Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cassettes Are Back, and Booming (fastcompany.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

Long time reader harrymcc writes: By now, it isn't news that vinyl albums continue to sell, even in the Spotify era. But a new report says that sales of music on cassette are up 140 percent. The antiquated format is being embraced by everyone from indie musicians to Eminem and Justin Bieber. Fast Company's John Paul Titlow took a look at tape's unexpected revival, and why it's not solely about retro hipsterism.

2 of 564 comments (clear)

  1. Actual Numbers by tranZent · · Score: 5, Informative
    From the actual report

    There were 11,489 cassettes purchased during the Holiday Season (an increase of 140% over 2015).

  2. Re:In this economy? by Migraineman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well...let's see an uncompressed, unfiltered, band-unlimited, DRM-less analog audio stream from a cassette, ...

    Clearly you've never mastered audio for cassette output. Typical compact cassette tape will start rolling-off around 12-14kHz; chrome tape will get you 16kHz; metal will get you close to 20kHz. Tape ain't the holy grail, as limitations of the medium impose compression, filtering, and band limitation (just in the analog domain.)

    I just checked, and I can get 100 CD-Rs for $12 retail all day long. So my band can release a single on CD in an audio-CD format, or as a data disc with a raw uncompressed bit file. I can master this from the kitchen of my apartment, just like the article says.

    In spite of the article claiming "this isn't another display of analog hipsterism," oh yes it is.