The Resurgence of Vintage Audio Equipment

Alex Tadross, co-owner of Mars Tapes in Manchester, states that their establishment is the sole shop in the UK exclusively dedicated to selling music on cassette tapes. The business is experiencing significant growth, with Tadross noting, “When the Oasis tour was announced we sold out of pretty much anything Oasis. Everything flew out.” Cassettes featuring 80s music, especially Kate Bush, are also in high demand, which Mr Tadross attributes likely to her music’s inclusion in the popular Netflix series Stranger Things. He observes, “We get a mix of customers.” He elaborates, “A lot of them are customers in their 20s, and teenagers, getting into it for first time, then a few people who had cassettes in their 40s and 50s and buy them for the nostalgic aspect.” However, most customers are under 30, with “a lot of teenagers coming with their parents.” Mr Tadross also notes the popularity of the shop’s own branded cassette players, stating, “I’ve had people come in to buy their first cassette players.” The thriving operations at Mars Tapes align with a broader pattern of consumers acquiring and repairing vintage music equipment. Trend data from software firm SEMRush indicates that between 2020 and 2024, Google searches for “CD player repair near me” rose by 23%, and “Audio equipment repair near me” saw a 91% increase. Statista’s report projects that the worldwide electronics repair service market will expand twofold, from $122bn (£96bn) in 2021 to $240bn (£190bn) by 2033. This raises the question of why some music enthusiasts are seeking alternatives to digital music services. It is suggested that contemporary Bluetooth speakers, earbuds, and headphones may lack the distinctiveness found in older equipment. Sarah Dodge, strategic design manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, comments, “The market is saturated with devices that offer low price and convenience, but provide an impersonal, sterile experience.” She adds, “When you repair an item, you feel more attachment to it, so people may be drawn to a more empowering and rewarding ownership experience.” Mark Maher, who previously pursued fixing electrical equipment as a hobby, left his position as a manager for a multinational power transmission equipment business in September due to escalating demand, to dedicate himself to this work full time. Indeed, the demand “got so out of hand” that Mr Maher has since closed the contact section of his website. From his business, Perton Electronics in the West Midlands, Mr Maher states, “There’s absolutely a growing trend in repairing vintage audio equipment.” He continues, “People are wanting to restore all sorts, like Sony Walkmans, radio tape decks, and portable CD players they had and loved as teenagers. There’s a lot of nostalgia there.” He observes that individuals are restoring vintage audio gear acquired from platforms like Ebay, noting, “Things were certainly built better back then, and are much more repairable than the latest equipment.” Mr Maher believes his services are also sought after because “there’s a genuine shortage of people that can repair things,” he explains. Additionally, Mr Maher operates a YouTube channel named Mend it Mark, which has accumulated nearly 100,000 subscribers. The refurbished tech marketplace Back Market reports that its audio equipment category has seen an average year-on-year increase of 123% since its introduction to the platform in 2016. According to Back Market, record players are their best-selling items within the retro audio technology sector. At the Fixing Factory, a repair centre located in Camden, London, Dermot Jones, manager of innovation and development, indicates that audio equipment constitutes a significant portion of the repairs handled by the organization. Mr Jones states, “We get a bit of everything.” He specifies, “Old cassettes, CD players, headphones, speakers, plus turntables. What’s good about the old gear is they kind of last [longer], and you can find out the specification, and there’s service manuals available for many up until the 80s. With some of the audio equipment, you can even open the case and inside there’s a diagram [of how it looks inside], even with arrows pointing at the screw; they’re nicely designed.” He suggests that contemporary electrical equipment appears to be “designed to break.” Mr Jones further comments, “It’s hardly ever designed to be opened up and fixed; it’s designed and assembled quickly like no one has considered it breaking. Manufacturers have held that knowledge rather than sharing it. Our repairers would have an easier time fixing stuff [if they did].” Ms Dodge explains that the emphasis on repair contributes to the transition towards a circular economy, a framework where materials are perpetually utilized and natural systems are restored. She elaborates, “One of the principles of the circular economy is to keep products in use, at their highest utility and value, for as long as possible. The thinking is that if you take a product like a CD player and send it to landfill, it becomes waste. ” She continues, “Even if you recycle it, and return it to its material level, you’re stripping away all the energy that went into turning those materials into a CD player in the first place. ” Revitalizing vintage music equipment has the potential to evoke cherished memories. Last year, leading up to Christmas, Mike Hammond was motivated to arrange a significant gift for his wife of more than 50 years. In their loft, a record player Ellen had received from her parents as a gift in 1960, at the age of 10, lay unused and broken. Mr Hammond, residing in Seisdon, near Wolverhampton, affirmed, “I was never going to throw it away.” He added, “There was too much history [associated with it].” He located Mr Maher, who repaired the item just before Christmas. On Christmas Day, Mr Hammond directed Ellen to the utility room, where she discovered the record player playing A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles, one of their preferred records. He conveyed that Ellen’s response was deeply rewarding. Ellen recounted, “There were tears.” She described the moment as “really emotional,” adding that some visiting cousins remarked, “Oh my god, we remember coming to your house and seeing that record player’.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external sites. Information regarding their approach to external linking is available.