4 Comments
User's avatar
Liat Portal's avatar

Thanks, Dan! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Your comment does reflect the reality of those days, but it’s worth remembering that record companies still sold cassettes alongside vinyl and CDs. What really changed the game was home recording—dual cassette decks and boomboxes turned radios into personal distribution centers. Word-of-mouth started there, long before algorithms.

Expand full comment
Dan from Georgia's avatar

Yes! I too had a dual-cassette boom box. Mostly I used it to make mix tapes. I still, to this very day, have some cassettes...commercial music tapes and some home-made/mixed tapes.

Expand full comment
Dan from Georgia's avatar

So true! I know that some bands, before the advent of MP3s and streaming, would often hand out home-produced tapes and CDs at their shows to get their music out there…totally bypassing producers, executives, studio rental fees, etc. I trust word-of-mouth before I trust algorithms to tell me what I should check out next! Good post Liat!

Expand full comment
Dan from Georgia's avatar

...these bands would even hand out their tapes and CDs from the trunks of their cars!

Expand full comment