1. Vinyl Records: Also known as phonograph records or LPs (Long Playing records), vinyl records were the primary medium for listening to music from the late 1940s until the 1980s. They consisted of flat discs made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with sound recordings encoded as grooves on the surface. Vinyl records were played on turntables, which rotated the disc and used a stylus to read the grooves and convert them into audible sound.
2. Cassette Tapes: Introduced in the 1960s, cassette tapes became a popular portable audio format. They consisted of two reels of magnetic tape housed in a plastic cassette. Audio recordings were made by magnetizing the tape with an audio signal. Cassette tapes were played on cassette players, which could be portable or part of a home stereo system.
3. Reel-to-Reel Tapes: These were large, open reels of magnetic tape that were used before cassette tapes. They were primarily used in professional audio recording studios and for home enthusiasts. Reel-to-reel tapes provided high-quality sound but required larger and more complex tape recorders.
4. 8-Track Tapes: Introduced in the late 1960s, 8-track tapes were a cartridge-based format that contained eight parallel audio tracks. They were popular in automobiles due to their convenience, as the user could easily switch between tracks without having to manually rewind or fast-forward the tape.
5. AM/FM Radio: Radio broadcasting played a significant role in bringing music to a wide audience even before the advent of recorded media. AM (amplitude modulation) and FM (frequency modulation) radio stations broadcast music, talk shows, and other audio content over the airwaves, which could be received by radio receivers.
These were some of the primary ways people listened to music before the introduction of CDs. Each format had its own advantages and disadvantages, contributing to the evolution of music listening experiences over time.