More musicians, both international and domestic, are releasing their work on cassette tapes, which have long been out of fashion. However, experts say there is a long way to go before the format rivals vinyl records.

Margus-Koit Kivistik of the Estonian Authors’ Society said cassette releases have increased over the past decade.

“Globally, the release of music on cassette has grown compared to ten years ago. As for cassettes featuring works by Estonian authors, we have recently seen more albums being released in cassette format in addition to CDs or vinyl,” Kivistik said.

He also highlighted that world-famous pop artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift have started releasing music on cassette again.

Erki Pärnoja, an artist who performs alternative music, initially released his latest album solely on cassette. He said the cassette has become relevant for him again, in part thanks to a cassette player he found at a second-hand store.

Kassett Source: Andre Moura/Pexels

“What I like about it is that it’s a fun little niche thing, and you have to do something special to use it, unlike just pulling your phone out of your pocket, connecting it to your Bluetooth headphones, and instantly getting whatever you want,” said Pärnoja.

Madis Nestor, owner of the record store Biit Me, said cassette releases in Estonia largely depend on genre.

He said Estonian pop music is rarely found on cassette and most cassette releases are in genres such as rock, metal, punk, hip-hop, and electronic folk music, according to his data.

Nestor said cassette production runs are generally modest. In the case of smaller labels, he says, a maximum of 150 cassettes are made per project. He believes it’s unlikely that cassettes will see a widespread revival similar to vinyl.

“Based on those numbers, there’s not going to be any kind of global boom. What is more likely is that if these cassettes being released now attract more attention later on, their prices will definitely rise quite a bit, simply because there are so few of them,” he added.

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