Cassette tapes are making a comeback

[Cydewayz]

My former coworker is a coordinator of product development for Universal music group (they have almost half of the record labels you can think of). It's physical products he's in charge of getting made and distributed.

It's not surprising vinyl sales are strong, but what might surprise people is the main area of growth is in stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Whole Foods, etc. Not necessarily that record stores are expanding. (pre Covid obviously)

People still want something physical, even beyond the hardcore collectors. Vinyl isn't a perfect medium but it has obvious features that appeal. The gigantic flaw is that it's not portable other than converting to MP3. Cassettes blow but they have that one thing vinyl doesn't.

It is funny the "evolution" of music...from physical, to digital/have all your music in one device, now it's reverting.

I do agree it's neat to have an item you can share, pass along, etc. No one is going to find an iTunes account to log into in a basement of their parents, lol.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Why would I want to go back to the early 90's? CD's changed my world, now that I have digital makes no sense. LP I can understand because the sound is great, but tapes were terrible for quality.

 

[KnappShack]

Cassettes sucked even when they were popular

 

[jbindm]

Cassettes sucked even when they were popular

I liked the liner notes - lyrics, songwriter credits, studio pictures and such. I do kind of miss buying a tape or CD and then playing through the whole thing while flipping through the notes.

Anymore I rarely listen to a new release from start to finish anymore. I played the new Bob Dylan album last week, and that was alright. But before that it's probably been at least a few months.

 

[BryceC]

My fondest memory of the cassette era is sitting by the boombox with a blank tape loaded and waiting for our favorite songs to come up so we could record them.

Yeah that's the most nostalgic thing for me about them. That is fun to think about.

People still want something physical, even beyond the hardcore collectors. Vinyl isn't a perfect medium but it has obvious features that appeal. The gigantic flaw is that it's not portable other than converting to MP3. Cassettes blow but they have that one thing vinyl doesn't.

I'm exactly the opposite. I want absolutely nothing. I haven't bought a book, movie, album, anything in probably at least 10 years.

 

[jbindm]

Yeah that's the most nostalgic thing for me about them. That is fun to think about.

Fun to reminisce. But if I had to do it now I'd be bored and pissed off within minutes. But in those days it was a challenge, because not only did you have to be on the ball to time the start of the song but you also had to have total quiet while the song played because the boombox recorder would pick up ambient noise too. There my sisters and I are trying to get the perfect recording of Thriller or whatever and here comes Dad mid-song, "Hey guys, whatcha doing in here?" Classic dad move.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I'm holding out for the return of 8 Track Tapes

 

[jbindm]

I'm holding out for the return of 8 Track Tapes

Reel to reel for me. Or a nice vintage Wurlitzer jukebox if I should ever own a home with a finished basement.

 

[VeloClone]

I'm holding out for the return of 8 Track Tapes

Ka-chunk!

 

[VeloClone]

Thanks, GR8. I was hoping someone would get that.

 

[cydsho]

Haha jokes on all you guys. I still have a lot of my cassette tapes because I'm a pack rat and I still have 2 of my boom boxes. One of them has detachable speakers even....

 

[VeloClone]

Haha jokes on all you guys. I still have a lot of my cassette tapes because I'm a pack rat and I still have 2 of my boom boxes. One of them has detachable speakers even....

I had the detachable speakers on my boom box in high school. One of them broke just as I got on a bus to start a post graduation bus trip from Iowa to California so I had to fight the thing falling off for 8 states and 3 very long days.

 

[Gonzo]

It is funny the "evolution" of music...from physical, to digital/have all your music in one device, now it's reverting.

I do agree it's neat to have an item you can share, pass along, etc. No one is going to find an iTunes account to log into in a basement of their parents, lol.

 

[simply1]

Anyone after some football cards too??

 

[CyOps]

I'm going to ask my wife later if she likes tapes and cd's.

 

[jbhtexas]

I'm holding out for the return of 8 Track Tapes

Hey, if those comeback, maybe we can also get the quadraphonic version! I think around 1979 or 1980, my dad got a loaner top-end LTD from our local Ford dealer while our car was in the shop. It had quadraphonic 8-track, but none of us had any quadraphonic 8-tracks to play in it...

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

Ka-chunk!

Funniest part was when they didn't plan the tracks right or there was a really long song and the Ka-chunk came in the middle of the song.

Track 2 Freebird ... I'm gonna fly high .... Ka-Chunk
Track 3 Freebird Part 2 ...like a freebird, yeah.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Funniest part was when they didn't plan the tracks right or there was a really long song and the Ka-chunk came in the middle of the song.

Track 2 Freebird ... I'm gonna fly high .... Ka-Chunk
Track 3 Freebird Part 2 ...like a freebird, yeah.

But they would fade it out and back in when it switched tracks.

Plus you always had to have a supply of matchbooks to try to prevent double tracking

 

[VeloClone]

Funniest part was when they didn't plan the tracks right or there was a really long song and the Ka-chunk came in the middle of the song.

Track 2 Freebird ... I'm gonna fly high .... Ka-Chunk
Track 3 Freebird Part 2 ...like a freebird, yeah.

I remember this happening quite frequently.

 

[VeloClone]

Hey, if those comeback, maybe we can also get the quadraphonic version! I think around 1979 or 1980, my dad got a loaner top-end LTD from our local Ford dealer while our car was in the shop. It had quadraphonic 8-track, but none of us had any quadraphonic 8-tracks to play in it...

Oh, you said quadraphonic. Sorry.