Cassette tape inventor Lou Ottens has passed away

The inventor of the music cassette Lou Ottens passed away last weekend at the age of 94. As an employee at Philips, Ottens developed the music cassette. He was later also involved in the popular replacement of the cassette tape: the compact disc.

Photo: Jordi Huisman (Creative Commons)

At Philips, engineer Lou Ottens and his team developed the music cassette, of which a first prototype was introduced in 1963. The cassette tape quickly became popular alongside the dominant long-playing record at the time. The cassette tape made it easier to take music with you on the go.

Otten’s invention was sold more than 100 billion times worldwide. He continued to work for Philips throughout his working life, where he was head of product development until 1969. He then became director of audio and was closely involved in the development of the CD. Ottens retired in 1986.

The cassette tape has regained popularity in recent years. In the US, music cassette sales have increased by 30 percent since 2017. Artists are releasing music in limited editions on cassette tapes for their loyal fans. Ottens himself was not particularly pleased with this development. In an interview with NRC from 2018, he said that ‘nothing can match the sound of the CD’.

According to his family, Ottens died on Saturday in his hometown of Duizel in North Brabant.