International Cassette Store Day

International Cassette Store Day is a day that celebrates cassettes and the stores that sell them around the world. The day was inspired by Record Store Day, and was started by a group of record labels in the United Kingdom in 2013. On its inaugural year, more than 28 shops participated, some of which hosted live performances. By 2016 the day was being celebrated in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and Japan. Each year on the day, labels release cassettes—many of which are rereleases—and they can be purchased at participating stores. At some stores all day events are held which include live bands. The day is easier for smaller labels to participate in than Record Store Day, as cassettes can more easily and cheaply be made than vinyl records.

Cassettes, which also go by names such as compact cassettes, cassette tapes, or tapes, were released in 1962 by Philips after being developed in Belgium. They were originally developed to be used with dictation machines, but soon supplanted 8-tracks and reel-to-reel tapes in most everyday use scenarios. In 1968 the first cassette player was introduced in a vehicle, and between the early 1970's and early 2000's the cassette was one of two of the most popular formats to playback prerecorded music, alongside the LP vinyl record and then the compact disc. Although they greatly declined in popularity as the compact disc gained popularity, today cassette sales are slowly increasing.

How to Observe International Cassette Store Day

If you have cassettes, celebrate the day by taking them out and listening to them. If you have blank cassettes you could also celebrate the day by recording something on them. You could also celebrate the day by going to the store and buying a cassette. The best way to do this would be to buy an official release for the day at a participating music store. Information about releases, participating music stores, and events being held can be found on the official website for the day.

Exclusive Content

Enjoying Checkiday? It takes a lot of support from fans like you to run a free website. For exclusive content and other perks, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Thank you!

Sponsor

This event does not currently have a sponsor. If you'd like to increase visibility for this event while gaining exposure for yourself or your brand, you can learn more here!

Something Wrong or Missing?

We would love to hear from you! Please contact us using this form.

Observation Notifications

Would you like to be notified before the next observation? Add this event directly to your calendar with this link. You may also sign up here to be told when other notifications are available!