Quantegy, the company in Alabama that has closed its doors, was the last manufacturer of open-reel recording tape in North America or Europe. There's still a company in India and another in China that make reel-to-reel tape, but they don't distribute outside of Asia. There are conflicting reports as to whether Quantegy will ever resume production.

It's too soon to be sure, but it's quite possible that there will be no more open new reel tape available when the tape that is currently in the distribution pipeline is grabbed up.

There are still a handful of studios who are using open-reel tape for studio recordings and for archival copies. Those folks will be in serious trouble if Quantegy does not resume production and nobody else goes into the business.

As a sound archivist, my reaction to the news about Quantegy was to buy splicing tape, which is essential for repairing old tapes. I work with tapes all the time, but I don't ever do any new recording to reels. There are still plenty of old high-quality Ampex, Nagra and Studer tape machines out there to meet the needs of people like me who need to play existing tapes. And unlike the consumer machines made by the likes of Sony, Tascam, and all those other companies, the professional machines are relatively easy to repair and restore.

This does NOT affect cassettes or video tapes. There are still several Japanese companies producing those tape types, along with DATs and various types of data tape. You will still be able to obtain all the cassettes you want.