Cassette Tape Sales Have Skyrocketed — And '80s-Inspired TV Shows Might Be Why

It was fun to pop a cassette in a Walkman and hear the signature click, wasn't it? Then you pop on your spongy-eared headphones, press the plastic "play" button, let the tape roll, and eventually rewind and repeat. Until the tape wears out because of wear, tear, and magnetic deterioration, that is. But no matter. Thanks to a resurgence in cassette popularity, others can experience the same, especially younger folks. And TV shows have played a hand in that resurgence.

Starting roughly with "The Americans" and "The Goldbergs" (which both aired in 2013) and continuing all the way through the final season of "Stranger Things" in 2025, the rise of cassette popularity goes hand in hand with the rise in popularity of '80s-based TV shows. This cassette boom isn't coming from folks who lived through the '80s, however, but from Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012) and its nostalgia for a time it never experienced. They've driven total cassette sales in the U.S. from a mere 50,000 units in 2014 to about 436,000 in 2023 (per Industry Previews). In turn, this has spawned an entire mini-industry of retro hardware and inspired artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and even old-schoolers like Metallica, to release their music on cassette.

TV shows themselves make the perfect vehicle for delivering music to people. After all, they tie the feelings of certain songs to specific characters and scenes right along with all the '80s products, fashion, car models, home design, etc., you could ask for. Aside from "The Americans," "The Goldbergs," and our heavy hitter, "Stranger Things," we've also got series like "Cobra Kai" and "GLOW" to thank for helping to bring cassettes back.

Obviously, "Stranger Things" is going to be at the top of this list. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know all about the '80s-set and '80s-saturated show (that also got some things wrong about the '80s). The series began as a contained, grounded, small-town murder mystery and ended in Rambo Nancy going pew-pew in a dusty, desaturated desert dimension. While '80s music has littered the show's nostalgia train from its 1st season, like "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash, things really took off in Season 4 through the power of Kate Bush. 

Bush's career got a supreme shot in the arm thanks to the fictional kids from Hawkins, Indiana. Her signature song from "Stranger Things" — character Max's favorite, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" — was made so, so unbelievably famous from the show that the song jumped from 102 million total listens on Spotify to nearly 1.7 billion at the time of writing. Bush herself went from about 3 million monthly listeners to nearly 22 million. And yes, let's not forget Metallica's "Master of Puppets" from the 1986 album of the same name, which also featured prominently in Season 4 thanks to character Eddie Munson's (spoiler) epic pre-death slash-and-thrash fest in his trailer in the Upside Down. 

Ultimately, it's safe to say that "Stranger Things" has played a role in our cultural tape resurgence. In fact, it's played the biggest role, at least on the TV side of things. As the saying goes: Stranger things have happened.

As "Karate Kid" OGs know, there's only one mantra that can get through a martial arts tournament montage: "You're the best around / Nothing's gonna ever keep you down." Those OGs knew it in 1984 when both "The Karate Kid" and Joe Esposito's song, "You're the Best," came out, and they still know it today. So do others, thanks to the hit TV show "Cobra Kai," which debuted in 2018 and finished in 2025. 

"Cobra Kai" graced viewers with a cavalcade of often-'80s music, creating what one fan on YouTube dubbed "the greatest rock soundtrack ever" (and that was only after the first two seasons). In those installments alone, we got Ratt, Poison (but not rat poison), Twisted Sister, REO Speedwagon, Queen, AC/DC, and Whitesnake. There's even this bit in Season 1 where frenemies Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso (portrayed by William Zabka and Ralph Macchio, respectively) talk about and listen to REO Speedwagon while driving around (and singing, of course). Ah yes, and in Season 6, the two actors reprise the aforementioned "You're the Best" montage, mixed with callbacks to the 1984 movie, like Macchio posing for a beachside crane kick on a wooden stump. Now that's fan service.

As a testimonial to the power of that fan service (and '80s nostalgia, in general), the music store La Rola in Tijuana said that cassettes from bands featured in "Cobra Kai" sold like hotcakes specifically because of the show. Parents and kids even used them to jam out together. "They work out and train to it," the owner of La Rola told San Diego Reader.

