When was the last time you saw cassettes in the library? For me, it was probably around 10 years ago, and the few we had were books on cassette or language learning cassettes. Since then, they have been removed from our collection because they rarely got checked out, and most people told us they didn't have cassette players anymore. Could that soon change?
If you or someone you know is a Swiftie (fan of megastar singer Taylor Swift), you might decide to buy her next album on cassette. No, I'm not kidding. Swift's next album, Life of a Showgirl, will be released in October on streaming, CD, vinyl, and...cassette.
For decades, "records" (a.k.a. "vinyls") were the primary format for audio recordings, but they had their limitations--they scratched easily and weren't very portable. Cassette tapes came out in the 1960s and became popular with the public in the 1970s through 1980s because you could take them anywhere (think 1980s "boom boxes" and car tape players). As a teenager, I played the cast album of The Phantom of the Opera endlessly (okay, I was a weird kid).
So why the heck is Taylor Swift releasing her latest album on cassette, of all formats? Apparently, Gen Z want to connect with their favorite singers more closely through something old school and tangible. Cassettes are also different from streaming in that you need to listen to an entire side rather than skip from one song to another (technically, you can fast forward to the next song, but it's not so easy to find its starting point).
Will the library be buying cassettes again? I doubt it. As someone who grew up with cassettes in the '80s, give me a clean-sounding CD I can play in my car and skip to any song I want.
Do you want to see the return of the cassette? Why or why not? Share with us!
Ever truly yours from the perch.
(Photo Source: BRRT on Pixabay)
