Vinyl is experiencing a huge resurgence โ we all know this. But a rising tide lifts all ships and it has actually spawned renewed interest in other old-school audio formats as well, including CDs and, maybe a bit more surprisingly, classic cassette tapes.
The heyday of classic cassette tapes was really in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s โ before the emergence of CDs really snuffed them out โ and they became super popular because they were really the first portable audio format. Largely thanks to the boombox (first released in 1966) and the iconic Sony Walkman (first released in 1979), cassette tapes allowed you to listen to music outside your home and wherever you like.
In additional to being portable, cassette tapes were really popular because they were affordable; the average price of an album on a cassette tape was about $10.
Plus, cassette tapes played a warm and imperfect sound that analog audio from reel-to-reel and vinyl is known for (even if the audio quality of a cassette tape is considerably worse). It also provided a similar mechanical and tactile experience. It’s a format that you have touch to experience
Where to Buy Cassette Tapes and Players Today
Today, it’s actually not that difficult to buy cassette tapes. They are still being made and they are still very much in pop culture’s zeitgeist thanks to being featured in hit shows and movies like Stranger Things and Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, a lot of labels and recording artists are still releasing cassette tapes.