Audio Video News

Just don’t tell Ken Pohlmann. Having recently proclaimed that Cassettes Are Not Making a Comeback, he’ll just laugh.

But the cassette revival is no laughing matter for Portland-based Discogs. On Monday, the online music database/marketplace declared October 8-13 Cassette Week, a grand lead-up to Cassette Store Day.

In the press release announcing the event, Discogs declared: “With Cassette sales growth at 29.54% from 2016 to 2017 and at 35.19% thus far in 2018 in the Discogs Marketplace, the Cassette resurgence is officially here!” No unit sales figures were offered. See Ken’s blog for those.

More from the press release:

Cassette Week celebrates the humble cassette format throughout the week, leading up to Cassette Store Day (Japan, UK, USA) taking place on Saturday, October 13, 2018, around the world. Cassette Week begins with The Cassette Resurgence: An Apple, A Van, And The Go by Sean Bohrman (Burger Records). Other features throughout the week will feature Ben Blackwell (Third Man Records) laying out why cassettes are the new 45s, while uncovering a previously unknown, non-Googleable Jack White appearance around the time the White Stripes were forming; and underground radio legend Bobbito Garcia breaking down how cassettes spread hip-hop culture, and his radio show, all around the globe.

To support Cassette Store Day, Discogs has cataloged about 100 new cassette releases and is encouraging fans to create a Wantlist. Third Man Records is celebrating the occasion with the cassette release of a rare, undocumented Jack White performance — 400 Pounds of Punk: He Once Ate A Small Child — Ben Blackwell pulled from a box of cassettes in his basement.

The cover of the original cassette is shown below. Click the arrow to hear Jack White raucous version of Blondie’s “One Way or Another.”

For more on Cassette Week, including a list of those 2018 cassette releases, visit blog.discogs.com.