---
title: Cassettes are back
description: Cassette tape sales are surging again due to nostalgic collectors.
---

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# [Cassettes are back](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12132022-cassettes)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Dec 13, 2022 9:17:07 AM

If you’re old enough, you likely remember waiting hours for your favorite songs to come on the radio so you could add them to your mixtapes.

Today, songs are available on-demand, yet the humble tape is making a comeback.

Between 2020 and 2021, sales nearly doubled from 173k to [343k](https://www.yahoo.com/video/gen-z-nostalgia-strikes-again-155958760.html).

#### **Cassette tapes…**

… were developed in the [1960s](https://legacybox.com/blogs/analog/history-of-the-cassette-tape#:~:text=The%20Cassette%20Tape%2C%20or%20Compact,in%20November%20of%20next%20year.) by Philips. They caught on because:

- Anyone could record audio on them, hence the rise of the mixtape
- Sony’s Walkman, which debuted in [1979](https://designmuseum.org/discover-design/all-design-objects/sony-walkman#:~:text=The%20first%20model%20of%20Sony,to%20be%20a%20huge%20hit.&text=The%20original%20Walkman%20was%20created,than%20the%20cassette%20tape%20itself!), let music lovers listen to their favorite tunes anywhere

Between 1963 and 1988, **3B+ **tapes were sold. But by the ‘90s, CDs had mostly replaced cassettes, followed by digital music libraries.

#### **So why the comeback?**

While audiophiles often argue vinyl is the [best](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/29-does-vinyl-really-sound-better/) way to listen to music, no one’s ever made that claim for cassettes.

Yet nostalgia has pushed them back into pop culture:

- In “Stranger Things,” a Kate Bush tape not only played a pivotal role, but made the singer’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill” a modern [chart topper](https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/kate-bush-running-up-that-hill-stranger-things-spotify-1235079096/).
- Artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd have recently released albums on tape.

Tapes also appeal to collectors. Most are cheap, though some fetch high prices.

- A 1996 Linkin Park demo, from back when they were known as Xero, sold for [$4.5k](https://rarest.org/music/expensive-cassette-tapes) in 2021.

**Fun fact: **The original Walkman came with two headphone jacks for dual listening, but it turned out consumers preferred to listen solo.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12132022-cassettes)

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