Fans were disappointed when comedy-drama "GLOW" didn't get renewed for a 4th season thanks to the 2020 outbreak of the virus that shall not be named. In an interview with Decider, actor Alison Brie — who sported some killer hair, makeup, and costumes in the show — called the cancellation "the great heartbreak of my career." We mention hair, makeup, and costumes in case the reader isn't familiar with "GLOW," which was based on a real-life '80s TV show, "Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling." The for-real show lasted from 1986 to 1990, and the based-on show lasted from 2017 to 2019. And yes, the latter was chock-full o' '80s music.

In comparison to "Cobra Kai," the soundtrack for "GLOW" is a bit more deep-cut. There are some big songs on it, though, like Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" and Scorpion's "Rock You Like a Hurricane." And oh look, there's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" from Kate Bush. Again. But well, well, well, "GLOW" used that song in 2019, not 2022 like "Stranger Things." Check and mate, Duffer Brothers. The rest of the "GLOW" soundtrack covers everything from Pat Benatar to Tears for Fears, Patti LaBelle, Journey, and more, each tailored to a specific scene and plot point. 

"GLOW" made enough of a splash to get people talking about '80s music. Don't believe us? Just take a look at the fan-made Reddit threads and this song list on Business Insider. No doubt the show helped inspire nostalgia-driven cassette sales, which can help the songs of the '80s continue to shine and spin in their original tape form.

The year is 1981, and Ronald Reagan has just been inaugurated president of the United States. That year, you greet your new next-door neighbors, who seem like a quaint couple but are actually KGB agents balancing spycraft with family life. As you say hello, Phil Collins bangs out that kick-ass drum bit from "In the Air Tonight" (a song with a hidden meaning about Collins' divorce) from his 1981 debut album, "Face Value." What's the point here? The point is that "The Americans" was a great '80s-set show that lent itself to the return of cassettes, complete with an '80s soundtrack that tracked with the decade's history. 

Like with "GLOW," the soundtrack for "The Americans" featured some hits, like "More than This" by Roxy Music, and, once again, "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie. But the show also focused more on lesser-known tracks like "Games Without Frontiers" by Peter Gabriel, "All Out of Love" by Air Supply, and "That's Good" by Devo. Even though the show is set in the '80s, it didn't wield its time period like a nostalgia truncheon. It just so happens that the story that needed to be told needed to be set in the '80s, and it really wouldn't make sense to hear "Forget About Dre" or something in the background.

"The Americans" was also one of the first modern shows, airing from 2013 to 2018, set against a fully '80s backdrop. You can even see characters using cassettes in some scenes. This placed it at the forefront of the cassette boom and set the pace for other shows to come.

Finally, we've got a show set in the '80s and made in the style of '80s sitcoms that got largely trashed by critics but lasted 10 seasons anyway (2013 to 2023): "The Goldbergs." That's 10 seasons of '80s cultural references and what must have been a sizable music licensing budget, because the show's soundtrack reads like a who's who of monster hits. Granted, most episodes across all seasons featured only one key song, while some featured two or three. But this still means 333 total songs.

To illustrate, here's a meager sample of the '80s tracks featured on "The Goldbergs": "Waiting for a Girl Like You" by Foreigner, "The Final Countdown" by Europe, "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake, "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure, and "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar. Basically, the soundtrack for "The Goldbergs" is like one of those "Now That's What I Call Music!" albums (which are still going strong, by the way — the last one was No. 122). That's a fitting comparison, because those compilation albums started way back in 1983 and, yes, came in cassette format. 

Even aside from the show's use of '80s music in general, "The Goldbergs" featured entire episodes that revolved around cassettes, like Season 3's "12 Tapes for a Penny." We doubt you can find cassettes that cheap anymore (Taylor Swift's 2025 "The Life of a Showgirl" cassette goes for $19.00 on her 

website

), but no worries: There's always Spotify.