Back in 1962, Philips released a “compact cassette” tape. In 2017, these are simply known as cassettes and oddly enough in 2016, sales of cassette tapes actually rose 54 years after their invention and journey into obscurity.
Granted when we’re talking about cassette sales rising in 2016, we aren’t talking about millions of these 1962 inventions flying off the shelves. According to Engadget, an incredible 129,000 cassette tapes sold last year.
The 129,000 sold is an increase of 74% from the low total of 74,000 purchased in 2015. The 129,000 also looks minuscule when compared to the 13.1 MILLION vinyl albums sold in 2016. That’s right, 13.1 MILLION!
The increase in cassette sales is quite odd, as most cars no longer have places for cassette tapes to play and stereos with them aren’t exactly common. At the same time, more and more people are looking for turntables for sale to play vinyl albums, which explains the 13.1 million sold.
One reason why the tapes may have sold so well in 2016 compared to previous years is that pop stars Justin Bieber and The Weeknd sold around 1,000 copies of specialty cassette albums. On top of that, re-released versions of Prince and The Revolution’s Purple Rain and Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP sold a couple thousand copies each as well.
Online sales are booming all around the world, and that’s where a near majority of cassette tapes were sold. 43% of all cassette tapes sold were sold online, while the other 57% were sold by stores like Urban Outfitters or other independent retail stores.
What could increase by 74% in sales in 2017? Floppy disks, maybe? Tube TVs? VCRs?
[Engadget]
