They’ve got it taped: Cassettes make a comeback as sales of albums on tape more than double
- Listeners have been rediscovering the joys of rewinding their music on tape
- The vintage cassette format has seen highest sale levels in 14 years
- Almost 50,000 albums on tape were bought in 2018, a 125.3 per cent increase on 2017
Cassettes are making a comeback with new figures revealing sales of albums on tape more than doubled last year.
Listeners have been rediscovering the joys of rewinding their music using an old pen as the vintage format has seen sales at the highest level in 14 years.
Almost 50,000 albums on tape were bought in 2018, a 125.3per cent increase on 2017 according to data from the British Phonographic Industry.
Listeners have been rediscovering the joys of rewinding their music using an old pen
The cool factor of what is now seen as a vintage way of listening to music is behind the spike In sales, despite digital devices being easier to use and having superior sound quality.
Rock band The 1975 were last year’s top sellers with their latest album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, shipping 7,500 copies on cassette according to the Telegraph.
Many of the top ten artists on tape, including Kylie, Queen, and Rick Astley, began their careers when cassettes were high-tech.
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A limited edition version of Kylie Minogue’s Golden album sold out almost instantly.
Music compilation series Now That’s What I Call Music was also among the year’s best selling cassettes.
However it is not just old stars who are behind the surge in sales, with younger artists like Ariana Grande, 26, also featuring in the top ten.
The soundtrack to the hit film Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the most popular albums on tape and featured a nostalgic ‘handwritten’ track list reminiscent of painstakingly recorded homemade mixtapes.
Music compilation series Now That’s What I Call Music was also among the year’s best selling cassettes
Gennaro Castaldo, Communications Director for the BPI told the Telegraph: ‘Sales of cassettes are still relatively small compared to other mainstream formats and clearly have a way to go before they can fully match the vinyl revival, but there are signs the format is stirring back to life.’
He added: ‘Innovative marketing around the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise has also had a galvanising effect, and it’s telling that a number of major artists see some cachet in releasing on the format again.’
Younger artists like Ariana Grande (pictured above) also featuring in the top ten
LAST year gave us the long-awaited Mamma Mia! sequel – but another musical secured the country’s biggest-selling album.
The soundtrack for The Greatest Showman, which stars Hugh Jackman as circus impresario PT Barnum, was the year’s bestselling album across all formats.
It beat George Ezra’s Staying at Tamara’s into second, with Ed Sheeran’s Divide third and the soundtrack to Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was the fourth-biggest seller.
2018’s album charts were dominated by men, with just four of the top 20 released by women.
Only Dua Lipa cracked the top ten, with her self-titled debut at number nine.
The overall picture was slightly more cheery for women artists, with 49 per cent of the singles that spent most time in the charts featuring female singers – compared with just 35 per cent in 2017.
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