Pick your tape length first
The length of your tape is your constraint. Set it before you add songs and the editor will tell you exactly how much room is left on each side, so you never discover the problem halfway through recording.
| Tape | Per side | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| C-46 | 23 min | A tight 10-track set |
| C-60 | 30 min | The classic mixtape |
| C-90 | 45 min | Long drives, full albums |
Search Spotify, add to the tape
Type a song or artist into the search panel and hit + A or + B on the result. Add your songs to the desired side of the tape.
Balance the two sides
Drag tracks to reorder, and move anything that overflows to Side B. Tapes usually have a little extra room, so if you have 30 minutes and 10 seconds on a C-60 side, you should be fine. But try to aim for 30.
Green means it fits. When the meter turns plum you are over the side length — drop a track or move it to Side B.
Plug your phone into the deck
If you have an actual cassette deck, not a small (often mono) recorder, it should be hooked up to an amp/receiver. In that case you would plug your recording device aux out into the aux in or line in on the amp. Then select the correct source to play on the amp, start Spotify, and you should be able to start recording your tape.
Set the level once, then leave it
Set your player device at about three-quarters volume, press REC PAUSE on the deck, and play the loudest song in the mix. Turn the deck's record level until the needles or LEDs average around 0 dB. Depending on the tape type being I, II or IV, the peaks can go to +2, +5 or +8 dB.
Press record, then press play
Start the deck first so the leader tape is past the head, wait two seconds, then start the music. Here are a couple of tips I find useful.
- ◉Notifications silenced — Do Not Disturb, system sounds off. The deck records everything.
- ◉Playlist in the right order — Queue Side A only, top to bottom, repeat and shuffle off. Maybe set a timer on your phone for ~2-3 minutes befor the end of the recording so you can stop the tape right when it is done.
- ◉Tape past the leader — The first two seconds of a cassette record nothing at all.
- ◉Spotify private session — This is mostly if you are making tapes for friends and don't want their music in your algorithm.
Flip the tape, repeat for Side B
When Side A's last track ends, stop the deck, flip the cassette, and switch to Side B in the editor so the running order stays in front of you. Same level, same routine. Give it a quick listen, start, middle and finish so that the recording went through fully. Then put it in the case along with your custom J-Card and add it to your collection or give it to a friend or loved one.
Questions people ask
Can I record without playing it in real time?
No, a cassette deck only captures what’s playing through LINE IN as it happens, so a C-60 always takes a full hour to fill both sides. Mixtape Maker plans the running order and prints the J-card, but the recording pass itself can’t be skipped or sped up.
Which blank tape should I buy?
Any Type 1 blank like a TDK60 or 90 (or other brands) work fine and are not too hard to find. Chrome Type 2 tapes are better but also harder to find. Even pre-recorded tape are perfectly fine to use if they still work and are not moldy.
Do I need Spotify Premium?
Free works for playback, but Premium makes the recording pass easier: free accounts can’t always play an exact queue on demand on mobile, and free playback has occasional ads which end up onto your tape if you don't pause the recording.