Producing and Releasing Tapes these Days

[TGN]

Hello friends,

I know that some of you produce and sell your own tapes. Also I always find artists on bandcamp who release their music on cassettes. Somehow I think it would be nice to release my music not only digitally. It's something else to hold something physical in your hands in the end.

But is it worth it at all?
Sure, the process is fun. And if you stay strictly diy, then the production is certainly not that expensive.
But do people still buy cassettes these days? Or is that a small niche, a genre-specific subculture where I have to be somewhat known as an artist? The people I know all use Spotify or other streaming providers. I'd probably be stuck with my tapes.

Maybe it's also country dependent? I think here in Germany there is still a scene in the punk and metal genre where music is released and bought on tapes.

What are your experiences? Do you produce tapes out of love for the culture? Or are you in a scene/community where this medium is really still used?

Looking forward to your story...

[Jaytreaze]

When talking to friends and asking them would they ever buy physical stuff, they all seem pretty down to do it simply to support, so starting small with physical stuff I don’t think would hurt if you can guarantee that you’ll get rid of them and will give you a fun project:)

I feel like if you’re small, people are likely to buy it because they know you and directly want to help, I feel as though when big artists release physical goods that lots of people will buy it with the idea of OWNING a piece of their art/somehow getting closer to them because they have that high status

Either way doesn’t matter, if you think you’ll have fun doing it and it won’t break the bank too hard then fuck it bro go for it:)

[Calvinhobbes]

around 10 years ago when i started making beats and playing small sets, selling/giving out cassettes was all the rage. It was a really good way for artists playing sets to make a little extra money and give their stuff to bigger acts. tape players were pretty ubiquitous among the LA beat scene so listening to one wasn't out of the question. Honestly, just less likely to be thrown away cause it looked good and people knew effort was put into it. I haven't gone to shows since then so I'm not sure how popular it is anymore. I would hand out burned CD's of my stuff at shows for the same reason, seemed more likely to get a listen then some hyperlink to my soundcloud. Some other acts mentioned the CD's I gave to them at later shows so it does work to some extent.

[TGN]

Thank you for your encouraging replies guys! I think i will try it myself, starting with a small batch of my current planned release. At very first i thought of buying custom usb-sticks with 'TGN' printed on... but no - i'm gonna stick with tapes or cds now. But i do not think cd's are that customizable. Like having a coulored surface like good old black playstation cd's.

Na, i think i'll buy a good tape recording deck. Recommendations, here?

[Jaytreaze]

If you have the time to record each tape one at a time, a good budget recorder that I’ve seen produce solid results is a Tascam porta 02 Mini:) you can also use it as part of your setup for up to 4 track recordings I think?

But it may take a while to get all the tapes recorded but definitely doable, I think I saw a guy produce like 50 tapes in about 4 days at most?

[TGN]

Hmm, i thought more of a classic tape recorder. 10 years ago i worked with a 242 portastudio, but the other way around. I recorded 4 tracks on a mastertape and digitalized it for www distribution.

Now i would go sp's + other gear --> sp-808/pc --> tapes

[Jaytreaze]

Yeah I hear you, I just read around that building those classic decks for good quality can get expensive when adding up all the gear and the specific tapes they require to record? Not too sure