First a resurgence of vinyl, now a comeback of cassettes… Tape sales hit a two-decade high as music lovers turn to traditional formats
- Cassette sales have now reached a two-decade high, following a vinyl resurgence
- About 195,000 will be purchased in 2022 – 5.2 percent more in a year
For anyone who remembers using a pencil to carefully rewind an unrolled cassette tape, news of their comeback may come as a surprise.
Along with the annoying hiss in the background, it was all too easy to accidentally record over your favorite tracks – and if you left one on your car dashboard on a hot day, it would be a disaster become.
But sales are now at a two-decade high, following a vinyl resurgence as music lovers turn to traditional formats.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), some 195,000 were purchased in 2022, a 5.2 percent increase in a year and the tenth annual increase in a row.
The Arctic Monkeys had the best-selling cassette of the year with The Car, followed by Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. Florence and the Machine came in third with their album Dance Fever, which sold more cassettes than vinyl when it debuted at No. 1 in May.
(Stock Image) The cassette tape was developed by Philips in the early 1960s – but its heyday came two decades later, when the popularity of the Sony Walkman drove sales in the UK alone to peak at 83 million in 1989
Last year, cassettes accounted for more than 10 percent of the No. 1 album’s chart position on the weekly Official Albums Chart ten times over.
Ten times last year, cassettes accounted for more than 10 percent of the No. 1 album’s chart position on the weekly Official Albums Chart. And more than a fifth of each album’s first-week sales were in cassette format.
The cassette tape was developed by Philips in the early 1960s, but its heyday came two decades later, when the popularity of the Sony Walkman helped push sales to a peak of 83 million in the UK alone in 1989.
Cassettes led the UK album market between 1985 and 1992 before being overtaken by CDs. By 2012, annual sales had fallen below 4,000.
On TikTok, the hashtag “cassette” has now been viewed more than 343 million times, with “Gen Z” youth using the vintage format. Sophie Jones, CEO of BPI, described the resurgence as “encouraging.”
“Like vinyl, a number of contemporary artists are warmly embracing cassette as another way to reach audiences,” she said.
“While streaming is by far the leading format, the newfound popularity of cassettes and vinyl highlights the continued importance of the physical market and the many ways fans can consume music.” Last year, Taylor Swift pushed UK vinyl sales past CDs for the first time in 35 years after selling 80,000 copies of her album Midnights.
