The buzz of speakers. The click of the eject button. The hiss of a tape. These sounds might have faded into obscurity, but cassettes are seeing an unlikely resurgence.
“The big thing that kicked it off for me was back in 2015,” said Salt Lake City tape collector and owner of tape label Salt Vault Records Joe Maloy.
“I bought a Jeep from my uncle. The CD player didn't work, but it had a tape deck and I was like, OK, well, I guess I got to start buying tapes.” After buying a couple of tapes and connecting with the community online, Maloy was fully down the rabbit hole and hasn’t looked back since.
While it’s become more common to own a record player and vinyl collections, tapes might just be the next big thing to come back around again in physical media.
Physical music releases have seen a historic rise in popularity in recent years. According to entertainment data insight company Luminate, cassette buyers spend around 227% more on music than the average listener, showing a dedication to the format. The cassette tape is a blast from the past, resurfacing as a way for smaller musicians to distribute their music in a unique format, while keeping it at an accessible price point for musicians and their fans alike.
Tape enthusiasts can be found on social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram showing off their collections. You can also find an extensive catalog of cassettes for sale on the music purchasing platform, Bandcamp.
Cassettes have a lot going for them. For one, they’re cheap
“People are obviously collecting a lot of vinyl these days, but putting out vinyl is very difficult, very costly,” said Jon Philpott, a local musician creating electronic music under the pseudonym Fezmaster. “The barrier to entry for making your tapes is really low, right? It's very attractive in that respect.”
Especially for smaller bands, the cost of entry for creating and distributing tapes is considerably less than that of vinyl. Many vinyl plants require a minimum order of 100 records, costing a musician around $1,000 to $3,000 to produce, depending on the plant.
Tapes, on the other hand, are a different story. A novice looking to make their own tapes can purchase a pack on Amazon for around $13, while a cheap duplicator costs around $65.
Philpott has been recording on cassettes for years. Combining randomly generated beats on a synthesizer with a trombone, he plays the music directly into a recorder, before duplicating them himself.
“I have just a stereo deck here in my room, and I do them one by one,” Philpott said.
The process of making tapes is beginner-friendly, too. After the master tape is produced and the levels are checked, the master is used to run duplicates. The process is repeated as many times as needed.
Keeping the production cost low means artists can sell their music for cheaper while still making a small profit.
In addition to jamming out in his Jeep, Maloy of Salt Vault Records also spends his free time duplicating tapes for local bands along with friend and colleague Nick Anderson of Far Out Cassette Club.
“It's a public service as far as I'm concerned,” Anderson said.
With their setup, the duo can create up to eight tapes at a time using duplicators hooked up to a laptop. Each machine records two tapes at once.
After the tapes have been recorded, decorated and packaged, they make their way to merch tables and record stores around the Wasatch Front.
The limited runs Anderson and Maloy specialize in also lend themselves to experimentation and creativity. One release in particular that comes to mind is from Fisch Loops. A testament to the experimental nature of many tape releases, the title is simply a coffee emoji: ☕.
“We just kind of had this idea of like staining the J-cards with actual coffee,” Anderson said. “I went to McDonald's and got a McCafe or whatever, and then I just would, like, spill it down the sides of the cup. I just set it on top of each card individually.”
While tapes have stayed alive in niche punk subcultures, the hands-on, DIY nature appeals beyond the punk and hardcore scene. The possibilities to customize a tape are nearly endless, from the J-card to the tape color itself.
“They kind of just look like candy, like when they're in the transparent colored shells and all,” said Alex Sandoval of the Salt Lake City punk outfit GONK. “They just look more fun, like CDs just look like a piece of metal to me.”
As tapes explode in popularity, Salt Lake City’s handful of local labels dedicated to small-batch tape production are springing up to meet demand and are excited to see the scene grow.
“I just think it's accessible. I think it's cool,” said Maloy. “It's not necessarily more creative than what you can do with a vinyl or a CD, but it's just creative in a different way.”
