A Look Into The History Of Car Audio Culture: Why The 90s Were The Golden Age
If you’re into car audio at all, I’m sure you are well aware of the culture surrounding the subject, such as audio shows, social media presence, and a small history of notable figures and brands within the space, but maybe not the history of events that led to its insane popularity in the 90s. A couple of months ago, I was in this exact position with the challenge to dive deeper and research the history of car audio having been presented to me. The general research questions heading into it at the time included questions such as how the top brands came to be the ones at the top but later changed into questions such as what the golden age of car audio culture was. A golden age, as defined by “The American Heritage Dictionary Of Idioms,” states, “A period of prosperity or excellent achievement.” With this definition, a golden age can be found multiple times throughout the history of one subject, but in this post, I will argue that while still very popular, car audio culture saw its true golden era in the 90’s due to the foundation that it’s built for the present era to flourish, this included things such as SPL events, car audio magazines, media presence, and other forms of car audio exposure that made it mainstream during the time.
Car Audio Timeline
In case you are unfamiliar, I will be going over a general timeline of car audio innovations to give a background on the subject.
1930s
Starting in the 1930s, we saw the birth of the first car radio attributed to the brothers Joseph and Paul Galvin, who would soon be the creators behind the company Motorola (Mobile One Auto Sound)
1950s
Later, in the 50s, radios began to become equipped with FM radio, allowing for the mainstream radio scene to be heard by consumers through their vehicles (Mobile One Auto Sound).
70s & 80s
In the 70s and 80s, we began to see the major innovations that changed the industry and the way people listened to music in their cars. See, previously, they had been making slow improvements to car audio equipment with the viability of being able to pick and choose what songs you could listen to while driving, only coming a couple of years before the 70s. But during this era, they introduced cassettes and later CDs, which became by far the most popular way of listening to music in your car at the time. With such advancements being made, the car audio market also opened up, and companies at the time saw the audience that was being made and, therefore, created more and better aftermarket options when it came to car audio (Mobile One Auto Sound).
The Golden Era of the 90s
Going into the 90s, this is where I make the argument of this being the true golden age of the culture. What I believe were defining aspects of this era are the following: peak in competitive audio competitions, peak in the Car Audio and Electronics Magazine, peak in car audio innovations, and mainstream appeal/culture.
Competitive Audio Competitions
Car audio innovations and creativity created the basis for people to start forming competitions around car audio. While many people were interested in many different aspects of car audio, an organization founded in 1987 created the shows to showcase the fun. Gavin Carfoot in his article, “Competition Hertz: The culture and practice of car audio competitions” states, “Various regulatory bodies stipulate the rules of these competitions, the most notable being the US-based International Auto Sound Challenge Association (IASCA, http://www.iasca.com/), which maintains a significant web presence and online community…There are two broad types of car audio competitions: (i) sound pressure level (or SPL); and (ii) sound quality (or SQ).” He is right in this case that community is a huge aspect when it comes to these competitions, and allowing the public to have a platform to display their creativity made the push for car audio culture around the world to be popularized.
Car Audio and Electronics Magazine
A huge staple during this time period was the CA&E car audio magazine. Created in 1986, this became a regular issue that consumers would buy as the popularity of car audio grew immensely during the 90s (MiniCarsAcc). It would generally provide the newest innovations in technology for the time with reviews, quotes, and tips from experts on what the newest subject was about at the time, whether it was amplifiers, speakers, head units, etc. It was also a platform for consumers to gain ideas on what they wanted to build themselves, as the magazine often showed decked-out builds to promote what car audio could look like.
The CA&E was also great as it went hand in hand with the car audio competitions at the time. This further promoted the car audio culture to more general consumers, making them fans of the culture.
Car Audio Innovations
With the market growing and people having a platform to display their creativity, innovations were made in both car audio technology and car audio builds as time went on. As mentioned before, CDs became the main form of music playback in vehicles, but what popularized it even more during that time was the introduction of Multi-CD systems in 1984, later popularized in the 90s, which allowed for multiple CDs to be interchanged automatically and was a big hit for consumers (Mobile One Auto Sound). With the push of competition and magazines, innovations in builds also became prevalent, sparking everyone to encourage each other’s best work in building sound systems for their vehicles.
Mainstream Appeal
With the help of all the above, it was no surprise that car audio became mainstream during this time. Not only in the masses but in the world of celebrities as well. During this time, it was a new technology that was being explored and seen regularly in popular cities around the nation, which caused controversy among some communities and therefore, popularity.
In the video above, you can get the sense of community that was starting to be established and car audio culture that was already being practiced. That being competitions, showcasings, and just everyday living in these major cities. This is the very essence of culture and community that makes me believe the 90s were the true golden era for car audio culture.
After, 2000s to present
After the 90s, car audio culture proceeded to excel in different ways, such as through the media in TV showings like Pimp My Ride. This show consisted of taking someone's beat-up car and “pimping” it out by doing bodywork and interior work, including upgrading the sound system. The show was insanely popular since its first season in 2004 and brought many viewer's attention to the interior and audio system of the vehicles (IMDb).
Along with TV appearances, we saw car audio be promoted by multiple celebrities at the time, encouraging the culture of car audio.
While the media continued to shine, innovations also continued, with people being introduced to MP3 players, Bluetooth, and eventually streaming in the 2010s, which only empowered installers to be able to install better, more efficient installs (Mobile One Auto Sound).
Another big feature of the 2010s became the YouTube scene and the community growth that came from internet forums. You see, with the audience now built up from the popularity surge from the 90s, the new modes of community engagement included blogs, videos, and sharing photos through the internet, so naturally, we began to see groups being made on the internet for car audio-specific chats. Notable figures that began in the 2000s and are now huge in the YouTube space include CarAudioFabrication, Steve Meade Designs, and EXOcontralto. These three figures have been the most helpful when it comes to installation tips and showcasing of car audio culture, such as vlogs of SPL competitions, etc.
Conclusion
So, while you could argue that we are in a different golden age now, I believe that the true golden age in car audio culture happened during the 90s due to the peak in competitive audio competitions, peak in the Car Audio and Electronics Magazine, peak in car audio innovations, and mainstream appeal/culture that characterized this era. I would also argue that this era created the foundation/building blocks for the car audio community to be created and flourish later in the 2000s-present era. Currently, the car audio scene is a lot more of a niche subject and not as prevalent in the public as it once was during the 90s. Today’s culture is one that is much more based online in forums and YouTube videos but still has a strong community behind it. I have no doubt in my mind that the car audio culture scene will continue to grow as events get bigger and bigger each year, so I think it’s important to look back and acknowledge the golden era that started the culture back in the 90s.
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