Top 5 Most Expensive Cassette Tapes In The World

Most of the younger generations nowadays would not have known about cassette tapes which used to be a phenomenon back in the day. Following the advancement of technology, cassette tapes have become obsolete as we no longer need them to store and listen to our favorite music.

However, music cassettes have still got a stable market or perhaps have expanded even more. For some people, it is for the sake of nostalgia alone while for others it is a rare collectible item that can hardly be found out there.

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Don't be surprised that there are some who are willing to spend thousands of dollars to get their hands on their favorite music collection in the form of cassettes. The rarity of finding these music cassettes is not the only factor in determining their highly prized vintage.

It also depends on other factors such as the popularity of the artist, the performance of the album when it was first released, and many more. Here we would like to share with you some of the rarest and most expensive cassette tapes in the world.

5. Year Zero + Unreleased Material ($1,729)

It is one of the rarest music cassettes ever made by a Canadian hip-hop singer, Richard Terfry or usually known as Buck 65. He also uses other nicknames like Stinkin' Rich, DJ Critical, Uncle Climax, Haslam, and Johny Rockwell.

Both sides of the cassettes will have two different albums and each one is recorded under two different nicknames. Part A contains 16 songs from the Year Zero album and the songs in this is placed under the alias Buck 65.

Part B contains 17 songs from Unreleased Material recorded by Stinkin' Rich. It is a handmade cassette with a cover also being handmade. The nickname used by Buck 65 represents different characters in his raps or the aspect of different creativities.

4. 24 Hours ($2,200)

24 Hours is a unique limited edition box set released by Throbbing Gristle, a pioneer in the music industry. 26 cassettes including 23 live album shows and 3 recording studio albums have been packed in a special bag.

The mail order catalog of the Industrial Records company stated that every box package will contain 24 new cassette tapes. Due to that, every package will be different from one another. Every set will also have a date on it.

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All of them will be given a number and will be handed over individually to the buyers. The handmade collage will also be included and every work of art will be unique. From the start, only 50 collectible edition sets were made.

Later many copies were made and distributed but compared to the previous versions these ones are not numbered like before. According to several sources, as many, as 210 second-edition running copies were released including 60 for the Japanese market.

3. Untieddiaries 1979-87 ($2,300)

The United Dairies label company based in the UK has been launched in 1979. Their first-ever release will be LP(Long Play) by the Nurse with Wound(NWW) band that was formed by a British musician, Stephen Stapleton.

In fact, many of the titles being released by United Dairies are from Nurse with Wound. In 1987, Stapleton become the lead of operation of this label company, and not long after he had taken the role, he made one special and limited edition collectibles that feature all the albums released by United Dairies from 1979 until 87 with all the other related items.

This special box also includes many advanced and mixed-up versions. The cassette tape was wrapped inside a black plastic bag with a carved copper name sign. Only 50 sets were ever released making it super rare.

2. The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold ($4,017)

Hearing the word Versace is already enough to know it is an expensive cassette. The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold is a promotional limited edition cassette tape that promotes the upcoming Prince album, The Gold Experience.

However, the track from other planned projects was also included in the cassette. Only 300 pieces of this cassette were made and handed over to the visitors that came to the Versace Collection concert.

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The front of the cassette states, "For promotional use only and not for sale" which is similar to most of the free items that we get in the supermarket. 11,000 copies of this cassette were made again for Record Store Day in 2019. Despite that, only the original limited edition Versace edition remains one of the most notable cassette tapes of all time.

1. Xero ($4,500)

Xero is the most expensive cassette tape out there and it is said to be the rarest cassette tape in existence today. The name Xero was from a very well-known musician in the world as some of you might know Linkin Park starts their journey in 1996. Originally their band was known as Xero.

It was formed by the current members Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Rob Bourdon, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, Brad Delson, and the vocalist Mark Wakefield. This group released its very first demo album in 1997 and another version of this album was also released later after that year.

Both these versions have the same track but the front design is a bit different. The first version features a black and white trolley and only 4 copies of this version were known to have existed. The second one displayed an image of a baby. This Xero version was the most popular one yet and was sold at a hefty price of $4,500.

On top of its rarity, only 12 copies were known to exist out there.

Source:

• Metal Injection

• Discogs

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