FEATURE:
Never Too Cool for Spool
IMAGE CREDIT: brgfx via freepik
What Is the Reason Behind the Rise in Cassette Sales?
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YOU can never really predict…
PHOTO CREDIT: freepik
what will trend and have a resurgence when it comes to music! In terms of technology and hardware, this is especially true. There has not been any real development or push forward when it comes to devices to play physical music on. The record player/turntable remains pretty standard and not needing any changes. Think about the compact disc. This is a format still widely bought, but I think it will decline as the years go on. The packaging is still plastic, and there needs to be a shift to a more environmentally friendly way of packaging them. Fewer people play C.D.s in cars, and people don’t really keep hi-fis and devices on which to play them. An older generation do, but there are a lot of compact discs bought merely to support artists and nothing more. I love a C.D., and I hope that they are produced for generations more. You do not portable physical music, as we cannot solely rely on vinyl. If devices can be made to play them or, then that would be more attractive to a younger generation. At the moment, there is this thing where C.D. sales are holding but not booming, but I do feel like there is a split in terms of the age groups buying them and who exactly is buying them. I would be interested to read research and statistics that breaks this down. One format that one would assume would be dead and buried is the cassette.
PHOTO CREDIT: Florence + The Machine
There are a number of reasons for this grave prediction. For a start, they are problematic. The magnetic tape that goes between the two spools would often come out and spill everywhere. You’d have that problem of winding the tape back into the cassette and hoping, it if it did go back in, that the album would play. It often didn’t! Also, they could damage easily anyway, so you needed kid gloves when playing them. They are still packaged and made of plastic. Now, there is a general drive towards limiting our use of plastics. Also, as I have said in many features before – including a couple of fairly recent one -, where are the devices to play cassettes on?! I wrote a future recently that asks when we will get a new physical format. There is a desire to hold music and have that connection. There are flaws and limitations with what we have at the moment so, if something can be created that is easily playable, portable, rugged, and environmentally sound, would that not be a better option?! Perhaps that is not on the table anytime soon. What is amazing is that the cassette seems to have had this resurgence. New figures were published earlier this week. I will come to my thoughts regarding that soon. Music Week were among those that reported the rise of a decades-old format:
“Artists including Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine and Harry Styles lifted UK cassette sales to their highest level in nearly two decades last year.
The figures are based on new analysis from the BPI for the trade body’s yearbook, All About The Music 2023.
Based on Official Charts Company data, sales of the format grew for a tenth consecutive year in 2022, reaching annual totals not seen since 2003, when the year’s two most popular titles were Now That’s What I Call Music compilations and Daniel O’Donnell had the top artist album.
While sales of cassettes remain lower than vinyl, having grown by 5.2% year-on-year to 195,000 units in 2022, the format is playing a significant role in the sales mix of some brand new album releases. On 10 occasions last year, the format accounted for over 10% of the chart sales of the No.1 album on the weekly chart.
Some of these chart-topping albums sold more copies on cassette than on vinyl when they debuted at No.1, including Florence + The Machine’s Dance Fever and 5SOS5 by 5 Seconds of Summer. More than a fifth of each album’s first-week chart sales were claimed by cassette.
For some new albums, a cassette version went on sale when a vinyl release was not available, as was the case with Central Cee’s 23, Digga D’s Noughty By Nature and Blackpink’s Born Pink, which all reached No.1 last year.
Sophie Jones, BPI chief strategy officer and interim CEO, said: “For many of us growing up, cassettes were a rite of passage as we listened to our favourite artists. So it’s heartening that this once much-loved format is back in vogue, even if still a tiny part of music consumption overall. Like vinyl, a number of contemporary artists are warmly embracing the cassette as another way to reach audiences and on occasions it has even helped them to achieve a No.1 album. While streaming is by far the leading format, the renewed popularity of cassettes and vinyl highlights the continuing importance of the physical market and the many ways fans have to consume music.”
The renewed popularity of cassettes and vinyl highlights the continuing importance of the physical market
Sophie Jones
Drew Hill, MD Proper Music Group and VP, distribution at Utopia Music, said: “While cassettes comprise only a small percentage of the UK album market, the format’s continuous growth over the last decade speaks to the ongoing fan demand for a myriad of ways to listen, collect and value music. We reside in a golden era of choice, where music fans are looking to labels and artists to offer a broad spectrum of physical options to complement digital streaming.”
Arctic Monkeys had the year’s biggest-selling cassette with The Car, finishing ahead of Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, which was the top album across all formats.
The top five cassette sellers were completed by releases from Florence + The Machine (Dance Fever), Muse (Will Of The People) and Central Cee (23), while artists including Blackpink (Born Pink), Machine Gun Kelly (Mainstream Sellout), Robbie Williams (XXV) and The 1975 (Being Funny In A Foreign Language) also finished in the year’s Top 10.
PHOTO CREDIT: Iron Maiden
All but two of the Top 10 sellers sold more than 5,000 cassettes during the year, while there were 40 occasions in 2022 when an album sold over 1,000 cassettes over the course of a week. This compares to 34 titles doing the same the year before.
