West 57th - Story about DAT cassettes and music industry 1987

Here is a December 1987 story from the CBS program West 57th about DAT cassettes and the worries from the music industry that DATs will lead to increased piracy.
While DATs never really took off in the USA, except for professional uses and the live taping community, it's interesting to see the fear that these tapes prompted in the industry. And there's a funny little twist at the end of the story about another recordable format just around the corner...
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[@miroslawczajka3577]

30 years have passed, nowadays everyone can not only copy without any quality loss, but also share any music within seconds with anyone and... music industry didn't fall. Some of the genres (referred as not profitable: jazz/classical) still exist, still developing and making money! It's funny to see it from time perspective and be sure that they were so wrong.

[@purpleghost4083]

Miroslaw Czajka The music industry may not have fallen but one could argue that it has had one leg partially amputated and is still walking but with the use of a set of crutches. It isn't the same as it was 30 years ago or even 20 years ago. I think that emerging technologies, DAT, CD-R, MP3, etc. were only a part of their problem. I also think that some of the changes were bound to happen anyway. The digital tech just made them happen sooner and maybe forced them to change the way that they ran their business. For example, do you remember hearing stories about how they had in the contracts that the band/artist was responsible for records that were broken during shipping, etc? How ridiculous was that? Why should an artist have to pay from their share of the money for what is obviously something that is out of their hands and control? That is an insurance kind of issue that the proper people should be held responsible for. If the shipper/delivery company breaks something then that is their fault - not the band. I'm actually glad that artists generally have more control nowadays over their career and choices, and don't necessarily have to rely so much on the major labels for their success or to just simply make a living in the industry.

[@TunnelLeaf]

All that the music industry did is make it harder for musical art in general to be heard.

[@p0llenp0ny]

I remember back in 1994 buying a CD for $24.99. A piece of plastic that costs pennies to make. If the record industry just wasn't so greedy and dropped prices, they wouldn't have had to worry about piracy. The main reason I started downloading music was simply due to cost. Over $100 for 4 albums was outrageous back when that was almost half your weekly wage. When CD-Rs came out, it was a no brainer. Typical of industry trying to hold back technology just to keep the billions rolling in.

[@philipzamora4259]

You aren't just paying for the plastic, you're also paying the musicians, their agents, their producers, and the studio they recorded in.

[@DYLAN102001]

@@philipzamora4259 and the Lamborghinis those corporate executives and artists have.

[@JakobMusick]

@@DYLAN102001 So true!

[@JakobMusick]

@@philipzamora4259 As if a majority goes to them lol

[@enzoaveroldi]

The Music Industry always tried HARD to fuck up customers. And at the end, they paid the price.

[@davidmthekidd]

I miss TV Programing from the 1980s.....

[@Truck6000]

David Marte Ditto

[@dat3116]

１９８２年ソニーによるＤＡＴ試作機開発成功、世界中で規格統一させるために世界の家電メーカーと懇談会発足、１９８６年世界初の業務用ポータブルＤＡＴレコーダーＰＣＭ２０００発売、

[@Roger_Maxell]

que tiempos aquellos ..., se extrañan bastante

[@oRedRaider]

thanks for sharing this!

[@isaiahmyers1181]

7:58 “ A super Duper recording machine that makes Mercedes-Benz”. Sir, I don’t think I follow you. 😆

[@0raffie0]

typical mumbo-jumbo

[@jameslaidler4259]

Watching in 2017 I just have to chuckle.

[@JacGoudsmit]

It's almost funny how in those days, you actually owned your music when you bought it. Nowadays most people listen to music via streaming services (where record companies get paid every time you PLAY a song, not BUY it) and via digital music purchasing services (where record companies get paid when you play a song and have the power to take the song away anytime they feel like it). Copying music has almost disappeared, kids don't even know what a cassette recorder is anymore. The record companies have won. And they don't even have to care about the quality of the music they provide (see "Loudness Wars"); people buy it anyway.

[@MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer]

Hey, I'm 23 years old, and I buy CDs and copy them onto Type I cassettes whilst using Dolby C. Why? Because screw the RIAA, that's why!

[@kalayongyuanOK]

@@MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomerused to do that before my deck died, it was fun experimenting with cassettes despite having digital CDs.

[@MetalMan73100]

As I remember it, DAT tapes weren´t exactly cheap. Anyone making copies of recordings wouldn´t have saved much money anyway.

[@MetalMan73100]

And they would also have to do without the CD booklet, plus wouldn´t be able to play it in their cars.

[@nomadcowatbk]

tape players and FM won't even standard features in 80s car stereos, only AM was

[@fred8886]

@@nomadcowatbk Come on! maybe true for the 60/70s, but I don't remember any car in the 80s which did not have a tape player.

[@BavarianM]

@@MetalMan73100 there was DAT car Radios DAT Walkmans too

[@MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer]

Part of the reason DATs may have been so expensive is that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 levied taxes on DAT recorders and blank media.

[@TonyLing]

And then came CD-R

[@vintagecameras9623]

Thats iscool. Realy

[@Roger_Maxell]

En este año 2023 he estado grabando compilaciones con una cinta DDS 4, conectado a un cable optico, y una playlist de TIDAL Hi-Fi plus

[@josephfrye7342]

well this might be a problem for standardized licensed musics when this was protected or content id match if it was on youtube.

[@charlesludwig9173]

I purchased two Sony PCM-7010F DAT Recorders back in the mid 90's, no SCMS. Still use 'em today. And, if I wanted to do it I could use them today to digitally copy streams which are copy protected. but, what's the point. Interestingly enough, HDMI technology will eventually eliminate the means for anyone to copy anything when HDMI becomes the only equipment interface.

