Note: Hey, my letter got published in the NY Times!
To the Editor:
Though written mostly in jest, I read Rosencrans Baldwin’s piece about “Our Misplaced Nostalgia for Cassette Tapes” as a slap in the face of us small time musicians. Mr. Baldwin clearly does not understand that the cost of manufacturing vinyl and CDs is prohibitive for musicians who sell small numbers of albums. While not ideal, cassettes are easy to manufacture, easy to personalize, and still provide us smaller musicians with a viable way of sharing our music that our fans are willing to purchase. Had he taken the time to research this, perhaps Mr. Rosencrans would not be so flip in his assessment of this “nostalgia”. He chose to write a piece that smacks of elitism instead of realizing that cassette culture is a source for some of the most-vibrant and experimental music out there. His loss.
Sincerely,
Ted Laderas (The OO-Ray)
Small Time Musician