into CDs like most people, I never left cassettes behind and had well over a thousand until Katrina washed them all out.
Masters gives a history that highlights the experiences many of us had as well as the role they played in helping small bands and artists find their way more economically and with more creative freedom. Another book I am reading has to do with a record label that promoted Americana music, often with little to no profit. This reminded me of the festivals and shows I would attend and record on cassette. Partly because I tended not to buy those records (I gravitated toward rock, blues, jazz, and R&B) but I loved the Americana (I'm thinking mostly bluegrass) music in a live venue, so my cassettes gave me the best of both worlds.
While creating playlists in our current world is certainly similar, there just doesn't seem to be the same feeling as listening to every song as you record it, then giving a physical gift to someone. Now, I can just pick and choose the songs and create the playlist without listening (and without mixing the songs so they flow), which is quicker and easier, but, for me, a lot less satisfying.
I would recommend this to music scholars and music history buffs, but especially to those who remember recording tapes, no matter the source, and spending the time decorating the cassette inserts. This will be a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
In the mid-70s I joined the Navy and spent a fair part of my money on audio equipment. From a nice component system including reel-to-reel and phonograph, I quickly became enamored with cassettes. I would record my albums on cassettes both to play in my car and to preserve my albums. Then there was the almost constant enjoyment of creating mixed tapes for both myself and for others, finding themes and making connections. While I did progress into CDs like most people, I never left cassettes behind and had well over a thousand until Katrina washed them all out.
Masters gives a history that highlights the experiences many of us had as well as the role they played in helping small bands and artists find their way more economically and with more creative freedom. Another book I am reading has to do with a record label that promoted Americana music, often with little to no profit. This reminded me of the festivals and shows I would attend and record on cassette. Partly because I tended not to buy those records (I gravitated toward rock, blues, jazz, and R&B) but I loved the Americana (I'm thinking mostly bluegrass) music in a live venue, so my cassettes gave me the best of both worlds.
While creating playlists in our current world is certainly similar, there just doesn't seem to be the same feeling as listening to every song as you record it, then giving a physical gift to someone. Now, I can just pick and choose the songs and create the playlist without listening (and without mixing the songs so they flow), which is quicker and easier, but, for me, a lot less satisfying.
I would recommend this to music scholars and music history buffs, but especially to those who remember recording tapes, no matter the source, and spending the time decorating the cassette inserts. This will be a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
February 14, 2025
Really didn't like this one at all. The first and last chapters are solid enough, but everything in between ranged from underwhelming to actively frustrating. I think that's partially because it does a terrible job of setting expectations for what the book is.
Is it, in fact, a history of the cassette tape? Only barely! More frequently, it's just kind of a celebration of cassette tapes, in the form of endless lists of people who like them. And that would be fine--if I knew this book was just a really one-sided "hooray!" about cassettes, I probably wouldn't have bought it--but since it's not billed as that, I think it's super obnoxious. There are so many claims in here where the book seems to contradict or openly ignore anything that isn't just rabid cassette love. "Cassettes are an incredible, unique, wonderful piece of media!" the book champions, and then later on it will list example after example of, "He decided to start a label or a zine dedicated to championing these beautiful artefacts! (It failed within a year.)" without pausing to consider like... why did it fail? There's a whole section on the Grateful Dead where the book dismisses any real reasons why people might dislike tapers at shows ("They definitely weren't in this to make money! They all just loved the music so much that they needed to keep it with them!"), and then just casually keeps bringing up, "Well they had to smuggle their equipment in because all the venues and fans and bands didn't like it", and there's literally never a point where the author pauses to ask--hey, why not?
And again, that's fine if the book is just, "I think cassettes are cool, and here's why". But as a "history" of the medium, that's really just not enough.
Also, frankly, cassettes here are not a thrilling throughline. What ends up happening is that this feels like a sampler of 50 topics that would be interesting enough to have their own book, but here they just sort of fade away. And I get that it's working almost collage-like, but the result is... ugh.
Is it, in fact, a history of the cassette tape? Only barely! More frequently, it's just kind of a celebration of cassette tapes, in the form of endless lists of people who like them. And that would be fine--if I knew this book was just a really one-sided "hooray!" about cassettes, I probably wouldn't have bought it--but since it's not billed as that, I think it's super obnoxious. There are so many claims in here where the book seems to contradict or openly ignore anything that isn't just rabid cassette love. "Cassettes are an incredible, unique, wonderful piece of media!" the book champions, and then later on it will list example after example of, "He decided to start a label or a zine dedicated to championing these beautiful artefacts! (It failed within a year.)" without pausing to consider like... why did it fail? There's a whole section on the Grateful Dead where the book dismisses any real reasons why people might dislike tapers at shows ("They definitely weren't in this to make money! They all just loved the music so much that they needed to keep it with them!"), and then just casually keeps bringing up, "Well they had to smuggle their equipment in because all the venues and fans and bands didn't like it", and there's literally never a point where the author pauses to ask--hey, why not?
