Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of musical or video content through thepostal system, which was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Although most commonly used to distribute and publicize limited-release musicaldemo tapes in underground musical genres such aspunk,hardcore, andextreme metal, the system has also been used to distributebootleg recordings of live concerts,^[1] recordings of radio broadcasts,^[2] original radio-style programming by amateur broadcasters,^[3] and videotapes of undergroundfilms andpornography.^[4]

The practice faded in prominence in the 2000s, as the rise ofInternet technologies such as audio and video streaming,file sharing services andpodcasting largely supplanted the need to mail out physical copies of recorded content. However, a smaller scale network of tape traders still exists as a sort ofnostalgic hobby among fans of some musical genres.

Tape trading was a postal system reliant, penfriend style nature of an underground network that relied heavily on the cooperation of fans of different musical genres worldwide as well as the acts being promoted this way themselves eschewing anycopyright in order to further spread their notoriety. Acts that gained a following through this might land arecord deal.

Thead hoc system relied on a system of trust, meaning that tapes were swapped in a kind ofhonor system; those who did not subscribe to this ethos and received tapes without returning the favor accordingly would become known as 'rip-offs' or 'rip-off traders' and were regarded with scorn. Flyers advertising gigs, recordings and other merchandises for sale were often swapped in conjunction with tape trading. Music that had been licensed to record companies (therefore subject tocopyright) and released in the format ofVinyl records,CD and MC (musicassette) was also pirated onto blankcompact cassette medium and traded, although this was in infringement of both unofficial 'rules' of the network and actual copyright law itself.

Many traders would, unrequested, fill unused space on the C-60 and C-90 tapes of demos they compiled for fellow traders with local bands in which they were members, or acolytes of. This led to a musical cross-pollination between geographically diverse and disparate areas such as Scandinavia, USA and the UK and their own bands/scenes. One notable example of how initial contact through tape trading lent to this trend is in the case of Righteous Pigs guitaristMitch Harris who hailed fromLas Vegas andBirmingham'sMick Harris, drummer withNapalm Death (not related) who would later collaborate writing and recording music, Mitch Harris would eventually relocate to the UK for this purpose.^[5] The very nature of the system ensured that recordings would decrease in sound quality with each trade and would in extreme circumstance become almost unlistenable, although the advent ofrecordable CDs helped the preservation of sound quality of recordings throughout trades. The popularization of broadband internet and digital music in its various forms has led to music by unsigned acts being swapped electronically and therefore tape trading through the postal system is considered by most to be outdated.^[6]

Heavy metal tape trading (notablyblack metal,death metal,doom metal) through the postal system is still in practice, but mainly as a nostalgic hobby. Most contact is made via email or penfriend-style mail conversation.

Tape trading was also in some respects an early precursor of podcasting, as the method could be used to redistribute radio programs to fans outside of a radio station's local broadcast area,^[7] or even as the main distribution method of non-broadcast amateur programming. This form of trading was especially, but not exclusively, used as an underground distribution method for content that was politicallycensored: for instance, the Cassette Education Trust, an anti-apartheid activist organization inSouth Africa, used tape trading as the "broadcast" platform for its political and cultural programming prior to its launch asBush Radio, the country's first licensedcommunity radio station,^[3] and the Hungarian punk rock bandCPg used its tape trading network to redistribute anti-Communist political commentary fromRadio Free Europe alongside its music.^[2]

A related phenomenon ofvideotape trading also existed, to redistribute underground films in specialty genres such ascult films,foreign films orpornography,^[4] as well as episodes ofprofessional wrestling and televisiongame shows, which until the 1970s were routinelydestroyed and thus very few episodes of most series from that era remain. The cult sc-fi comedy seriesMystery Science Theater 3000, which was broadcast on the then-nicheComedy Central cable channel and was often unable to repeat episodes due to rights disputes over the movies they made fun of, contained an explicit instruction in itsclosing credits to "keep circulating the tapes" which helped the show build and maintain its fanbase.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}