Audio cassette tapes are making a comeback?

[elvis4life]

Hit Rewind: Cassettes Are Making A Comeback | TODAY:

http://www.king5.com/entertainment/storytellers-the-case-for-bringing-back-cassette-tapes/453727165

Cassette tapes are making a comeback

Once thought banished to the shelves of nostalgia, cassette tapes appear to be making at least a minor comeback within a generation tired of impersonal and intangible downloads.

Chris Vanderveen, KUSA 3:04 PM. PDT July 02, 2017

BOULDER - Once thought banished to the shelves of nostalgia, cassette tapes appear to be making at least a minor comeback within a generation tired of impersonal and intangible downloads.

Perhaps nowhere is that more clear inside the headquarters of First Base Tapes in Boulder, Colorado.

Underneath the cat posters on the walls and scattered beside the guitars and speakers, the staff of First Base Tapes – almost exclusively University of Colorado students – is busy dubbing 100 copies of Denver-based Princess Dewclaw’s latest release.

Thankfully, the process isn’t terribly time-consuming due to the presence of a Telex cassette duplicator.

Four dubs at once. Each one at 16 times normal speed.

At $3 a tape, before markup, First Base gives up-and-coming bands an old-fashioned way to connect to their audience.

“There’s something special about being able to make a physical thing, even if you’re in a band not making enough money,” says CU sophomore and First Base social media guru Jen Keller.

CU junior Adam Tammariello says the cost outweighs any potential negative.

“And if it gets eaten (by a tape deck), then rest in peace,” he said.

At the age of 24, CU graduate Liam Comer is the “adult” in the room. “I get a senior’s discount for my tapes,” he jokes.

Comer says younger generations like his don’t always want to live their lives online and detached from the physical world.

“I think our generation definitely craves something physical,” he said.

Do any of the employees have cassette decks in their apartment or dorm rooms?

Most of their hands shoot up.

Colton O’Connor says even if his friends don’t, there’s a good chance they have a deck to play this stuff somewhere.

“People our age drive a lot of old cars,” he says.

Amanda Gostomski, member of the band Princess Dewclaw loves the new trend.

“You don’t just want to have a download. You want to have a physical thing,” she says.

Shortly after, a fan approaches a table she’s set up just outside of the concert hall she’s about to perform in.

“It’s called Teenage Warewolf. It’s our EP,” she says.

The fan scoops it up and leaves.

Maybe he’s headed to his 1998 Toyota Corolla to hear the first song.

[The Pirate]

They're just a novelty, an extra format for bands to try and make a bit of cash. Buy a mega box set now, and you'll maybe find a couple of CDs, a vinyl album, a book, and tucked away underneath it all there's a cassette containing unreleased demos. But you get a download code so that you can actually hear the music, because nobody is suggesting that the tape is meant to be played.

[elvis4life]

There's a guy named Marc Masters who wrote a book called "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape". If this Amazon link don't show it, just go on Amazon & type down the title



In the meantime, here's a video of the author being interviewed:

[Rob]

I know at least one person who won't be collecting them.

[elvis4life]

https://www.brooklynpaper.com/tapes-comeback-nyc-tape-fair-april-27/

Cassette tapes make a comeback at the first-ever NYC Tape Fair in Bushwick on April 27

By Kirstyn Brendlen
Posted on April 23, 2025

Cassette and VHS tapes once ruled the world of entertainment — but, just a half-century after they came on the scene, they’ve largely gone the way of the dodo.

In 2025, digital media is king. Online streaming services have libraries larger than any Blockbuster store, and the latest albums are available instantly on Spotify or Apple Music for a flat monthly fee.

But on April 27, physical media will rise once again at the first-ever NYC Tape Fair in Bushwick, where vendors’ tables will be stacked with old and new cassettes tapes, stacks of VHS tapes in their blocky plastic boxes, and more.

Co-founder Anthony Morton said he’s always loved physical media, starting when he was a “broke kid” who could only afford a $5 cassette at a concert.

“Similarly, with VHS, I wanted to own all my favorite movies, and realizing people were basically throwing VHSs away allowed me to do that and exposed me to so many new things because of the low financial barrier for entry,” he said. “I think keeping it that way, and maintaining tape as a medium, keeps that low barrier. It’s good for artists, good for consumers, and keeps art available for all.”

He still collects tapes, but finding them isn’t easy. His often-fruitless shopping trips helped inspire NYC Tape Fair.

“I went to a lot of record fairs and there would be one vendor with a box of tapes, not really curated, just kind of stuff they found along the way when they were buying records,” he said. “… and I was like, I’d really, selfishly, love for a tape fair to happen. And to get all of these people in one room.”

It was a “labor of love” for he and co-founder Ricardo Marrero to find all the vendors, he said, but for six hours on Sunday, at least a dozen will gather at Selva, a record store-art gallery-café on Willoughby Avenue.

“We’re honored to host the NYC Tape Fair for their first event, bringing together individuals with niche interests to celebrate music, art, and underground works that have yet to be discovered,” said Lucas Cabu and Marc Grillo, two of Selva’s owners.

Sellers will include stores Captured Record Shop in Greenpoint and the new Night Owl Video in Williamsburg, plus independent collectors like Mike Videopunk and Billy Bombs. They’ll be offering rare, vintage tapes alongside new ones and collector necessities like hard-to-find tape storage.

Morton was particularly excited about the Found Footage Festival, which travels around the country showing off long-lost tapes they’ve found in thrift stores and estate sales and will be showing off some archival footage at NYC Tape Festival on Sunday.

“They have essentially the world’s largest collection of obscure and niche things put to VHS,” he said. “They were excited about [the festival] and took the time to take some things from the archive to sell.”

While streaming dominates entertainment, Morton thinks more and more people are growing fatigued with logins and subscriptions and are returning to the simplicity of popping in a tape.

He may be right. Earlier this month, Night Owl Video opened its doors in Williamsburg, stocked entirely with DVDs, VHS tapes, and movie memorabilia.

Recent stats have shown small surges in sales of vinyl records, cassette tapes, and DVDs — likely driven by equal parts nostalgia and practicality. Streaming giants often pull movies and TV shows from their platforms with little warning, leaving fans with no way to watch; and artists have come and gone from Spotify.

“I think people have kind of realized that they don’t have a tangible connection, they don’t have a tactile thing they can hold,” Morton said. “And that kind of scares [them,] like, what if it all goes away? It definitely has people kind of clamoring to own their favorite things, and to be able to access them at their own speed.”

NYC Tape Fair pops up in Brooklyn for one day only on Sunday, April 27, 12-6 p.m. at Selva, 1329 Willoughby Ave. in Bushwick.