[@nomadcowatbk]

some hdmi splitters remove hdcp

[@BetamaxFlippy]

And we all know how that copyright shit ended...

[@Analog_video]

DAT is legend, and what I need to point out is, the audio technology in the past is way better than nowadays. DAT is a peak product in the gold era when ANALOG meets a breakthrough of holding DIGITAL at the same time. DAT produce clean and lossless sound characteristic like a tradition CD, but also, together with warm and emotional feelings of LP/Cassette. Those people who frightened aboyt DAT is just so fucking selfish and only care about their commercial profits. You know what, why old music have such huge influence even till now, that's not only about composer and singer quality, but also listening habit of music lovers. People in 80s/90s are fixed on home entertainment, yes it is not convenient at all, but walkman makes a change, everyone can bring a music album out the street or feed up boring times during travelling. That's what a good environment of enjoying music should be and actually can be. But when DIGITAL time comes, everything messed up, many things are considered too much on convenient, but KEEP-ON lossing concrete and real feedback to human. No matter you agree or not, digital streaming music nowadays is just for convenient and fast-food culture. And also! People get easier for access different music, but what? They just download a song easily, when they don't love it, easily delete it and throw away the file like nothing happens. That's a true fact, never deny it, music industry dies because of how convenient and easy people can listen the music. If DAT has keep on developing, I am 100% believe, human recording industry can reached peak in a absolute way. Portable DAT player can become more smaller with precise circuit design and DAC chip inserted. And DAT deck can never have any issue in fixing because of material usage strengthen and strong spinning head without harming tape or itself. These things are not joke at all, they can actually happen in nowadays technology, and like a piece of cake as well!

[@al5152001]

I have some units and one in particular is very rare at this point…..They all work and very delicate…..Dat is a powerful Digital Format way better than cassettes which I love also….But, Dat….What you put in is what you get out….Awesome sound….Imagine having a nice turntable with a top stylus and clean vinyl….Once recorded on Dat….You’ll have something that’s almost close to the master copy…..👍

[@cliffedward]

Wow! The b/s we were fed in the day.Most things like DAT die a natural death because your normal consumer has no time for the technicalities. He just wants to bang a tape in and record. With professionals and audiophiles it is a different matter. They are a select market though. This is why the Super Audio machines faded out.

[@zetecfiesta]

He has a point, most modern music is crap

[@psp420bam]

His point was that in his opinion copying/sharing would cause less selection/variety but not the way it turned out. I enjoy classic music but prefer modern and he said only 1 out of 8 albums is successful so plenty crap has always been around

[@Truck6000]

Ditto

[@oldradios09]

IDK I do really like 80s music.

[@fred8886]

I owned 3 DAT players to record concerts back in the time. The player had a very limited autonomy on batteries and both technlogy and tapes were incredibly fragile and un-ergonomic.

[@BavarianM]

I'm sure you did lol

[@NorceCodine]

The paradox is that DAT is just a smaller VCR. Exactly the same heads, mechanicals inside, that's why the DAT tape looks like a smaller VHS tape. You can just buy a VCR for $50 and record the same quality sound on a VHS tape, which many audiophile listeners do, they just keep it a secret.

[@anthonybrunotheodd]

6:38 I think this guys take is awful. If I purchased a music cassette and I wanted to make a DAT copy in my house, I purchased the tape, I should be allowed to make a copy if I wanted to. I purchased the product, therefore I’m allowed to do whatever I want with it in the privacy of my home as long as I personally don’t open a record store and sell those copies.

[@technics-n-thuiast8346]

It was so hypocritical on a music recording studios behalf as they were the ones to get the DAT first. I remember walking into some of those as a child and there would be stacks of Panasonic DATs simultaneously recording studio tapes. Music industry didn't vanish. Didn't go bankrupt ( some musicians did but not due to DAT ) and most importantly, people did find a way to copy music than and people still find way to do so now. But there was so much money to be made off of the music reproduction equipment and other hardware. If you think about it, people would have to buy all the components, amplifiers, tuners, record players, tape decks, cd players, DAT, dcc, minidisc...and all the music to go with it, that was on a physical format, tapes, discs, records etc. Nowadays, you go and buy a smartphone and a bluetooth speaker and you are good to go. And just to put it in a financial perspective, a smartphone and a bluetooth speaker would run you $600-1500 bucks depending what you go for. And that is an average price per component you would pay in the 80's and 90's! A downloaded song is 0,45-1,29 USD or 2,99-12,99 per album ( that's assuming you are paying, otherwise it is free ). Again, an album on a CD would run you cca, $20 bucks in the CD's prime days or even more ( SACD albums were over $100 )! Blank CD, audio tape ( analoque or digital ) wasn't much cheaper. So, conclusion is that consumers weren't really saving money recording music. They just had a choice to record it the way they would enjoy it more.

[@dat3116]

家歩くとＤＡＴばかりあるわ、あっちこっち(笑)

[@scottstrang1583]

The fact that anyone thought this fragile, tape based medium would ever be that popular was laughable.

[@moofymoo]

5:41 - only one and a half billion in 1987? what number they are calling in 2016?

[@MakotoIchinose]

3:05 It's hard to believe Twitter's movement to "fix" Japanese creations can be actually traced back to the late 80s.

[@RockfordRoe]

So an exploitive monopoly ran by out-of-touch boomers, copyright trolls & assholes are literally the same thing as a irrelevant person's opinion on a website, got it.

[@bronsonosborne3962]

The Music Industry is a JOKE