We all thought CDs had put a stop to the cassette tape.
Fast-forward to 2018 however, and it seems music fans are rewinding the clock.
Sales of cassette tapes have boomed by 408 per cent in the past five years, figures show.
The resurgence of the nostalgic format, which peaked in the 1970s and 80s, has been driven by artists making limited runs of their albums as a collector’s item.
If you threw out your old cassette player along with the flared trousers and vinyl records, don’t worry.
Cassette tapes boomed in the 1980’s. In 1989, 83million cassette albums were sold in the UK
Some companies still produce them, and ordering one online is as easy as pressing play. So far this year, cassette tape sales have doubled thanks to Kylie Minogue, whose album Golden is at the top of the cassette charts.
Miss Minogue, 50, released a limited edition glitter-covered cassette, helping the album debut at Number 1 in the overall charts in April.
This year, cassette sales have increased by 90 per cent, and by 408 per cent since 2013.
Sales still barely make a dent on the music market, with their share less than 1 per cent. The Official Charts Company revealed more than 18,500 cassettes have already been snapped up since the beginning of the year across more than 80 releases.
In the same period last year, just 9,753 had been purchased. Five years ago just 3,640 were sold.
Cassette players are still sold and tapes are making a comeback as sales increase by 408 per cent
Despite the latest rise, sales are a far cry from the format’s heyday in 1989, when 83million cassette albums were sold in the UK alone.
After Golden, the second biggest cassette of 2018 so far is Guardians Of The Galaxy – Awesome Mix 2. Close behind is Snow Patrol’s latest release Wildness, while 30 Seconds To Mars are fourth with America.
Rounding off the top five is Resistance Is Futile, the latest album from Manic Street Preachers.
Martin Talbot, of the Official Charts Company, said: ‘We’ve already seen a surge in vinyl sales and it looks as if cassettes are experiencing something similar.’