Sales of cassette tapes have grown by around 400% since 2014 with a growth of 90% in the UK throughout 2018, almost doubling last year’s sales already.
Over 18,500 cassettes have been purchased since the beginning of the year across more than 80 releases.
In 2017, around 22,000 cassettes sold throughout the entire year, with 9,753 purchased at this point in the year.
While the numbers of cassettes sold is relatively small in comparison to the recent resurgence of vinyl records, the appeal of the format as a collectible item and as a way of preserving exclusivity for less mainstream releases has seen the cassette grow in popularity year on year.
Sales of cassettes have doubled each year since 2015 and have grown by 408% over the last five years.
However, the cassette’s impact on the music industry is quite small – accounting for less than 1% of the music market.
Topping the list of best selling cassettes of the 2018 is Kylie Minogue’s latest album Golden, which sold 2,847 units according to Official Charts Company Data.
The singer released a limited run of glittery-golden cassettes on the week of the albums general release, helping it debut at Number One on the Official Album Chart in April.
Coming in at second was Guardians of the Galaxy – Awesome Mix 2, which was 2017’s best selling cassette. The album is a compilation of songs used in the Marvel franchise film of the same name which includes hits from George Harrison, Fleetwood Mac and ELO.
Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company said ‘We’ve already seen a massive surge in vinyl sales and it looks as if cassettes are experiencing something similar. While the sales are off a low base, it is remarkable that UK music fans have already snapped up almost as many cassettes in 2018 as they did in the whole of 2017 - and almost four times the levels of 3/4 years ago.’
Photo: Chris Lawton
Over 18,500 cassettes have been purchased since the beginning of the year across more than 80 releases.
In 2017, around 22,000 cassettes sold throughout the entire year, with 9,753 purchased at this point in the year.
While the numbers of cassettes sold is relatively small in comparison to the recent resurgence of vinyl records, the appeal of the format as a collectible item and as a way of preserving exclusivity for less mainstream releases has seen the cassette grow in popularity year on year.
Sales of cassettes have doubled each year since 2015 and have grown by 408% over the last five years.
However, the cassette’s impact on the music industry is quite small – accounting for less than 1% of the music market.
Topping the list of best selling cassettes of the 2018 is Kylie Minogue’s latest album Golden, which sold 2,847 units according to Official Charts Company Data.
The singer released a limited run of glittery-golden cassettes on the week of the albums general release, helping it debut at Number One on the Official Album Chart in April.
Coming in at second was Guardians of the Galaxy – Awesome Mix 2, which was 2017’s best selling cassette. The album is a compilation of songs used in the Marvel franchise film of the same name which includes hits from George Harrison, Fleetwood Mac and ELO.
Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company said ‘We’ve already seen a massive surge in vinyl sales and it looks as if cassettes are experiencing something similar. While the sales are off a low base, it is remarkable that UK music fans have already snapped up almost as many cassettes in 2018 as they did in the whole of 2017 - and almost four times the levels of 3/4 years ago.’
Photo: Chris Lawton
