Just waiting for Kylie's Step Back In Time to arrive! 5 different colours to choose from....

 

And Bjork's back catalogue have all been released on coloured cassettes as well.

I used to buy a lot of cassette singles back in the day.

 

Since the reintroduction of them I have the 8 that Kylie has released - all unopened in my collection.

Lighthouse Family's new album released on double cassette today - first tape is the new album and second one is all the hits.

 

They dont appear an act that would sell much on cassette.

Guess who managed to get a white cassette of The 1975's Brief Inquiry album from a charity shop for a really low price?

I also managed to add NOW 22 and NOW 23 to my cute collection of cassettes.

Edited September 16, 20195 yr by Polly Planturret

Cassette Store Day is coming on the 12th of October, with a couple of exclusives being pressed for this special event. https://thevinylfactory.com/news/cassette-s...019-exclusives/

 

The ones I'm interested in:

 

Basil Kirchin - Deja Vu

EB - Rodeo Queen

Max Blansjaar - Fantasy Living

Menace Beach and The ESP - Slo-Mo-Shun

Pip Blom - Boat

The The - See Without Being Seen

Managed to get a Stevie Wonder promo cassette from a British Heart Foundation shop, along with Pet Shop Boys' Actually and Joni Mitchell's Hejira.

My collection of modern cassettes -

 

I have to be honest - in terms of playing music, cassettes are redundant to me... my cassette player is stored away in the attic, but even if I had it set up I doubt I'd want to play them. I think this purely comes down to nostalgia; cassettes were how I consumed music when I was a child, before my parents upgraded to CDs. Weirdly I find them to be quite cute looking items. Maybe I shouldn't try and justify it and just hold my hands up and admit that I waste some of my money :kink:

 

Albums

Ariana Grande - Sweetener (2018)

Ariana Grande - thank u, next (2019)

Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated (2019)

Emma Bunton - My Happy Place [blue] (2019)

Emma Bunton - My Happy Place [Pink] (2019)

Jonas Brothers - Happiness Begins [Nick Jonas Version] (2019)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [black Spools] (2018)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Yellow Spools] (2018)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Collector's Edition] (2018)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Christmas Collector's Edition] (2018)

Louise - Heavy Love [silver Glitter] (2020)

Taylor Swift - Lover (2019)

Troye Sivan - Blue Neighbourhood (2016)

Various Artists - Love, Simon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Red - US] (2018)

 

Singles

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You [Red - US] (2019)

Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You [Pink - US] (2019)

Cassettes are being used as a tool now to secure high platings in album charts just like they were years ago for the singles chart - 5SOS are doing a bundle of 4 cassettes, CD, poster and voice note for £27, Dua Lipa done a 3 cassette bundle plus singed photo for £11. I actually really like cassettes first artists that I collect - I just wish if they were going to push multiple copies on us they would make them a bit different?

 

 

I wanted the Robbie Williams Christmas album on CD (signed) and cassette. The only way to get them was as part of a bundle which contained 2 different coloured cassettes. Most people would have been happy with one cassette but this way they make 3 sales.

 

I've noticed that sometimes you get a download of the album when you buy the cassette in which case it's cheaper to buy that than pay directly for the download or buying the CD (I tend to rip CDs'onto my pc and put them away).

I think the interest in cassettes will be short lived.

People don't even play once purchased.

Edited April 25, 20205 yr by pippa

I think the interest in cassettes will be short lived.

People don't even play once purchased.

 

I’m not so sure, they appear to be getting cheaper and a tool to secure multiple purchases and boost chart positions - also they are appearing for singles now too.

 

HRVY and The Weeknd both released cassette singles and EVERYONE is doing cassettes and cassette bundles for albums now - often selling 3 for around £10-12 which is a good boost for sales, they are pointless but I guess they get the fans collecting and buying.

it's nice for collectors, the revival is been going on for a quite a while now

Maybe it won't be long until we see a boombox (very American, but seems the most appropriate name to call it) revival, much like turntables received and upsurge in sales...

Haven't bought one since about 1993. I really don't see the appeal in them at all.

What's a boombox?

Maybe it won't be long until we see a boombox (very American, but seems the most appropriate name to call it) revival, much like turntables received and upsurge in sales...

 

Urban Outfitters have sold turntables for a while but they have just added a cassette player/Walkman to their range.

Urban Outfitters have sold turntables for a while but they have just added a cassette player/Walkman to their range.

 

I bought this one about 3 years ago and regretted it immediately, the playback quality on it was shocking. Hope the new one is better.

From OCC

 

The cassette continues to prove the unlikely comeback kid of music formats, with sales soaring so far in 2020.

 

In the first six months of the year, 65,000 cassettes were purchased in the UK, a 103% increase compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, figures are set to eclipse 2019's figure of 80,000, and are on course to top 100,000 for the first time since 2003.

 

Impressively, more cassettes have been sold so far in 2020 than the entirety of 2018.

