The Mixtape Was the Origin of Modern Music Curation. Discuss.

February 18, 2015 Alan Cross 1 Comment 0 min read

Now that you mention it, I’d probably agree. Medium.com goes further.

We tend to think of it as a cultural anachronism. A short-lived oddity born out of that time between analog vinyl albums and digital files.

But I would argue that the mixtape was the beginning of everything. OK, that overstates it a bit. How about: in the ways we created and consumed mixtapes, we can find the earliest glimmers of the social media experiences of today. Looking back and thinking about why we loved them—considering what was beautiful about building them and receiving them—shows us what’s been lost as we’ve evolved and devolved into the feed-based formats of our current social world.

So, consider the mixtape; it has a lesson for the future.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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