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UK cassette sales up 94% in first half of 2019

35,000 were sold in the first six months of this year

Sales of cassettes in the UK have continued to rise in the first half of 2019, according to new data released by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

35,000 tapes were sold in the six-month period between January and June of this year, which is almost double the 18,000 that had been sold between January and June of 2018. Sales are predicted to hit 75,000 by the end of the year, a significant increase on the almost 50,000 of last year.

Cassette sales only accounted for 0.2% of total album sales recorded by the BPI in the first half of this year though. Vinyl sales of albums meanwhile accounted for a total of 12%.

The biggest-selling cassette albums in the first half of this year came from Billie Eilish, Catfish & The Bottlemen and Lewis Capaldi.

Earlier this year, record shop Norman Records reported that vinyl sales were more than five times higher in 2018 than in 2013.

Read our feature on why the cassette revival is essential for electronic music here