And again, that's fine if the book is just, "I think cassettes are cool, and here's why". But as a "history" of the medium, that's really just not enough.
Also, frankly, cassettes here are not a thrilling throughline. What ends up happening is that this feels like a sampler of 50 topics that would be interesting enough to have their own book, but here they just sort of fade away. And I get that it's working almost collage-like, but the result is... ugh.
September 24, 2023
What I’m going to say is unusual for an academic, peer-reviewed book (brace yourself): I’m buying this book as gifts for my non-academia friends. Whaaaat? No one buys academic books for fun and certainly not for non-academic friends, people who couldn’t give a chuck about literature reviews and theoretical frameworks and nuances and problematizing blah blah blah blah….
While published by University of North Carolina Press, as a very well-researched, stunning piece of scholarship, High Bias makes for an amazingly refreshing, smooth, and interesting work of non-fiction. It is one of those rare books that is entirely suited to an academic audience as well as a general adult readership.
Some of this is due to the subject matter. Every generation has its nostalgic artifacts; music in particular — and here also, its mode, the cassette tape — is one that reaches across many divides. Regardless of our individual tastes in music, those of us who grew in its era can relate to the tactile use of one. The book triggers a muscle memory in both our brains and fingertips. As I read this book I could recall with vivid clarity how the grooves in my cassette tapes felt as I twisted it around to switch from Side A to Side B, or vice versa.
Sentimentality aside, High Bias delivers as a stellar piece of academic scholarship.
The book is divided into and introduction and seven chapters. The first two detail the physical history of the cassette, its development and rise; chapters three and four explore how music travelled in the real world, as dubbed music, from one hand to another. These chapters pay especial attention to the cassette and its involvement in the evolution of hip hop, rap, and DJ music. Chapter five takes this exploration further, beyond American shores, to trace the cultural impact of cassettes on music and its distribution in other places: Turkey, Southeast Asia, and so on. What struck me about these chapters is how the cassette functioned as a mode of connection between people in far flung places. Chapter six ends this discussion with the thing that most of us remember: the personal mixtape. Chapter seven leaves the future of the cassette open; aptly titled, “Tape’s Not Dead.”
Masters draws from oral histories, interviews, archival text, as well as published texts and articles from the last half of the twentieth century; this is a multiple material culture approach to the topic, one that is likely necessary due to the nature and era of the cassette. Masters’ scholarship has breadth, even while — as mentioned earlier — it deftly avoids the pedantism typical of most academic books.
Masters’ prose adds to the accessibility of this book. It reads like a podcast, something I might expect on cassette from a friend who says, “Hey, you gotta listen to this,” and slips it into my bag. The words flow and paint a palpable texture of the many lives that have created and been touched by the cassette and the music it contained.
I’m going to go now and put this book on my Wish List. I want a copy for my personal library.
While published by University of North Carolina Press, as a very well-researched, stunning piece of scholarship, High Bias makes for an amazingly refreshing, smooth, and interesting work of non-fiction. It is one of those rare books that is entirely suited to an academic audience as well as a general adult readership.
Some of this is due to the subject matter. Every generation has its nostalgic artifacts; music in particular — and here also, its mode, the cassette tape — is one that reaches across many divides. Regardless of our individual tastes in music, those of us who grew in its era can relate to the tactile use of one. The book triggers a muscle memory in both our brains and fingertips. As I read this book I could recall with vivid clarity how the grooves in my cassette tapes felt as I twisted it around to switch from Side A to Side B, or vice versa.
Sentimentality aside, High Bias delivers as a stellar piece of academic scholarship.
The book is divided into and introduction and seven chapters. The first two detail the physical history of the cassette, its development and rise; chapters three and four explore how music travelled in the real world, as dubbed music, from one hand to another. These chapters pay especial attention to the cassette and its involvement in the evolution of hip hop, rap, and DJ music. Chapter five takes this exploration further, beyond American shores, to trace the cultural impact of cassettes on music and its distribution in other places: Turkey, Southeast Asia, and so on. What struck me about these chapters is how the cassette functioned as a mode of connection between people in far flung places. Chapter six ends this discussion with the thing that most of us remember: the personal mixtape. Chapter seven leaves the future of the cassette open; aptly titled, “Tape’s Not Dead.”
