Cassette Store Day is Coming Back. Why?

June 10, 2014 Alan Cross 3 Comments

While I’m fully on board with Record Store Day‘s vinyl mandate, I will have no truck with a day that fetishizes a horribly outdated, bad-sounding format. If you ever had to struggle with pre-recorded cassettes, you know what I mean.

Background hiss. Low fidelity. Bad reproduction of high frequencies. Muddy low end. Tape jams. Cassettes should be confined to the dustbin of history like 78 RPM Edison discs and wax cylinders.

But there are those who want to romanticize this codswallop and for the life of me, I have no idea why.

Cassette Store Day will be back September 27. You can sign up to learn more about the second annual event here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38835 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

3 thoughts on “Cassette Store Day is Coming Back. Why?”

Brad Hill

June 10, 2014 at 9:33 am
Permalink

Believe it or not, there is a small label here in North Carolina that releases *only* on cassette. The rationale escapes me. 🙂
Reply
OldSouthKyle

June 10, 2014 at 10:24 am
Permalink

Another desperate attempt to cash in on nostalgia.
Reply
Dan

June 10, 2014 at 10:31 am
Permalink

I love my cassettes, will never part with them…all for that nostalgic feeling they give me.

But I don’t get this at all. It’s a crap format that I don’t see me ever using again. Having said that, if a band I was into released something on cassette and only cassette, I’d probably buy it. And immediately rip into MP3 format.
Reply