Every one of the Top 10 cassette sellers was released in 2022, as were the entire Top 20, which included releases by Avril Lavigne (Love Sux), Jamie T (The Theory Of Whatever), Knucks (Alpha Place) and Blossoms (Ribbon Around The Bomb).
The top catalogue seller was Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast, which was reissued on cassette in March last year to mark its 40th anniversary.
Another popular catalogue title was the original soundtrack to the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians Of The Galaxy, which includes vintage tracks by 10cc, David Bowie and Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Sub-titled Awesome Mix Vol. 1, the album was one of the earliest titles to be released on cassette since the format’s revival and is one of the biggest sellers over the last 10 years.
A decade of growth for cassettes marks a turnaround in fortunes for a format which, between 1985 and 1992, led the UK albums market before being overtaken by CD. However, by 2012 its total annual sales had dropped below 4,000 units.
Since then purchases have risen every year, but its revival picked up markedly in 2020 when it grew from just over 80,000 units the year before to nearly 160,000 units, almost doubling in size in 12 months. It surpassed 185,000 units in 2021, while the 195,000 units it sold last year took it to a level not seen since before Apple launched its iTunes Music download store in the UK.
OFFICIAL CASSETTE ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2022 – Official Charts Company
1. Arctic Monkeys – The Car
2. Harry Styles – Harry’s House
3. Florence + The Machine – Dance Fever
4. Muse – Will Of The People
5. Central Cee– 23
6. Robbie Williams – XXV
7. 5 Seconds of Summer – 5SOS5
8. Blackpink – Born Pink
9. The 1975 – Being Funny In A Foreign Language
10. Machine Gun Kelly – Mainstream Sellout”.
When I shared that Music Week article on Wednesday, I asked who was still buying cassette and how were they being played. To start, I love cassettes and always have. I owned a Walkman when I was a child, and I also had a cassette player that was great for socialising. It is only natural that they dwindled and were replaced by other forms of physical music. While the MiniDisc (MD) seemed like a compromise and middle ground between a C.D. and cassette, they are not really bought or played anymore. With the move towards streaming and digital music, it is hugely positive news that we are still buying something like a cassette. The thing is, there are not really devices to play them on. One reply I got on Twitter was from someone who had a stereo. A proper unit with tape decks. In terms of the average household, I am not sure that many people do nowadays. That is especially true for younger consumers. Portability-wise, there are no devices that people play them on. I don’t think anyone has a Walkman kicking around and, so far as I know, there has not been a newer design of that classic to play cassettes on. The resurgence in cassette sales should prompt manufacturers to design something that could play them. You wonder what the reasons are behind the increased sales. For one, it is that tangibility. The more streaming dominates and does not compensate artists, the more people will react and buy physical music. That ability to hold an album in your hands is a feeling that never dims. It is a real sensation!
It might be something as simple as wanting to hold an album and feel like they are making a difference. You can stream an album, but there is that feeling it is ephemeral and transitory. It does not have that physical connection. Also, you can keep tapes and pass them down through the generations. They are always going to be with you. I think that there is something about wanting to keep the format alive. Music lovers of all ages want to ensure that cassettes live on. Many artists offer cassettes as part of an album bundle, so that could be one reason why sales have increased. That said, so many albums are released on cassette without being part of a bundle. Whether a classic album like De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising comes to cassette or it is a new release like Arctic Monkeys’ The Car, there is something very special about owning a cassette. There is fascination and that retro charm for younger fans who might not remember or have bought cassettes decades ago. Cassette cases are more compact than C.D.s, and I would like to think there are collections forming around the country. I do feel like, in many cases, artists are offering people as many physical music options as possible so that there is choice. It also means that they have that extra potential revenue stream. It can only be a matter of time before devices are manufactured to react to the unexpected renaissance of cassettes – a format was almost written off and dismissed as recently as a year or two ago.
It is encouraging that cassette sales are on the upswing. I worry that there is still too much plastic involved and, with a device out there we can play them on, I think that will encourage growth and long-term survival of the treasured and essential format. One reason why people still buy cassettes is that they cool as hell! I love the fact you have to rewind and forward the thing to get to particular tracks. It is small and compact, and there is something trendy about owning a cassette. They look great! It sort of transports you back to the past when you hold a cassette. Ensuring that artists are supported, a whole generation of music listeners are discovering this super-cool hardware. I am glad I get to talk about cassettes so soon after the previous feature. Vinyl will always be the leading physical format but, as compact discs have an unsure future, the humble and incredible cassette has this new lease of life. I would be interested to know why people buy albums on cassette and whether they feel there should be a Walkman-like device you can play them on. Whatever developments do or not happen, it is so encouraging to see physical music thriving. It doesn’t really matter why people are buying cassettes, I guess. Whether you love their cool and retro appeal, or you are playing them and listening to an album the whole way through, it is providing artists with that physical format option. Expanding beyond vinyl and cassette, we have that opportunity for fans to help support an artist they love. This week’s new cassette sales are rising is heart-warming and wonderful. Given how essential physical music is…
PHOTO CREDIT: drobotdean via freepik
LONG may that continue.