Cassettes and an audio player.
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Recently, the Official Charts of the U.K. published on its website the best sold audio cassettes of 2024. It reveals that the highest selling album of the previous year was Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet followed by Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.
For a majority of the Gen Z and Gen Alpha youngsters in India who have not seen an audio cassette, this analogue format was the dominant music-playing medium throughout the 1980s. People used to record voice and listen to music through the tapes. Currently, this format has seen a resurgence in the western countries and its sales have been increasing year by year since 2012.
In India, new cassettes are not produced and hence, only old stock is available to buy. The cassettes, which cost between ₹40 and ₹60 in the 2000s, are now priced in the range of ₹150-₹500 in physical music stores and ₹500-₹2,000 online.
Most Indians may have witnessed a comeback of vinyl records, which were the largest used music format in the 1950s and 1960s. New records are being produced by various companies in Hindi. They include re-issue of old film songs in vinyl record which was originally released in cassettes and CDs in the past. The examples include songs of films such as Dilwale, Pukar, Saajan, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, Tum Se Achcha Kaun Hai and Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya. Nowadays, it is easier to get a sealed LP (long play) record than any other analog format. The price ranges from ₹1,999 to ₹3,499. These are sold at record stores and shopping apps.
The question is why are these vintage music formats becoming popular again. The cassettes come with decorative inlay cards and vinyl records come with great artwork. Similarly, both retro technologies foster a sense of ownership for the users. If there is poor network connectivity or shortage of data, the vinyl and cassettes become helpful for uninterrupted listening. The advertisements on cassettes are always about music or upcoming albums in contrast to online streaming which can give irrelevant advertisements on stock market or education unrelated to music.
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Published – February 09, 2025 03:37 am IST
