The compact disc didn't kill the audio cassette

In an age of digital music, the compact disc is becoming less and less relevant. And its predecessor, the audiocassette, seems to be no more than a quaint relic of the recent past. But one business owner in Springfield, Missouri, says we shouldn’t bid farewell to the cassette tape just yet.

“I think the audiocassette is going to outlive the compact disc,” says Steve Stepp, president of The National Audio Company, the largest and one of the few remaining manufacturers of audiocassette tapes.

His factory in Springfield produces about 25 million cassettes every year, and 70 percent of his company’s revenues come from cassette sales. He also duplicates cassettes, CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

Business is booming so much that Stepp is looking to add more audio engineers to his staff of 43 employees. The company expects to make $5-7 million in sales this year. 

So who is buying these tapes? “Independent record labels and indie artists found [cassettes to be] a cheaper option to get their music out there, word spread overseas, and other countries started putting in orders as far as Indonesia,” Stepp says.

Stepp has been in business since 1969, long before the emergence of the compact disc. His facility receives raw materials from Saudi Arabia, China, South Korea and Ireland; manufactures the tapes in Springfield and exports them to places like Indonesia, Venezuela, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

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