When the Wall fell, popular culture rose to a new level of social relevance. Wind of Change? More like a tsunami! The Nineties washed over the increasingly globalized media landscape in a tidal wave of catchy tunes, cult movies, TV series and show stars. FACES rolls up the decade – and publishes an encyclopaedia on the age of grunge, girl groups, GZSZ and – the Discman.
Music makes you mobile, now in digital! The Discman is replacing the Walkman in the ears of commuters and passers-by. At times. Soon, portable CD players will also end up as electronic waste.
Strictly speaking, there can only be one: the one from Sony. After the Walkman, the Japanese revolutionize the market with the first portable CD player, known by the brand name Discman. In 1984, that only interests nerds. A few years and the widespread breakthrough of the compact disc later, the device is on everyone’s lips, or rather in everyone’s pockets. No more tangled tapes, no more jerks thanks to the anti-shock system and certainly no more sore muscles in your upper arm from jerking a boom box around.
In 1999, the MP3 file-sharing platform Napster goes online. The industry is trembling at the prospect of music piracy and the new format. And even before the first record companies, the revolution claimed a victim from Sony: Walkman, Discman, Minidisc – goodbye! Or perhaps rather: see you soon at the Brockenhaus.
