How is it any different than making a playlist? You said a long shot, that's not true.

I am not talking about Spotify, I never use it, but unless you are talking about the level of effort to make the tape, then what's the difference?

Records are bulky, heavy, and horribly environmentally bad. Cassettes aren't as bad but are really inconvenient.

I got rid of all of those years ago and I am so glad I did.

I still have a music collection, I don't use streaming services though. And no no CDs either.

You have no time constraints when making a playlist. It doesn't have to fit neatly into 2x 30 or 45 minutes. And because it has to fit into that time constraint, it affects the choice of tracks and their placement into the aforementioned flow. Including a track like Herbie Hancock's Chameleon has a huge impact on a mixtape, but on a playlist it's just another song.

When Taylor Swift’s releases her new album, “Life of a Showgirl,” in October, it can be heard on the usual places, including streaming, vinyl and…cassette tape?

The cassette tape was once one of the most common ways to listen to music, overtaking vinyl in the 1980s before being surpassed by CDs. But the physical audio format has become an artifact of a bygone era, giving way to the convenience of streaming.

Or, that’s what many thought.

In 2023, 436,400 cassettes were sold in the United States, according to the most recent data available from Luminate, an entertainment data firm. Although that’s a far cry from the 440 million cassettes sold in the 1980s, it’s a sharp increase from the 80,720 cassettes sold in 2015 and a notable revival for a format that had been all but written off.

Cassettes might not be experiencing the resurgence of vinyls or even CDs, but they are making a bit of a comeback, spurred by fans wanting an intimate experience with music and nostalgia, said Charlie Kaplan, owner of online store Tapehead City.

“People just like having something you can hold and keep, especially now when everything’s just a rented file on your phone,” Kaplan told CNN.

“Tapes provide a different type of listening experience — not perfect, but that’s part of it. Flip it over, look at the art and listen all the way through. You connect with the music with more of your senses,” he said.

Another one of those pointless articles... Cassettes have been on the rise for a couple of years now, and for the same reasons that vinyl has been making a comeback; mainly fake nostalgia and the yearning for true ownership in form of physical media.

As a vinyl snob, listening to music on that medium isn't better. The quality is at best a little worse than what you get from a CD, it's inconvenient, bloody expensive and it takes up space.

BUT you get to actually hold the music you love in your hands and listen to it more intently, because you've made the effort of putting on a record instead of just pressing play. I like that.

Edit: just realised I just made the same points the article made... oh well. I'll just continue archiving my CD collection. Not (only) for posterity, but as a big middle finger to the RIAA.

Another one of those pointless articles… Cassettes have been on the rise for a couple of years now, and for the same reasons that vinyl has been making a comeback; mainly fake nostalgia and the yearning for true ownership in form of physical media.

No. Cassettes sound like shit. They are a very lossy format. Vinyl actually sounds different in ways that people like. My vinyl collection has nothing to do with nostalgia (I grew up after CDs were on the rise). On a solid system, there's a lot more fidelity in the bass on vinyl.

The only advantage of tape was, at the time, it's smaller size and portability

And not being read-only.

Also, you could spool them with a pencil.

You've completely missed the point.

You grew up in a world where the quirks of analog formats were nothing but technical limitations to be overcome. It is true that a FLAC is literally superior in every way to a Vinyl if your value function only takes in cost, quality, and convenience.

HOWEVER Gen Z grew up in a world where music was always cheap and convenient to access. We also (mostly) grew up in a world of touchscreens and always-online gadgets and doodads. My generation's first portable music player was often the iPod touch. You know what all of that does to a person? It creates a deep craving for tactile feedback. For technology that doesn't nag with software updates, for music that can't be "unlicensed" and pulled from your library remotely, for a music player that you can touch and feel and interact with in a more meaningful way than tapping on the little square of glass that already runs our lives. For the little rituals that have been stripped away, like flipping a vinyl at the midway point or rewinding a tape.

The entire point of analog is that it's "worse". It's un-clinical, it's raw, it's tactile, it's physical. Listening to my favorite albums on vinyl is such a better experience than through the disembodied shuffle of my phone. I don't crave maximum audio fidelity or convenience because I always could have those things literally whenever I want.

You've completely missed the point.

