The most horrific formats in musical history. Just be thankful if you can’t remember some of these…
(1) The “Cassingle”
Easily the worst format, this combined all the wrong elements: bad fidelity, meager amounts of music (typically a song with a b-side or instrumental), and shoddy construction. Goodbye, cassingle.
(2) The Full Cassette
Not as horrific as the cassingle, but only because it contained more music. Then again, taping a tape was sort of cool.
(3) The 8-track Tape
Go ahead, severely date yourself with this radio-carbon format. These bricks sounded bad, took up lots of space, and loved to crinkle their reels into accordion-like crumples.
(4) The CD-single
Hey, the CD is still selling billions, but the CD-single is obsolete for a reason.
(5) DRM-protected Downloads
There probably won’t be a nostalgia rush for protected formats in twenty years. Especially since no one will have the keys!
(6) The Ringtone
We had our hula-hoop, and it was fun while it lasted.
(7) The OTA Full-Track Download
OTA = ‘over the air,’ for those that skipped the hype. But paying $2.95+ for convenience never really made sense for consumers.
(8) The DualDisc
This very short-lived format featured audio on one side, and video and multimedia extras on the other. It also featured some player compatibility problems, and never really got off the ground.
(9) The Minidisc
Actually, Sony’s Minidisc solved some portability and durability problems, but never seriously took off. But it would have been such a great replacement cycle.
(10) Podcasts
Remember the podcast bubble? Well, podcasts still have their place, but I’ll listen to my music elsewhere.
(11) AM Radio
Not to offend any Radio Disney listeners out there, but there’s a reason why AM went talk.
(12) Those 80s Headphones With Built-In FM Receivers.
Okay, not technically a format, but so perfect for those 80s workouts. And so perfectly ironic in 2011.
(13) The Extended Dance Remix
Just too many painful memories to discuss right now…