I thank Lou for his contributions. Cassette mixtapes were a huge part of teen life in the 80s.
I fondly remember the mix tape. Exchanging mix tapes was a huge part of both my friendships and romantic interests. Spent many hours creating them as well as my own jacket art (while the tapes were recording).
Yeah I think it's like a hand written letter. One of my younger friends saw an old mini boombox I had in my garage collecting dust and pleaded with me to let her have it and to make her an 80's mix tape of some of my favorite "hits" from the period. It was quite fun to clean the old thing up and clean the play area then get some songs off amazon that I loved and make a mix tape. She loves it and mentions it to this day (I did this like 5 years ago) and says she pulls it out a few times a year to play that tape and some other she's found since. Anyway I'm glad some people still appreciate the effort adds a bit more TLC than sending a spotify song list :)
No, a mixtape is more personal and romantic. A playlist is just a list of songs. "I made you this playlist" said nobody ever.
I think the big distinction, is that music collections were more personal back then too. Now if you have Spotify, you can hear any song you want. But then you only had the tapes that you had, or if you're willing to deal with lesser quality the ones that you recorded off the radio.
I fondly remember the mix tape. Exchanging mix tapes was a huge part of both my friendships and romantic interests. Spent many hours creating them as well as my own jacket art (while the tapes were recording).