Consumer Audio Formats

Music Tech || MT CA1 - Introduction to Music Technology and the Music Business

What are the consumer audio formats?

• Vinyl

• Cassette

• Compact Disc (CD)

• Minidisc

• Music Video

• MP3

• Streaming Audio

What is vinyl?

• The first way music could be consumed by the masses.

• Radio Corporation America created the first vinyl record.

• However, this was marketed for voice recordings and not music.

What are cassettes?

• Work the same way as a large tape machine.

• Analogue format, small in size, portable.

• Robust, can hold up to 60 minutes of audio.

• In 1979, Sony released their first Walkman.

• A single cassette tape can only hold one album.

What is a compact disc (CD)?

• Released in 1982.

• Very thin, portable, could hold up to 80 minutes of audio.

• They were prone to being scratched.