Thanks to Generation Z, cassette sales are increasing. Are you following this trend?
- Sales of cassettes have increased fivefold between 2015 and 2022.
- Releasing this music technology is cost-effective and allows fans to inexpensively show their love for a band.
- Given the emergence of modern classics, are there enthusiasts among the groups who are driving this comeback?
My previous daily car was a 2000 VW Beetle that I inherited from my mum and the only way I could listen to recorded music was by putting a cassette in the stereo. This led me to buy a few albums to keep in my car (I still know most of Madvillainy by heart) but I had no idea I was a freaking trendsetter!
Okay, maybe I was just broke and had a penchant for old technology, but the fact is that cassette tapes are making a comeback, thanks to Generation Z of all people. That’s right, the young, hip kids are all buying little plastic rectangles.
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Cassette tape sales have quintupled in recent years, from just 81,000 units in 2015 to a whopping 436,400 in 2022, Bloomberg reports. The increase is due to several factors.
First, there’s pop culture. The popularity of films like Guardians of the Galaxy and series like Stranger Things has brought cassette tapes back into people’s imaginations. It doesn’t hurt that ’90s styles are also popular right now.
This has led artists like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and others to release small runs of their albums on cassette. Although sales tend to be low, cassettes are also extremely cheap to produce, generally costing fans just $10 compared to $35 to $40 for a vinyl record.
This allows fans to have a physical copy of their favorite record without spending a fortune, and smaller artists can also release cassettes. And although the sound quality of a cassette is inferior to that of a vinyl record, the small plastic albums are portable and can be played anywhere, even in the car.
With the increasing interest in modern classics on auction sites like Bring a Trailer, it’s only logical to assume that some of you have a few albums or maybe even a mixtape in your cool classic along with a Bluetooth band, and we want to hear from you.
Do you listen to cassettes in the car? If so, tell us what albums you listen to and what car you listen to them in.