You grew up in a world where the quirks of analog formats were nothing but technical limitations to be overcome. It is true that a FLAC is literally superior in every way to a Vinyl if your value function only takes in cost, quality, and convenience.

HOWEVER Gen Z grew up in a world where music was always cheap and convenient to access. We also (mostly) grew up in a world of touchscreens and always-online gadgets and doodads. My generation's first portable music player was often the iPod touch. You know what all of that does to a person? It creates a deep craving for tactile feedback. For technology that doesn't nag with software updates, for music that can't be "unlicensed" and pulled from your library remotely, for a music player that you can touch and feel and interact with in a more meaningful way than tapping on the little square of glass that already runs our lives. For the little rituals that have been stripped away, like flipping a vinyl at the midway point or rewinding a tape.

The entire point of analog is that it's "worse". It's un-clinical, it's raw, it's tactile, it's physical. Listening to my favorite albums on vinyl is such a better experience than through the disembodied shuffle of my phone. I don't crave maximum audio fidelity or convenience because I always could have those things literally whenever I want.

Your view is totally fine, but I guess you're not understanding why people do this. I'm a millennial, around 30. Personally I buy CDs, I buy vinyl, and I even have some stuff on tape. I've also recently picked up film photography and among my friends it's common nowadays to bring some 2000-2010 digicams.

So why? flac is perfect, and streaming services stream whatever high-quality music you'd ever want to play. Film is expensive, and digicams are often way more shit than whatever a modern smartphone that's already in your pocket can do.

Personally I've become bored by perfection, overwhelmed by choice, and frustrated with the lack of owning anything. When I play a physical album I sit down for it, I am focused on the music. I cannot easily choose the music, I'll just have to accept the order of the album. There are way fewer choices to overwhelm me. Likewise, with film photography, it feels simpler in a way. You shoot a few images in a go, because film isn't cheap, and you'll only get to see them weeks later when the roll is developed. No pressure of the perfect shot, no insane resolution to show any imperfection. And mistakes just happen, because you cannot see what you're doing, so you just have to accept them. Digitally you can just take 20 pictures and take the best one.

So back to music. Why would one prefer vinyl or tape over CD? As a life-long CD collector, I wondered the same thing a few years ago. But when artists that I enjoy started skipping CD releases in favor of vinyl I hopped in, invested in a shit vinyl player, and didn't really get it. Sure it had a character, but it wasn't great in any way. After some more research I found out that it was probably just the vinyl player (please don't get some cheap shit for a 100 bucks with a red unbranded needle). I invested in an Audiotechnica LP70XBT, and oh boy did stuff improve. I finally get it. The sound is gorgeous, though not necessarily better or worse than CD imo. It's a bit warmer, with detailed bass but less clinical high end. And I love the whole tactile experience of it. Older vinyl definitely sounds worse than modern CD quality though.

I think it's the whole experience that people enjoy. Putting the vinyl or cassette in the player, having something move and, as if it were magic, suddenly there's music. With a slightly different character that differentiates it from the clean and clinical sound of high quality digital audio. Modern digital audio is great and definitely has its place, but at times it can feel sterile, too perfect. The crackles and warmth of vinyl, the grain and slightly off colours of photographic film, they feel like they have more personality. They stem from a time where the imperfections of the medium still kinda hid the imperfections of the artist.

(Okay this turned into quite a ramble but I hope there's something useful in there :3 )

You may agree that "cost, quality, and convenience" are pretty damn desirable.

I do agree, and kind of miss, the anticipation for a record release, the listening to the radio (in my case the quality non-commercial programs, think BBC, NPR, and their equivalents) with the finger on the record button, the wonder of buying a new LP, and poring over the jacket, and the occasional included booklet, flipping through records at the store,and many other cool aspects, but I stand by the vastly increased quality and durability.

If you want the rituals (save the fucking chore and expense of cleaning records), CDs are a pretty nice compromise. Tactile, mainly manual, choice of playing linearly, as many artists intended, possibility of programming or shuffling, high quality, and many other choices. With records and even worse, cassettes, you are stuck with the artifacts introduced by a bad medium and bad equipment. Want "warmth"? get a decent tube amp. Better yet, build from as kit. Great experience, and if you want control over sound, buy and learn to use a proper equalizer.