 

The pop genre is the primary driver for the three figure increase in sales, with younger music fans bolstering their pop collections with the sought-after limited edition tapes. Seven of the Top 10 albums on cassette so far in 2020 are by pop acts.

 

The Number 1 best-seller is 5 Seconds of Summer's CALM. The band's chart-topping fourth album - available on five cassette variants - is also the fastest-selling cassette in almost 18 years, and shifted 12,000 units in its first week on sale. The last time an album scored that many cassette sales in seven days was NOW 52 back in July 2002.

 

Lady Gaga has also seen her cassettes fly off the shelves of her webstore, shifting 12,000 copies of chart topper Chromatica. The 1975 rank third with their recent Number 1 record Notes on a Conditional Form, while US singer Selena Gomez is fourth with Rare. Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia - the biggest album release of 2020 so far by a British artist - is fifth.

 

Other pop acts in the Top 20 rundown include Louis Tomlinson's debut album Walls, Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated: Side B, Louise with her comeback record Heavy Love, Pet Shop Boys' latest album Hotspot, and Harry Styles' Fine Line, originally released in 2019 but still proving popular.

 

Rock has representation from Ozzy Osbourne's latest album Ordinary Man, and Enter Shikari, while indie fans are also keen on cassettes, with the likes of Sports Team, The Courteeners, The Strokes and Blossoms selling well.

 

The UK's Official Top 20 bestselling cassette albums of 2020 so far

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK

1 CALM 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER 1

2 CHROMATICA LADY GAGA 1

3 NOTES ON A CONDITIONAL FORM 1975 1

4 RARE SELENA GOMEZ 2

5 FUTURE NOSTALGIA DUA LIPA 1

6 ORDINARY MAN OZZY OSBOURNE 3

7 WALLS LOUIS TOMLINSON 4

8 DEEP DOWN HAPPY SPORTS TEAM 2

9 NOTHING IS TRUE & EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE ENTER SHIKARI 2

10 DEDICATED - SIDE B CARLY RAE JEPSEN 42

11 JUNK FOOD EASY LIFE 7

12 MORE. AGAIN. FOREVER. COURTEENERS 2

13 THE NEW ABNORMAL STROKES 3

14 HEAVY LOVE LOUISE 11

15 HOTSPOT PET SHOP BOYS 3

16 EVERYTHING ELSE HAS GONE WRONG BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB 4

17 THE SLOW RUSH TAME IMPALA 3

18 FOOLISH LOVING SPACES BLOSSOMS 1

19 A BRIEF INQUIRY INTO ONLINE 1975 1

20 FINE LINE HARRY STYLES 3

©2020 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

 

Loving this continued surge/revival success

I'm always a little bemused at myself when I feel like buying a cassette! I don't play them, but given that it is the first format I ever consumed music from, they have nostalgic appeal for me. I think of them as being "cute" items lol.

 

Here's my updated collection of modern cassettes (all bar one of them are releases from 2018 to 2021). Almost all of them are European releases, but some are USA. I've included all the colours of the cassette shells.

 

Albums

Ariana Grande - Positions [Frosted Ice White] (2020)

Ariana Grande - Sweetener [Clear] (2018)

Ariana Grande - thank u, next [black] (2019)

Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated [White (with Grey sticker)] (2019)

Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B [standard - Grey] (2020)

Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B [Purple] (2020)

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia [blue] (2020)

Emma Bunton - My Happy Place [blue] (2019)

Emma Bunton - My Happy Place [Pink] (2019)

Jonas Brothers - Happiness Begins [Pink - Nick Jonas Version] (2019)

Katy Perry - Smile [blue] (2020)

Kylie Minogue - DISCO [standard - Blue] (2020)

Kylie Minogue - DISCO [Clear (with Red/Blue sticker)] (2020)

Kylie Minogue - DISCO [Double Cassette - Blue] (2020)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Gold Glitter with Black Spools] (2018)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Gold Glitter with Yellow Spools] (2018)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Collector's Edition - Clear (with Gold strip)] (2018)

Kylie Minogue - Golden [Christmas Collector's Edition - Silver Glitter] (2018)

Lady Gaga - Chromatica [Pink] (2020)

Louise - Heavy Love [silver Glitter] (2020)

Nick Jonas - Spaceman [Clear] (2021)

Melanie C - Melanie C [White] (2020)

Steps - What the Future Holds [standard - Clear - Group Cover] (2020)

Taylor Swift - Lover [Clear (with Black strip)] (2019)

Troye Sivan - Blue Neighbourhood [blue] (2016)

Troye Sivan - In a Dream [Clear] (2020)

Various Artists - Love, Simon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Red - USA] (2018)

 

Singles

Jonas Brothers - What a Man Gotta Do [Gold - Nick Jonas Version - USA] (2020)

Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - Rain on Me [White - USA] (2020)

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You [Red - USA] (2019)

Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You [Pink - USA] (2019)