Believe it or not, the generation raised on smartphones and Spotify is now tuning into cassette tapes — and not just for the aesthetic. Modern music icons like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Charli XCX are releasing their latest hits on cassettes, blending nostalgic formats with contemporary sounds. This trend has driven Gen Z to search eBay for tape players or explore their parents’ attics for these once-forgotten devices.

• Last year, over 430K cassettes were sold in the US, a 5x increase compared to 2013 — fueled by high-profile releases like Taylor Swift’s “1989” and “Speak Now.”
• Former cassette label manager Jen Long views this as a revenue strategy, calling it “another format to get you up the charts and milk money from people.”

Where’d all the time go? Despite streaming’s dominance, Gen Z’s appreciation for tangible media and artwork has fueled a comeback for old formats. In 2022, vinyl record sales surpassed CD sales for the first time since 1987, marking a significant revival in physical music media. It seems like Spotify’s endless ads finally got everyone thinking, “Maybe that Walkman wasn’t so bad after all.”