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Are cassettes cool again? Taylor Swift leads the retro trend
Cassette tapes are making a comeback

Are cassettes cool again? Taylor Swift leads the retro trend

Aug 20, 2025
12:09 pm

What's the story

Taylor Swift's upcoming album, Life of a Showgirl, will be released in October. Apart from streaming and vinyl formats, it will also be available on cassette tapes. The cassette tape was one of the most popular ways to listen to music in the 1980s and 1990s before CDs took over. It has since become an artifact of a bygone era, with streaming services taking precedence. However, data suggests there has been a recent resurgence in cassette sales.

Sales surge

Cassette sales have spiked in the last decade

Despite the decline in popularity, cassette sales in the US have seen a significant increase. In 2023, 4,36,400 cassettes were sold, according to Luminate. This is a huge jump from just 80,720 cassettes sold in 2015 and indicates a revival of interest in this format. Charlie Kaplan, owner of Tapehead City, an online store for cassette tapes, attributed this trend to fans wanting a more intimate experience with music and nostalgia, while speaking with CNN.

Listening experience

People want to physically own things, not rent everything digitally

Kaplan said, "People just like having something you can hold and keep, especially now when everything's just a rented file on your phone. Tapes provide a different type of listening experience- not perfect, but that's part of it. Flip it over, look at the art and listen all the way through. You connect with the music with more of your senses."

Fan influence

'Super fans' driving cassette resurgence

The rise in cassette sales is largely driven by "super fans," who make up 18% of music listeners in the US, per Luminate. These fans engage with their favorite artists through multiple channels, including streaming, attending concerts, and buying physical copies of their music. They reportedly spend $39 per month on these purchases, which is 105% more than average listeners.

Demographic shift

Gen Z leading the charge

Gen Z is the largest group of US music listeners to buy cassettes, with 9% purchasing one in the past year. The top-selling cassettes in 2025 were from popular artists such as Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX. Kori Fuerst, owner of Retrospekt, a retro technology revival store, said most cassette buyers are millennials and Gen Z who want to interact with music without relying on streaming.

Market dynamics

Cassettes viewed as complementary to streaming

Despite the rise in cassette sales, music fans aren't abandoning streaming. Instead, cassettes and other physical media are viewed as complementary. Matt Bass, VP of data and research for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), said fans want a deeper connection with artists through collectible merchandise like cassettes. RIAA stopped tracking cassette sales separately in 2008 but reported a 5% increase in physical format sales (including vinyls, CDs, and cassettes) to $2 billion in 2024.

Industry trend

Swift isn't the only artist releasing albums on cassettes

Swift isn't the first artist to release an album on cassette. In 2023, re-recorded versions of her albums 1989 (Taylor's Version) and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) sold 17,500 and 11,500 copies, respectively. Kaplan noted that he's seen a rise in this trend since opening his store about a decade ago. "Just like Taylor Swift, tons of new music is coming out on cassette too, not just reissues," he said.