Cassettes Are Dead. Long Live Cassettes.

Close-up of an audio cassette

For some reason, cassettes are coming back.

The nostalgia and appreciation for music on vinyl makes sense: the fun pops and cracks as the needle makes its way around the waxy circle, the lushness of the audio, the great cover art and liner notes that give a band a little more room for creative expression.

But cassettes? Who hasn’t been annoyed by having to find a pencil to rewind or fix the tape? Or the frustration of hearing a favorite song get warped by being played too much and the tape starts to wear out? Where’s the fun in that?

Some will argue cassettes are cheaper and easier to make than CDs or MP3s, that the community feeling around swapping tapes has been replaced with something colder and less personal. Spin even went so far as to put together a list of the 10 best cassette releases so far this year. And oh good grief, there’s even a Cassette Store Day scheduled for Oct. 17.  This is a terrible idea.

Disagree? Here’s why you’re wrong. Still disagree? Tell us why in the comments.

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5 Comments

  • I have a bunch of cassettes I need transferred over to MP3. Some old radio shows I was part of, my first time on CFTR, MIX, CJEZ. Some old college radio shows I loved. Taping songs off the radio show. Old mixtapes I made for people. Besides the whole sentimental value thing, records are still my thing.