Don’t call it a comeback!
Are cassette tapes making a comeback? According to every available indicator, it’s a resounding YES. Whether it’s good old 80s nostalgia, curious Millennials, or Stranger Things, we’re seeing tapes in popular culture with more frequency than at any time in the last decade. It’s news that’s music to the National Audio Company which is currently the only manufacturer of cassette tapes in the US. In fact, their sprawling plant in Springfield, Mo is the only facility producing the tape that goes into audio cassettes nationally.
Cassette tapes haven’t gone anywhere.
Sales are up and that is thanks to artists like Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift putting recent releases out on audio cassettes. National Audio reports a big uptick in sales with no signs of slowing down. When large audio production houses and music labels stopped producing cassettes, National Audio began accumulating equipment to become a large duplicator of music recordings on tape. They are now supplying the labels they bought some of original equipment from. They offer tours on-site for those geeks that want to see the process up close.
While the technology around how we consume music has changed the audio quality of the magnetic film used for tapes is still the same. That said, nostalgic audiophiles aren’t giving up their collections any time soon. A quick search on eBay at the time of writing this article resulted in over 400k results. Pointing to a huge after-market for collectors and novices alike.
Social Media and new tech leading the way
The recent popularity of retro or ’80s and 90’s music on Tiktok have also contributed to exposing old tech to a new generation. Dozens of accounts on Tiktok, Instagram, and Twitter highlight music from a bygone era, and you’ve surely seen a viral post or three with tracks you haven’t heard in ages. While this new generation is rediscovering hits of the past the old analog tech that was associated with it is starting to regain its allure.
