Why cassettes are back, and how big the comeback really is

By Dzianis Bykhouski · Updated October 10, 2026 · 3 min read

Cassette sales are growing from a very low base. In the US they rose 74% in 2016 to about 129,000 units, and UK sales in 2021 were the highest since 2003. Buyers cite low cost, collectability and the soft sound of tape. Against 442 million US cassettes sold in 1990, the revival is small.

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How big is the cassette comeback?

Big as a percentage, small as a market. The table collects the figures that the Compact Cassette article reports from industry sources. For official US numbers by format, the RIAA sales database is the primary source, and the BPI publishes UK market reports.

Year	Figure	Where
1990	About 442 million pre-recorded cassettes sold	United States
2007	About 274,000	United States
2014	More than 10 million tapes produced by National Audio Company	United States
2016	Sales up 74% to about 129,000	United States
2021	Highest UK cassette sales since 2003	United Kingdom
2021	Maxell selling about 8 million tapes a year	Japan

Why are people buying cassettes again?

The reasons repeat in every report. Tapes are cheap to make in small runs, so an unknown band can sell 50 copies without a pressing plant. Duplicating at home is easy. A cassette is a tidy, collectable object, with a cover insert and a handwritten label if the owner wants one. And many listeners like the way a tape rounds off the sound, something lo-fi and experimental artists make use of.

Pop culture helped. The soundtrack tape for Guardians of the Galaxy, sold as Awesome Mix, was produced by Missouri's National Audio Company in 2014, and the company said its sales rose 20 percent the next year. In 2015 the US chain Urban Outfitters started selling new cassettes, blank tapes and players. In Japan the trend fits the so-called Showa retro taste for 1926 to 1989 design.

Is it just nostalgia?

Partly, but the age of buyers is not the whole story. The cassette sits next to the vinyl revival, which has a much larger and better-documented scale. More than five million vinyl records were sold in the UK in 2021, and a BPI analysis published in 2023 counted a 16th consecutive annual rise, according to the vinyl revival article. Tape piggybacks on the same appetite for owning a physical object in a streaming world.

There is a practical reason as well. A tape cannot be skipped through as easily as a playlist, so many listeners play the whole side. For some of them that slowness is the feature. We cover the format's early history in the history of the Compact Cassette.

For scale, US vinyl revenue grew 17% to $1.2 billion in 2022, its 16th straight year of growth, and made up 71% of physical-format revenue, as reported by the RIAA. For the first time since 1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs in units that year (44 million against 33 million). Cassettes are not on that curve. They are a boutique format with a loyal following, and anyone reading a headline percentage should look for the unit count behind it.

Who still makes cassette tape?

Very few companies. After several years of shortage, National Audio Company in Missouri began making its own magnetic tape in 2018, which made it the world's first known maker of all-new tape stock. Mulann, which took over the Pyral and RMGI plants in 2015 and traces its roots to BASF, started producing new cassette tape in 2018 as well.

The type of tape you buy matters for sound. Our guide to cassette tape types explains the difference between normal, chrome and metal.

What are the limits of tape?

Tape is a narrow strip, 3.81 mm wide, moving at 4.76 cm/s past a head. That produces hiss, which Dolby B noise reduction cuts by about 9 dB, and small speed variations known as wow and flutter. Tape also saturates when the level is high, adding a soft compression that some people love. If those words are new, what is wow and flutter and what is tape saturation explain them.

A cassette also wears. Heads get dirty, the tape stretches (the thin C120 tapes are only 6 micrometers thick), and a machine from 1988 may need a new belt. Owning tapes is a hobby with maintenance.

How do you get the feel without the shelf of tapes?

With your own music and the right machine on screen. REWIND is an iPhone app that plays your audio files offline on 10 drawn pocket cassette machines, plus decks and boomboxes. The reels turn while a song plays, you can swipe the cassette to wind and rewind, and pausing makes a real tape stop where the pitch slides down. An Analog sound switch adds tape saturation, wobble and hiss, each with its own slider.

It is not a replacement for a drawer full of C90s. It is a way to carry your own collection with the look and the buttons of the machines. See the cassette player page, the analog sound feature or the cassette player app guide.

Frequently asked questions

Are cassette sales really increasing?

Yes, from a very low base. US sales rose 74% in 2016 to about 129,000 units, and UK sales in 2021 were the highest since 2003. They remain tiny next to the peak.

How many cassettes were sold at the peak?

US pre-recorded cassette sales were about 442 million in 1990, per the figures cited in the Compact Cassette article. By 2007 they had fallen to about 274,000.

Is anyone still manufacturing cassette tape?

Yes. National Audio Company in Missouri began producing new tape stock in 2018, and the company Mulann, which traces its roots to BASF, also began making new cassette tape in 2018.

Do cassettes sound better than streaming?

No, not in measured fidelity. Tape adds hiss, wow and flutter. Fans like its warmth, compression and ritual, which is a matter of taste rather than accuracy.

Can I use a cassette player on my iPhone?

REWIND shows your own music files on drawn cassette machines, with turning reels and a tape-stop pause. It works offline and does not play physical tapes.