Amaya Toman Nowadays, if we want to listen to music on the go, the vast majority of us simply reach for our smartphone. But in today's return to the past, we will focus on the time when physical music carriers, including cassettes, still ruled the world - we will remember the day when Sony launched its Walkman TPS-L2.
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On July 1, 1979, the Japanese company Sony began selling its Sony Walkman TPS-L2 in its homeland, which is still considered by many to be the first portable music player in history. The Sony Walkman TPS-L2 was a metal portable cassette player, finished in blue and silver. It went on sale in the United States in June 1980, and the British version of this model was equipped with two headphone ports so that two people could listen to music at the same time. The creators of the TPS-L2 Walkman are Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka and Kozo Oshone, who is also credited with the name "Walkman".
The Sony company wanted to promote its new product especially among young people, so it decided on somewhat unconventional marketing. She hired young people who went out into the streets and offered passers-by their own age to listen to music from this Walkman. For promotional purposes, the SOny company also rented a special bus, which was occupied by the actors. This bus drove around Tokyo while invited journalists listened to a promotional tape and were able to take pictures of said actors posing with a Walkman. Eventually, Sony's Walkman really gained a lot of popularity among users - and not just among the young - and a month after it went on sale, Sony reported that it was sold out.
This is how portable music players evolved:
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Over the following years, Sony introduced a number of other models of its Walkman, which it constantly improved. In 1981, for example, the compact WM-2 saw the light of day, in 1983, with the release of the WM-20 model, there was another significant reduction. Over time, the Walkman became a truly portable device that fit comfortably in a bag, backpack, or even in larger pockets. Roughly ten years after the release of its first Walkman, Sony already boasted a 50% market share in the United States and a 46% market share in Japan.
