I was recently inspired by an article about modern devices and services, but if they were released in the 1980s. This is similar to how the aesthetic of the movie Alien was approached. The movie takes place far in the future but the technologies has a decidedly analogue/cassette vibe to them.
Eventually I discovered that this is a genre referred to as “Cassettepunk“. Being that this is one of my favorite aesthetic eras – I had to try my hand at it.
Thus I arrived upon the idea for “The Spotman”. What if Spotify was released in the 1980s? What would that even look like without the internet? What made most sense to me was a service like Netflix combined with a Walkman – and thus, The Spotman was born.
After paying an up front fee for the Spotman device and a monthly subscription fee, a user would have the top hit CD mailed to their address to be played on their Spotman. When they come across a track that’s their favorite – they hit the heart button which stores that track name in memory. Once the heart icon begins flashing – its time to offload your favorites. Simply connect the Spotman to your personal computer and it will generate a spreadsheet of your favorite tracks. Then its just a matter of returning that printed sheet with your CD. When the next CD comes, you’ll get a bonus CD playlist featuring only the songs that you’ve hearted.
Order yours today!