SLASH GEAR
Nostalgia for the 1980s and 1990s is pretty strong these days, possibly due to the success of shows like “Stranger Things.” The latest evidence that we’re heading back to the era of Don Johnson, Saturday morning cartoons, and regrettable “Rocky” sequels is the seemingly amazing revival of the cassette tape.
Artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift seem to be spearheading the re-adoption of this retro format. Swift’s 2022 release “Midnights” was available on cassette, alongside a CD and vinyl release. Eilish’s fans were also able to grab “Happier Than Ever” on tape, and many did so despite the fact that the format phased into obsolescence before many of them were born. Sales have picked up drastically over the past few years. In 2015, the format was still in a steady decline, with only 81,000 tapes sold in the United States, according to statistics from Billboard. Last year, people purchased 440,000.
Other musicians have seemingly hopped on the hype wave too, with Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, and Maren Morris also releasing music on the revived format. Add to this the plethora of little indie bands that never abandoned the cassette to start with, reissues of classic tapes from the likes of 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre, and the endless list of legendary musicians who were releasing tapes in their prime, and there is definitely a huge amount of media available for enthusiasts to dive into — or there should be, anyway…
