<P> One of the most famous political uses of cassette tapes was the dissemination of sermons by the Ayatollah Khomeini throughout Iran before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, in which Khomeini urged the overthrow of the regime of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi . In 1970s India, cassettes were blamed for bringing unwanted Christian and Islamic influences into traditionally Sikh and Hindu areas . Cassette technology was a booming market for pop music in India, drawing criticism from conservatives while at the same time creating a huge market for legitimate recording companies, as well as pirated tapes . </P> <P> Between 1985 and 1992, the cassette tape was the most popular format in the UK and wealthy record labels experimented with innovative packaging designs . A designer during the era explained: "There was so much money in the industry at the time, we could try anything with design ." The introduction of the cassette single, called a "cassingle", was also part of this era and featured a music single in Compact Cassette form . Until 2005, cassettes remained the dominant medium for purchasing and listening to music in some developing countries, but compact disc (CD) technology had superseded the Compact Cassette in the vast majority of music markets throughout the world by this time . </P> <P> In Western Europe and North America, the market for cassettes declined sharply after its peak in the late 1980s . This was particularly noticeable with pre-recorded cassettes, the sales of which were overtaken by those of CDs during the early 1990s . By 1993, annual shipments of CD players had reached 5 million, up 21% from the year before; while cassette player shipments had dropped 7% to approximately 3.4 million . The decline continued, and in 2001 cassettes accounted for only 4% of all music sold . Since then, further decline occurred, with very few retailers stocking them because they are no longer issued by the major music labels . </P> <P> Sales of pre-recorded music cassettes in the U.S. dropped from 442 million in 1990 to 274,000 by 2007 . Another record low was registered in 2009, with 34,000 cassettes sold . Most of the major U.S. music companies had discontinued production of cassette tapes by 2003 . However, as of 2012, blank cassettes were still being produced and are still sold at some retail stores, while facilities for cassette duplication remain available . Cassette recorders and players are gradually becoming more scarce, but are still widely available and featured in some hi - fi systems . </P>

When did cassette tapes go out of style
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