Eric Paulsen

Eric Paulsen

I wanted to be in radio since I was four - and four decades later I still haven't grown out of it...Full Bio

 

Looks like the world's short on cassette tape

Ah, remember cassettes? :)

Admit it: you probably still have a bunch - probably sitting in a box somewhere. I have thousands and thousands, many of them recordings of songs off the radio (now I get to be on the other side!)

Cassettes were THE music medium of choice for most of us from the late 70s into the early to mid 90s. They held us over between vinyl records and CDs. But just like vinyl has made a nice comeback, for some cassettes are poised to do the same. Demand, flatlining for years, has begun to increase for cassettes. They've become a popular way for aspiring and up-and-coming musicians to distribute their music on a physical medium - even though a lot of people don't have cassette players anymore.

One company in Springfield, Missouri named National Audio Company has been hoarding magnetic tape from other manufacturers who had gone belly up. Now, they're building the first manufacturing line for high-grade ferric oxide cassette tape in the U.S. in decades. They're looking to crank out nearly 4 miles of fresh cassette tape, of a higher quality than ever before.

Could this be the start of a new era? Read the full story from the Wall Street Journal here!

WESTPORT, CT - FEBRUARY 08: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) In this photo illustration, a cassette tape which could once be purchased at RadioShack is shown on February 8, 2015 in Westport, Connecticut. RadioShack, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Thursday, represented an older era of home electronics and consumer items. Despite numerous attempts to keep with the times, the home electronics retailer couldn't compete in an era of Amazon and Apple. RadioShack was started in 1921 to supply equipment for amateur or ham radio enthusiasts. At its height, the company grew to have thousands of stores throughout America, parts of Europe, and South America. (Photo Illustration by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

This tape is just twisting with excitement over the thought of the cassette's possible resurgence.


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