Cassette Comeback

Sales of cassette tape have soared.

20:27 26 January 2017

It seems that the cassette tape is making a comeback after US sales grew by 78per cent between 2015 and 2016. Neilsen Music confirmed that in total, 129,000 cassette albums were sold during the said period. Sales were led by the soundtrack to the Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy. It was launched on cassette to reflect the main character Star Lord’s musical platform of choice. Artists, which include Justin Bieber and The Weekend, also followed suit releasing specialty cassette album.

 

However, despite the huge sales growth, cassette tapes still have a long way to go to match the success of subscription-based music services. In September, Spotify reached 40 million paying subscribers with Apple Music following on 17 million.