Home › Ethnomusicology › High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape
  • High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape by Marc Masters book cover
  • High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape by Marc Masters book cover
1 2

High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape

by Marc Masters

The cassette as a medium for making and sharing music

$18.95 USD
$31.59 USD $18.95 USD
Save 40%

Paperback New

Delivery to your door
In stock·Dispatches in 1–2 business days
Standard shipping* from $4.35
Standard shipping transit* 5–8 business days after dispatch

Faster options are available.

Rates and delivery estimates depend on your destination and item quantity. Estimates are informational only; the final shipping method and rate are selected at checkout.
Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

AlbakiReads Editorial

The cassette as a medium for making and sharing music

Marc Masters traces the cassette tape across several eras of music culture, from its early-1960s invention and 1980s prominence to its decline with the arrival of CDs and later return among independent music makers. The book connects the format’s portability and reusability with practices that grew around it: home recording, mixtape exchanges, concert taping, underground tape art, and collecting overlooked sounds. It also considers the friction between cassette-based scenes and the record industry, alongside contemporary labels that continue to issue music on tape. The subject is both a piece of recording technology and a history of how artists and listeners used it to create, circulate, and preserve music outside established channels.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in the history of recorded music and music technology
  • Those curious about mixtapes, bootlegs, tape art, and independent music scenes
  • Music collectors interested in cassette culture and its modern revival

Themes

Cassette technology and music historyDIY music-making and circulationUnderground scenes and independent labelsCollecting and preserving recorded sound

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

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.
Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews

You may also like

View all