Cassette Tapes Are Getting a Boost From an Unexpected Source
And there are new retro-styled portable players to listen right along.
Clockwise, from top left: The We Are Rewind, Retrospekt CP-81 and FiiO CP13 portable cassette players. Also pictured: We Are Rewind EQ-001 wireless headphones
Photographer: Naila Ruechel for Bloomberg Businessweek
When Breakaway Records opened almost 16 years ago in Austin, the vinyl revival had barely begun. Back then, to stock shelves, the store had to find and buy up old vintage record collections, says owner Joshua LaRue. New vinyl albums soon became an important part of the business.
Not long after, analog fans began clamoring for another old format: cassette tapes. Although the resurgence of tapes didn’t totally surprise LaRue, the people seeking them out did. “There are some older folks who buy cassettes here,” he says, “but I’d say the majority is younger people.” For Generation Z, it’s partly a bit of secondhand nostalgia. But also, because it has lower reproduction costs and DIY cachet, emerging artists have embraced the format for smaller releases.