Cassette Tapes Mug

Before mp3, before Napster and Kazaa, before SoulSeek, and before BitTorrent, music fans were already sharing music on a smaller scale using the Compact Cassette, more commonly known simply as a cassette or a tape. The art of the mix tape was one born of cassettes, and something that many saw as a creative method of self expression, or even as a romantic gift or one to seal the bonds of friendship. Even though today's technology is better in almost every measurable sense, the cassette tape now holds an unexpected place in the hearts of so many music lovers, even though we all abandoned the format in favour of recordable CDs some years ago. Look in a music lover's collection, and you'll still find cassettes there that they couldn't bear to throw away. This design shows a few cassettes of the sort that people used to buy in order to record their mix tapes, and the sight of them will bring back oddly vivid memories for many, especially those who were around during the 1970s and 1980s.