Lou Ottens
June 21, 1926 – March 6, 2021
The Dutch engineer credited with the invention of the audio tape cassette has died at the age of 94. No cause has so far been reported.
In 1963, Lou Ottens changed the course of music with his easily affordable and portable way to capture and recreate sound. An estimated 100 billion tapes have been sold. Ottens also played a key role in the development of the compact disc during the late 70s.
The arrival of the CD format would all but wipe out the usage of cassettes, but during the 80s and 90s many bands owed their careers to the tape-trading network. Within the industry there was also considerable paranoia over cassettes and for a while, at the insistence of the British Phonographic Industry, the sleeves of many vinyl albums released in the 80s by major labels were forced to bear the declaration: ‘Home taping is killing music’, accompanied by logo of a Jolly Roger formed from the silhouette of a compact cassette.
Ottens said modestly of the tape cassette. “We expected it to be a success, not a revolution.”
Ottens joined the electronics manufacturer Philips in 1952 and remained with them for the rest of his career. He retired in 1986, four years after the introduction of the CD player, declaring: “From now on, the conventional record player is obsolete.”
Somewhat bizarrely, sales of cassettes have undergone a renaissance recently, doubling from 2019 to 2020.