Cassettes are going the way of vinyl, with sales up 53 per cent last year in the UK, hitting 164,000 units. This is not solely a British phenomenon – 446,500 tapes were sold in the US in the same year, an increase of 17.5 per cent year-on-year.
Which got me thinking. Could we see the OG portable cassette player, the Walkman, make a comeback? And not as a Walkman-branded phone or digital music player, but as a proper, bona fide tape player? As the proud owner of at least two Walkmans during my childhood, I certainly hope so.
Here's why the time is right for the Sony Walkman to once again strut its stuff.
1. A big anniversary is coming
It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the iconic player's 40th birthday – but its 50th is just three years away.
Mark the date in your diary: 1st July 2029. That's when the grandaddy of portable tape players hits the half century. The world of music on-the-go has changed massively since then, with first compact discs, then MiniDiscs, digital downloads and now streaming all having their time in the sun.
But the backlash against digital is building. As vinyl's sustained resurgence has shown, people are willing to put up with the inconvenience of physical media if it makes for a more rewarding experience. While no one's arguing cassettes are the last word in sound quality, they certainly have their appeal. A special edition Walkman would make the perfect 50th birthday present from Sony.
2. Sony is no stranger to special editions
Sony loves a special edition product. Recently we reviewed the Sony 1000X The Collexion, which was launched to celebrate a decade of Sony's world-conquering 1000X wireless headphones.
Sony deserves credit here. It would've been very easy for it to release the Award-winning WH-1000XM6 with a slightly different finish, but instead, it chose to launch a proper standalone product.
Admittedly they 'only' scored four stars, as opposed to the fives that Sony headphones are accustomed to. But it shows that Sony is not above celebrating its heritage, and in the most appropriate way possible – by releasing something new.
3. The digital backlash continues
No one's arguing with the convenience of streaming, but more and more people are seeing the appeal of physical media. It's tactile, it gives you more of a connection with the artist, and it's easy to display and show which artists you like. You can't put a stream on your shelves.
This cuts across age groups. Yes, there are those of us old enough to remember vinyl and cassettes the first time around, but Gen Z is also discovering the joy of cassettes. (It helps that they're much more affordable than vinyl.) As Sound Records' owner Gareth Simon told us earlier this year: "The kids have figured it all out – they see vinyl as a way to express their interests in a physical form."
I recently used the Gadhouse Miko Bluetooth cassette player, and while I wasn't enamoured with the sound quality (especially over Bluetooth), I did get an undeniable thrill out of feeling the cassette turning inside the player. As I wrote at the time: "Seeing the cassette's spokes revolve, and feeling the player's mechanism at work in your hand, makes it feel alive in a way that a solid-state device never will. It connects you to the medium as a physical thing, rather than a bunch of ones and zeroes flying through the air."
4. The nostalgia element
I'm not alone in feeling this nostalgic thrill. Whenever I told anyone I was trying out a portable cassette player that has Bluetooth, the reaction was the same: "Cool!" Or a slight variation thereon. Now admittedly these were all men of a certain age, but you get my point. Cassettes have made a comeback. And so should the Walkman.
Whether Sony should stuff it with mod cons like Bluetooth... sure, I mean, why not? As long as it sounds good. And if it can implement the mega bass feature of my childhood Sony WM-EX16, then even better.
But really this is about celebrating an iconic product that changed the face of portable music half a century ago. Make it so, Sony, and I'll get my pre-order in now.
MORE:
Sony Walkman turns 40: 6 things you didn't know about the iconic player
Feeling nostalgic? We Are Rewind's limited edition cassette player takes you back to the '80s
Is the cassette tape a viable hi-fi format in today's audio world? Discuss
