Unravelling the Mystery of (Sony) Audio Cassettes

Discussion in 'Brochures, advertising, data & specs...' started by Longman, Apr 26, 2020.

  1. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    I posted the advert for this book in the Cassette Tape Advertising thread. Although had a "price" of £3.95 I only saw it included with a pack of three Sony HF or two HF-S tapes. I requested and got this at Christmas 1984.

    Sony Cassettes_0001.jpg Sony Cassettes_0002.jpg

    I have included a scan of the back cover giving an idea of the contents.

    Sony Cassettes_0003.jpg
    Strangely they big up Cyndi Lauper as the latest and greatest female artist, while Madonna (who was on to her second album by the time this was published in 1984) doesn't get a mention. Maybe she was on the wrong record label.

    As well as lots of features on Pop and Rock artists, there is an article on the "Latest Record Collecting Mania".
    They might have been surprised to here about the cassette collecting mania starting thirty years later.

    Despite the forward of the book (written by Bill Wyman) pushing the idea of an Annual Review, it was the only time I know of that Sony did this.
     
    Longman, Apr 26, 2020
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  2. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Sony had a love-hate relationship with the music producers, the Walkman and cassette technology really blossomed and pushed music sales but it also led to rampant piracy. They started puttting out music compilation cassettes around this time which may have been part of an answer. The backlash from the recording industry to the newer DAT recorders in the early 90's allegedly led to Sony buying one of the major studios to have a seat at the table.
     
    Mister X, Apr 30, 2020
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  3. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    I think they had as many problems with the film studios regarding VCRs as well.
    Now, on UK Free to View TV we have "The Sony Movie Channel".
     
    Longman, Apr 30, 2020
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  4. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    I'm scratching my memory but I can kind of remember some push back from video. Do you guys remember that prerecorder movies used to start at around $69.00 USD a movie? and that was the early 80's money! Movies had a frequency recorded that prevented VHS to VHS recordings? All kinds of technics were employed to prevent copying.
     
    Mister X, May 1, 2020
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  5. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc.

    That was the same year the book was published but the case seemed to have been rumbling on since Betamax was launched.
    I don't know why Sony and Betamax got singled out. I hope they got some support from the other VCR manfacturers.

    That was why Video rental shops were so popular. Buy a tape for $69 then rent it out to 20 people for $5 a time.
    They were equally popular in the UK, with many independent shops appearing way before the big chains like Blockbuster.
    It is only in the past couple of years that my local corner shop has finished selling off the DVDs they used to rent out.

    Macrovision. Nothing a Time base corrector can't sort out. I have a top of the range JVC VCR with one built in and can confirm that it works. :thumbsup:
     
    Longman, May 2, 2020
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