What kind of device is this? Cantata 700 was a commercial background music playback system. It was a specially designed tape player created to provide continuous, unobtrusive music in environments where music is meant to create a pleasant ambiance and complement the atmosphere rather than dominate it — such as shopping centers, hotels, restaurants and cafés, waiting rooms, and other public spaces.

This type of tape recorder did not use classic reel-to-reel tapes but instead unique cartridges with magnetic tape that allowed for up to 26 hours of uninterrupted playback. When the end of the tape was reached, the mechanism would automatically switch, and playback would continue in the opposite direction, with no need to manually flip the tape.

All models were playback-only, often featuring a built-in speaker and microphone input, so they could also be used for announcements.