It might have been a long time since we were recording the top 40 off the radio and trying to cut out the DJ, but it would seem that the cassette isn’t a thing of the past just yet.
The National Audio Company (NAC) is the last operating cassette factory in the world, and last year it recorded it’s highest ever sales.
While everybody is downloading music, and playing it through their iPods, phones or laptops, it appears that cassette tapes are still very much alive and kicking.
Steve Stepp, president of NAC said:
We were too stubborn to quit. Now, we’re making more audiocassettes than ever.
Starting out in 1969 as an average sized cassette company, they now still work with major companies like Sony and Universal.
Their biggest ever project came recently, off the back of Guardians Of The Galaxy. They released a cassette version of the soundtrack, which obviously tied in with the movie.
A large number of NAC’s customers are apparently under 35, who Stepp says ‘learned that life is not comprised of MP3s and earbuds.’ It follows a dramatic rise in popularity for vinyl records, and Stepp says:
Unlike the cool, detached sounds that can be heard in digital music, analog gives off an intimate vibe that attracts many of NAC’s clientele.
I always used to love cassette tapes as a kid. You youngens today have no idea just how useful two pencils can be, and have probably never made your own radio show with songs recorded directly from Radio 1 on a Sunday night.
You don’t know what you’re missing.