Masters draws from oral histories, interviews, archival text, as well as published texts and articles from the last half of the twentieth century; this is a multiple material culture approach to the topic, one that is likely necessary due to the nature and era of the cassette. Masters’ scholarship has breadth, even while — as mentioned earlier — it deftly avoids the pedantism typical of most academic books.
Masters’ prose adds to the accessibility of this book. It reads like a podcast, something I might expect on cassette from a friend who says, “Hey, you gotta listen to this,” and slips it into my bag. The words flow and paint a palpable texture of the many lives that have created and been touched by the cassette and the music it contained.
I’m going to go now and put this book on my Wish List. I want a copy for my personal library.
November 3, 2023
High Bias is a meticulously researched book about the history of cassette tapes and I had a lot of fun going along on the nostalgic journey! Not only do I remember how revolutionary it was when I got my first Walkman in the early 1980's, I also remember getting and making mixtapes that enabled me to just have the songs I want to hear as opposed to having to listen to a whole album. Home recording and mixing became highly influential to many DJ's, Hip Hop artists and non mainstream bands as well as more known bands. Deadheads would tape Grateful Dead shows and share these with others to continue the experience of being at a show. When CD's were first introduced, I was a really late adopter -- I really loved having cassettes and being able to record and create. Over time, as I eventually got used to CD sound, when a friend would put on a cassette - I would unfortunately immediately notice the tape hiss. I still have a cassette player and a bunch of mixtapes that have personal meaning for me. Even when my cassette deck no longer works, I still will hold on to these tapes as a sentimental souvenir of my life.
Thank you to Netgalley and University of North Carolina Press for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.
Thank you to Netgalley and University of North Carolina Press for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.
October 27, 2023
A great read for anyone who ever had a car strewn with functional, and semi-functional cassettes in and out of cases.
The democratization that the cassette player brought to the music world reminds me of the webcomic movement of the late 1990's and early 2000's, and many other phenomena where the number of creators exploded. If someone wants to make a tape, you can't stop them. And there's something romantic in that. While the MAN wanted everyone on some other format, the PEOPLE reigned victorious with cassettes.
I think my favorite chapters were the ones on artists being able to make their own demos, before they could even afford studio time or anything, and the one on people that scour the world looking for old cassettes to see what's on them, and keep those sounds from effervescing into the void. There are tape collectors whose cause is just as noble as the people who have scoured the American South preserving blues and country 78's like so many Paleozoic-era fossils. And just like fossils from 70 million years ago, their very rarity produces a sweet mourning for all that we've already lost.
The democratization that the cassette player brought to the music world reminds me of the webcomic movement of the late 1990's and early 2000's, and many other phenomena where the number of creators exploded. If someone wants to make a tape, you can't stop them. And there's something romantic in that. While the MAN wanted everyone on some other format, the PEOPLE reigned victorious with cassettes.
I think my favorite chapters were the ones on artists being able to make their own demos, before they could even afford studio time or anything, and the one on people that scour the world looking for old cassettes to see what's on them, and keep those sounds from effervescing into the void. There are tape collectors whose cause is just as noble as the people who have scoured the American South preserving blues and country 78's like so many Paleozoic-era fossils. And just like fossils from 70 million years ago, their very rarity produces a sweet mourning for all that we've already lost.
September 9, 2023
As someone who grew up in the early 00’s, I didn’t have the largest personal connection with cassette tapes. Some of the music or audiobooks I listened to as a kid were on tape. The most important connection I have with them is from when I was studying for my bar mitzvah. Every week, my tutor and I would work through portions and record on tape for me to practice later.
I found the beginning chapters, about the invention, popularization, and development of tape recording and the compact cassette specifically, as well as the last few chapters about the continued use and foothold of the cassette tape and the resurrection of music thought lost most engaging. The middle third of the book lagged a bit for me, with too much repetition of the “X ran an exchange/zine/radio station in Y location” formula. All that said, I think this is certainly a worthy addition to the microhistory genre.
My thanks to the University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
I found the beginning chapters, about the invention, popularization, and development of tape recording and the compact cassette specifically, as well as the last few chapters about the continued use and foothold of the cassette tape and the resurrection of music thought lost most engaging. The middle third of the book lagged a bit for me, with too much repetition of the “X ran an exchange/zine/radio station in Y location” formula. All that said, I think this is certainly a worthy addition to the microhistory genre.
