Gen Z drive modern revival of the cassette tape

New research by Startle has revealed the resurgence of the cassette tape driven by modern artists including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Lana Del Rey. Some tapes are being resold on eBay at a 1,000% markup, despite the music being available on cheaper mediums like streaming and digital download.

Music fans are also buying up retro tech too, with ‘Cassette player’ now being searched nearly 20K times a month in the UK.

Cassette tapes gained widespread popularity in the 70s, but by the early 2000s, they were replaced by CDs, then MP3s and streaming. While cassette tapes may be considered a relic of the past, it turns out there’s still interest in the analogue music format. One report revealed that the sales of cassette tapes were up 204 percent in the first quarter of 2025.

Startle’s study tracked the sale of 146 albums on eBay from a range of chart-topping artists across the decades to reveal what (and who) is driving the revival of cassette tapes. On average, cassette albums are fetching double their original retail price, with some reselling for as much as 1,000% above their initial cost.

American country star Morgan Wallen’s 2021 album Dangerous is the most expensive cassette to purchase on eBay right now. His cassettes are reselling for an average of £250 each - a more than 1,000% increase on the album’s initial release price of £22.

Other artists, including Lana Del Rey and Kendrick Lamar, are seeing similar trends. Del Rey’s 2019 album Norman F****ng Rockwell was initially sold for £15, but more recently, cassettes sell for an average of £188, an increase of more than 1,100%. Kendrick Lamar’s 2017 album DAMN was first listed at £12, but the average price of the tapes has skyrocketed by nearly 600% to an average cost of £82.

One of the most recent releases to command a striking markup is Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl. The album, which was released in early October in multiple formats including cassette tape, was originally listed at £17. However, in the weeks that have followed, the average price of the tape has increased to £63, a 269% markup. Similarly, her album, 1989 on cassette is fetching £47 on average, a 170% rise in value.

The analysts also found that collectively, albums from the noughties hold the highest resale value (£60 on average), followed by albums from the 2010s at £53, and those from the 2020s at £42.

The driving force behind the popularity of cassettes appears to be Gen Z, who are embracing old music tech despite music being readily available on streaming services and being born well after their heyday.

Alex Tadros, owner of the last cassette shop in the UK, Mars Tapes, said: “Most of our customers are under 30; they buy their first cassette players through us and come back regularly to update their collections. Gen Z love the physical and fashionable element of tapes. Retro tech and trends are everywhere in popular culture, widening interest in forgotten formats. When the last season of Stranger Things came out, we instantly sold all our Iron Maiden tapes. For millennials and Gen X, tapes give them the chance to re-live some of their childhood interests.

“Tapes are huge in the underground music scene, too. Unsigned artists sell them at shows where fans can simply slip them into their pockets and online via platforms like Bandcamp. It doesn’t cost much to print a few hundred cassettes, and they take up less space to store than vinyl records.”

Cassette tapes have become an unexpected revenue stream for contemporary artists and large music labels. The rise of music streaming and the cost of living make it increasingly challenging for those in the music industry to make a profit.

Music streaming could pay out fractions of a penny per stream to artists, which means physical merchandise is becoming increasingly crucial for artists trying to make a living from their work.

Tadros added: “Larger labels like Sony and Universal are tuning into what's happening in the underground scene; if someone has bought a cassette player to listen to their favourite local artist, why wouldn't they also buy a mainstream artist’s cassette too.”

The appeal of physical music formats has also been amplified by the growing demand for limited-edition releases. While they still only account for a small portion of revenue for musicians, it is increasing. In 2024, sales of physical music had year-on-year increases for the first time in two decades.

Adam Castleton, CEO of Startle, concluded: “It's fascinating to see how the nostalgia of cassette tapes is being embraced by a new generation of music fans who weren’t alive to experience them the first time around. Like vinyl records, cassettes offer an element of collectability and nostalgia that digital platforms simply can't match. Buying a physical copy, as a form of merchandise, is not only a way of having ownership over music but also a way for fans to support the artists they love.”