Are cassette tapes worth anything? Not only is demand and production at all time high, you may own some very valuable cassette tapes friend!
Step aside vinyl, it looks like cassette tapes are the new (well… old) format making a comeback in a big way! Discogs amongst others have released some comprehensive lists of the most expensive cassettes sold.
The bottom line? Start digging through your backlog of crusty plastic casings, you might be sitting on a gold mine.
Each of the entries in the 100 most expensive cassette tapes sit at or above $500 USD. Classic self-titled albums from Rage Against The Machine and the Pixies made the list, as well as Blink 182‘s debut Buddah. Pre-dating the ‘182’ suffix the band had to tack on to avoid legal trouble, the Blink debut is currently available for $1200 AUD! Which is probably more than it cost to record the damn thing in the first place.
The Artist (Formerly known as Prince)‘s The Versace Experience topped the list. The release was distributed on cassette one time only at an exclusive Versace event in 1995. In 2016, someone bought it for over $4000 USD.
The spike in cassette sales can really only be attributed to nostalgia. Where vinyl gives you unadulterated sound quality, and digital platforms give us ease of access, cassettes only saving grace is that they’re something quirky you can listen to on the go.
Although, if you’re gonna go ahead and pop your next release on cassette, take a leaf out of the book of Macintosh Plus. Only 100 copies of their vapour-wave cult classic Floral Shoppe were put to cassette, yet 7 made the list. Selling at a median price of $800 USD, that’s one way to cement your cult status.
Check out the full list here.
