Tape trading

This article is about tape trading of the 1980s and 1990s. For current tapers and sharing, see Taper (concert).

Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of musical or video content through the postal system, which was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Although most commonly used to distribute and publicize limited-release musical demo tapes in underground musical genres such as punk, hardcore, and extreme metal, the system has also been used to distribute bootleg recordings of live concerts,[1] recordings of radio broadcasts,[2] original radio-style programming by amateur broadcasters,[3] and videotapes of underground films and pornography.[4]

The practice faded in prominence in the 2000s, as the rise of Internet technologies such as audio and video streaming, file sharing services and podcasting largely supplanted the need to mail out physical copies of recorded content. However, a smaller scale network of tape traders still exists as a sort of nostalgic hobby among fans of some musical genres.

  1. ^ Marshell, Lee (2005). Bootlegging: romanticism and copyright in the music industry. SAGE. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7619-4490-4.
  2. ^ Trevor Pinch and Karin Bijsterveld, The Oxford Handbook of Sound Studies. Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780195388947. p. 452.
  3. ^ "Community radio in post-apartheid South Africa: The case of Bush Radio in Cape Town" Archived April 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Transformations, February 2005.
  4. ^ "Tale Of The Tape Trading". Underground Film Journal, October 25, 2008.