The mix tape: Is there a future?
This is a typical conversation I have when trying to promote music. It saddens me that so few people still own tape decks, and they look upon such as a type of prehistoric entity, one that is to be reviled and avoided. The majority say tapes are messy, both in sound quality and physicality, and old-fashioned. This is the 21st century. Get with the program.
“Hey, you should check this band out,” I said to any number of friends.
“What kind of stuff do they play?” they asked.
“How ’bout I just make you a mix tape?” I said instinctively.
“Can’t you just burn a CD?”
This is a typical conversation I have when trying to promote music. It saddens me that so few people still own tape decks, and they look upon such as a type of prehistoric entity, one that is to be reviled and avoided. The majority say tapes are messy, both in sound quality and physicality, and old-fashioned. This is the 21st century. Get with the program.
And, thus, the mix tape is rendered obsolete.
Mix tapes are not just a way to transport music from one fan to another; they are an event. Entire days were planned around the creation of the perfect mix tape. Lunch was arranged according to when I would be finished with side A and before I moved onto side B, and bathroom and snack breaks were deftly planned around longer tracks. I remember hours spent pouring over my music collection. Each listener is different, and with that comes the responsibility to cater the feeling of the music to that person. Track lists were made, erased and rewritten.
Mix tapes are a fine art. They must begin with an enticing opening track, end with an amazing closing track and all the tracks in between must flow. Much blood, sweat and tears were put into having the optimal amount of dead time between songs. Too much time can make the listener restless and bored; too little will not be long enough for the previous track to digest.
CD burners do all the work now. An entire MP3 collection can be accessed with the click of a button. With a few more aptly placed clicks, you have a CD track listing. Another click and you have an entire CD. And it took all of three minutes. Incredible.
It’s tragic that art has fallen to convenience, and the process of sharing music has become as impersonal as the music industry itself. However, for the sake of nostalgia, here are a few reasons why mix tapes are superior to mix CDs:
1) Mix tapes have personality. They scream to the recipient “This person was willing to spend an ungodly amount of time compiling this because he or she thought you were worth it.” Each track is specifically chosen for the listening pleasure of the recipient and thoughtfully planned out and executed. Therefore, no two mix tapes are ever alike. Mix CDs, for the most part, are slapped together and lack a personal touch.
2) Mix tapes require a person to listen to his or her selections because a presence is required during the recording process. Though many people use this as an argument against mix tapes, it is a great advocation for them. If I can’t sit through an entire track, how can I expect someone else to? They allow for last-second changes to the song listing for the sake of overall flow. Mix tapes are an opportunity for a person to fall back in love with their music. A person doesn’t need to be near the computer while a mix CD is recording, and he or she becomes disconnected from the music.
3) Mix tapes require fast-forwarding and rewinding, which allow for the listener to stumble into new musical experiences. Most people hate fast-forwarding and rewinding tapes. They prefer to listen to the first 20 seconds of a song, decide whether it is worth pursuing for another 30 and, if not, skip to the next track. However, mix tapes force a person to, in a sense, play with fate. Sometimes, after a long, arbitrary fast-forward to what is hopefully a desired song, I’ve found myself lost in an unknown chord progression, one I had previously skipped. And it’s a great feeling to uncover a new song. I discovered my favorite band, The Spinanes, through the phenomenon known as “Not Rewinding Far Back Enough.”
4) Mix tapes allow for a person to record off records. Some of us are stubborn and refuse to buy a new copy of “Ziggy Stardust” or download any if its tracks because we already bought it and have a means by which to play it. Whatever will I do if I think a friend would absolutely love “Suffragette City”? Records also serve another purpose: the recording onto tape picks up on “record sounds.” Yes, that scratching sound. Some of us love it because it connotes the other classic music experience of listening to records. For instance, I think that it’s scandalous, blasphemous even, to listen to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “D
