The history and culture of car radio has come from far and from 1950s to date, a lot of improvement has taken place. Here are the chronicles of how how we listened to music in the car from radio to Spotify from the early 50’s on:
1952 – First in-car FM Radio
After the AM airwaves, FM was introduced as the first in-car radio in 1952 by Blaupunkt.
1953 – Mexico Radio
Becker launched Mexico Radio. The premier in-car radio of the year had AM/FM airwaves and featured the first fully automatic station-scan button.
1955 – Chrysler’s first “driver-picked” music
In 1955, Chrysler incorporated a small turntable in its cars whereby drivers could play 7-inch records running for 45 minutes.
1963 – Pioneer transistor radio
Several car manufacturers subsequently offered transistors to their car radios in the early 60’s though Becker’s Monte Carlo was the original one without vacuum tubes.
1965 – First in-car 8-track player
This was joint effort by Ford and Motorola in 1965.
1969 – First in-car stereo
Becker’s Europa introduced this setup with a tuner that could amplify 2 channels.
1970-1977 development of cassette tape players
This 7-year period saw the creation and reign of the mix tape from various companies.
1982 – First designer stereo system
The first premier stereo system for cars was developed by the teaming up of Bose and GM’s Delco.
1985 – Original factory-installed in-car CD player
Sony introduced an in-dash player in 1984 but Becker’s Mexico Compact Disc was the initial factory-installed one on Benzes.
Current technologies in cars
There are modern technologies that will allow you to listen to millions of songs from favorite oldies to latest hits. Some latest radio car technologies include:
- Pandora- is an internet radio that allows you to stream music and listen to radio conversations wherever you drive. This radio service is available in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. Installing a Pandora app in your mobile device allows you to listen to the music of your choice. There is also an option to like or dislike music with a thumb icon. The Pandora app also allows you to buy tunes from selected online retailers. Modern cars feature blue-tooth connectivity that allow you to stream music from your handset to your stereo system.
- Spotify – Just like you have the control over your car, Spotify gives you an independent decision to choose semi-custom radio stations that will play songs you love from millions of collection. You only have to select a song of your favorite artist, the album, play list or its genre. Spotify will then play the songs from your chosen categories in a random sequence. This is not all; you can further like or dislike a song. Spotify will play songs that you like and avoid songs that you dislike or similar. Spotify has an app that will require you to fill in some info for it to work. From there, streaming music from your phone to your car will be a breeze. That is how the radio function allows you to create a personalized Spotify music collection.
Even as Benz owners think of buying new Mercedes engines or Mercedes transmissions for their cars, upgrading your radio system can also be done by a skilled Mercedes mechanic.