Listening to music in the 1970s

Many hallmarks of the modern era were invented in the 1970s, including the McDonald’s Happy Meal, the Motorola mobile telephone, and the first digital camera to hit the market. It’s hard to imagine what the world today would look like without emails or barcodes, but these innovations were impossible to believe at the time. Among the newest technology available was the latest for music fans, who had more mediums than ever to listen to the latest hits: in the UK, most people embraced Boney M., John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and Village People. But how were the UK public listening to these chart-topping singles in the 1970s?

The 1970s was the decade that music became portable, rather than something that could only be enjoyed inside. Thanks to the cost of car radios dropping in the 1950s, they started being installed and built into new cars — this made it possible to listen to music while driving, something that seems commonplace today. Later, the release of the Sony Walkman made it possible to enjoy whatever tunes you liked while on-the-go, something that we take for granted today.

Cassettes were cheap compared to the amount of money that people shelled out on vinyls

Prior to the release of the Walkman, personal stereos (which used an audiocassette player) did exist, having been on the market since 1975. My dad, born in 1971, remembers them soaring to popularity after the public learned that Princess Diana used hers to listen to Duran Duran. But, due to their popularity, “walkman” became a generic term, referring to any personal stereo, regardless of producer or brand — like velcro, google, and escalator. After 30 years in production, about 200 million cassette-based Walkmans were made by Sony alone, making the portable device one of the most recognisable symbols of the 1970s.

If you were among the lucky few that could afford a Sony Walkman, which cost $200 (approximately £116) at release, you’d have to spend the remainder of your pocket money on cassettes to pop into it — maybe London Calling by The Clash or Pink Floyd’s The Wall, if you were buying the latest releases in 1979. An album would’ve cost between £5-7, (although inflation makes it the equivalent of spending £29.24 on a cassette in today’s money), but a single would’ve been much cheaper. At least “London Calling” and “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” were more affordable at roughly £2 each and once purchased, listeners could play them as many times as they wanted. Cassettes were cheap compared to the amount of money that people shelled out on vinyls, which made owning music more accessible than ever before.

Making mixes on cassettes became central to the DIY youth culture

However, cassettes had poor sound quality and those who could afford it would buy the newest albums by popular bands on records instead, as the listening experience was much better. My dad recalled the importance of caring for both your vinyl and player, replacing the stylus whenever it seemed like it was starting to wear out and using brushes to clean records. He also remembered having a ‘music centre’ for the family, (which could play cassettes, records, and the radio), but not being able to afford a personal stereo until 1984: even five years after release, they were a popular item to own and were expensive as a result.

With the invention of portable audiocassette players, there was a rapid growth in popularity for making mixes, to share music with friends and listen to all your favourite artists without changing tapes. The only resources required to create a mix were a handful of cassettes and a cassette recorder connected to a source of pre-recorded music, which meant mixes were easy to make at home. In the 1980s, making mixes on cassettes became central to the DIY youth culture, along with fashion and zines. Blank packs of tapes usually came in counts of 10 and cost around £16.

Despite the invention of online streaming services, which make music easier to consume than ever before, there has recently been a revival in both cassettes and vinyls. There are three main reasons why we’ve seen the return of buying physical music: firstly, it’s a better way of supporting your favourite artists than streaming, secondly, our entire lives becoming digitalised makes people yearn for physical confirmation of their existence, and thirdly, these items remind us of ‘better’ times. Although it means looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses, the state of the world today makes people wish for ‘simpler times’, before life-changing events like the coronavirus pandemic and the climate emergency reaching crisis point. Physical artefacts like cassettes remind people of the past, as well as giving them something real to hold onto, and give them the opportunity to ignore the present (however briefly).

Interestingly, although vinyl records quickly became expensive compared to their cheaper rivals, the price has remained roughly the same for the average record sale. In comparison, cassettes grew cheaper (especially in comparison to CDs when they were invented) and then became extinct after the turn of the century. Now, thanks to their rarity, cassettes can often be more expensive due to their ‘retro’ label, while secondhand CDs are very cheap.

While the 1970s aren’t often considered as interesting as the 1980s, it can’t be denied that it was a decade of great innovation, particularly when it came to music. How music was made, as well as how it was consumed, changed rapidly throughout this era and has shaped how we listen to music today. As a generation obsessed with listening to music on-the-go, (whether we’re walking, driving, or taking the bus) we owe a lot to the 70s and the rapid modernisation of portable music.