When audio cassettes revolutionized music

The name Lu Otens may not ring a bell for many people. It should be, especially if your ears are bent in the muscles.

He revolutionized music worldwide with his invention of compact audio cassettes. He died on 6 March at the age of 94 in his native Holland.

The news about the death of Ottens, an Phillips engineer who also contributed significantly to the development of the first CD, made many composers and music lovers press the rewind button of memory.

major role

“Sangeet cassettes played a major role in my development as a musician,” explains Vidyasagar, one of the finest composers of Indian cinema today. Hindu on the phone. “I remember buying audio cassettes like soundtracks for Hollywood movies Jaws From shops in Chennai. My Philips cassette player had a function to adjust playback speed and play it at a slower speed, I learned more about music. “

Vidyasagar, who has composed several chart-topping tunes in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, still owns a vast collection of audio cassettes, although the music has gone completely digital. He said, “The other day, I found a cassette with MS Vishwanathan’s songs, which I admire.” “A lot of memories are attached to the cassette, like meeting the singer. Pomnam, My first film. “

late start

The audio cassette did not arrive in India in 1966 when Srikumaran Thampi began writing songs for Malayalam cinema, although it was launched three years earlier in Berlin. “It was only in the late 1970s that cassettes became popular in India, and it was not surprising because we were a decade behind in technology in those days,” he says.

“As a qualified engineer, I always watched with interest how science changed the entertainment industry. There is no doubt about the fact that the invention of the audio cassette was the biggest game-changer in music, ”he says.

truth. Because of cassettes, music reached the common man. Earlier only the rich could buy records. For the rest, radio was the only option for listening to music, but it would not play the music you wanted to hear at the time.

Companies like HMV, Echo, Tharangini, Magnasound, T Series, Ranjini and Nisari extract cassettes at cheaper rates. And those who wanted to make their own cassettes, cassettes unaware of brands like Sony and TDK were there, and favorite songs could be recorded – illegally – from a nearby shop.