My thanks to the University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
November 21, 2024
I read this a year ago, but didn't log it because I was in such a daze at a time that it didn't stick -- so I returned to it a year later in a better headspace and mood and this time, Marc's work most definitely stuck.
A lot of great history, a good mix of technical and artistic insight, that helps moves along a book that feels more like a conversation -- a lively TED talk -- rather than a droll history. I also appreciate that Marc didn't deviate too much from telling a somewhat linear story in each chapter, giving just enough breadcrumbs (including a full bibliography at the end) if readers want to follow one of the many forks in forest river presented within.
Marc has always been a writer who trims the fat, and High Bias is quite lean in the best possible way. Plenty of opportunities to fatten myself in further literature that does specific dives into some of this info, and that's the way this should be. It's deeper than a primer, but not so academically stiff to be a boring read.
A lot of great history, a good mix of technical and artistic insight, that helps moves along a book that feels more like a conversation -- a lively TED talk -- rather than a droll history. I also appreciate that Marc didn't deviate too much from telling a somewhat linear story in each chapter, giving just enough breadcrumbs (including a full bibliography at the end) if readers want to follow one of the many forks in forest river presented within.
Marc has always been a writer who trims the fat, and High Bias is quite lean in the best possible way. Plenty of opportunities to fatten myself in further literature that does specific dives into some of this info, and that's the way this should be. It's deeper than a primer, but not so academically stiff to be a boring read.
August 16, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. 3.5/5 but rounded up, “High Bias” was a nice revisit to my childhood when I was first exposed to music through cassette tapes. After completing the book I kind of wish I still had my collection but regretfully I think those tapes went in the trash. It was really illuminating reading how cassettes had an impact on creating artists, getting different music genres out to the masses, and music trading. It was also interesting reading about the global and cultural implications. For a piece of technology that seems so antiquated now, it’s amazing to look back and see all that the cassette has done. That being said, while the source material was great, the content could be rather dense at times. Though I was an engaged reader, I was tempted to skim when there was an overload of information. The book skirts that educational/entertainment line, but ultimately I’d still say it’s worthwhile.
July 21, 2023
This history of the cassette tape is both comprehensive, and added new to me knowledge on the topic. I found it fascinating to see all the instances where the cassette tape influenced music, and how it helped so many artists and genres flourish. I also enjoyed reading about how the cassette tape helped people connect on a personal level. I have fond memories of mix tapes from my youth, and even lengthly spoken word tapes exchanged with my pen pals.
In addition to the text, I also really enjoyed the photographs throughout the book. They gave me a feeling of nostalgia and added to the reading experience. For this reason I would suggest grabbing the e-book or a paper copy if you are planning on reading this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC. It was a great summer read, and I enjoyed it a lot!
In addition to the text, I also really enjoyed the photographs throughout the book. They gave me a feeling of nostalgia and added to the reading experience. For this reason I would suggest grabbing the e-book or a paper copy if you are planning on reading this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC. It was a great summer read, and I enjoyed it a lot!
January 17, 2024
A lot of words crammed into a small book! It read slightly dry, but you could tell the author was passionate and knowledgable about everything-cassette!
I too enjoyed the little trip down memory lane: the rattle of a tape as you stick it in the player, recording myself on my own tapes (as an only child, I had to resort to interviewing my pets, so you can imagine that didn't get too far), dubbing my favorite songs off the radio (even though the DJs would always rudely interrupt at the end), and covering the tabs with scotch tape to record stuff I did like over junk I didn't like. And copying my CDs onto a tape so I could listen to them in my car, which only had a tape deck. (Now, it's hard to find a car with a CD player anymore.)
I wasn't really in love with cassettes like the author, however. When I was a teen, CDs were the cool new thing; so I still prefer CDs to this day.
I too enjoyed the little trip down memory lane: the rattle of a tape as you stick it in the player, recording myself on my own tapes (as an only child, I had to resort to interviewing my pets, so you can imagine that didn't get too far), dubbing my favorite songs off the radio (even though the DJs would always rudely interrupt at the end), and covering the tabs with scotch tape to record stuff I did like over junk I didn't like. And copying my CDs onto a tape so I could listen to them in my car, which only had a tape deck. (Now, it's hard to find a car with a CD player anymore.)
I wasn't really in love with cassettes like the author, however. When I was a teen, CDs were the cool new thing; so I still prefer CDs to this day.
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