The Philips Company of the Netherlands invented and released the first compact audio-cassette in 1962. They used high-quality polyester 1/8-inch tape produced by BASF. Recording and playback was at a speed of 1.7/8 inches per second.The next year in the U.S. sales began of the Norelco Carry-Corder dictation machine that used the new cassette tape. The consumer's demand for blank tape used for personal music-recording was unanticipated by Philips.
It changed the way of playing, recording and listening to music forever. For the first time, anyone could be a DJ. People could make their own mixed tapes. Self-recorded compilations, put together with the painstaking work of FF and RW, were used at parties, for romantic messages and on vacations, road trips and school field trips for an entire generation. Not only was it battery operated and portable, it was recordable, and the format became the standard among teenagers for taping concerts. As soon as commerrecordings on cassette began to proliferate, it became the standard for personal music playback in vehicles.