What to do with pre-recorded cassettes

Subject: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Anne Lister
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 09:24 AM

We're in the throes of moving house. We find we have some boxes of my albums in cassette format, all nicely presented (some shrink-wrapped). No one buys cassettes any more, it seems, so the only possible place to take them is the landfill dump - unless anyone here (or on Facebook, where I have also asked this question) knows of a better solution? Our new house is smaller than this one and we really don't want to keep trailing stuff around with us just because we don't know what else to do with it! It would be nice, of course, to get some kind of financial recompense for the expenditure incurred originally but I've lost hope of that.
We have limited time and money at the moment, so solutions involving sending the cassettes anywhere or taking them very far are not helpful, and although individuals who would like a copy are very welcome to let me know (for eventual despatch) that won't solve the problem...

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 12:01 PM

A hardcore of Cassette enthusiasts do still buy them, scouring ebay for new old stock treasures..
.. even more prized if still factory shrink wrapped...

But being realistic, if you don't have the time, and think it less likely young trendy cassette freaks would be interested,

maybe it's still worthwhile contacting local libraries or media for the Blind
to see if they'll have use for your surplus tapes...???

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 12:09 PM

.. also.. whilst charity shops might turn them down as obsolete..
volunteer groups working with older folks might be worth contacting.
Even my old mum [85 soon] still has several working cassette players...

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 12:30 PM

Oxfam has 6 music shops in the UK, in Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, London, Reading and Southampton. Can't do the "blicky"easily on iPad, but if you Google Oxfam Music Shops you'll find them and their phone numbers. Mentions CDs and vinyl, but not cassettes, tho I think they used to have them in the Edinburgh shop.
Obviously won't make you any money, but you'd be helping a good cause!

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: JHW
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 12:31 PM

Thought this might be an answer to the problem of prerecorded cassettes themselves that don't play anymore.
I have wondered if anyone makes a retro player that would plug into the car aux input.

I have loads of CDs that nobody wants.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 02:25 PM

Btw.. if I've googled the right Anne Lister and these tapes have Wales related content..

What about signing them and donating to your nearest Welsh Culture Society...

My mrs is a valleys girl working with schools, my brother in law is a chapel minister...
so guessing from their example..
your tapes might do fine as teaching material.. or even raffle prizes...???

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 02:34 PM

I'm in a similar boat, though it's just my husband's extensive music collection, not his or our own recordings. In our case, he can't bear to part with them. My solution will be for him to keep them in his art studio, or perhaps under his side of the bed.

Sorry, I know this isn't helpful.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: pattyClink
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 02:48 PM

The Discogs site has been a good place to track a vinyl collection and buy/sell online to interested collectors. Apparently they now are set up so that CDs and tapes can be listed too.

This is not a quick solution for people who need to dispose of stuff right away. But for those who can be patient, it could be an option, especially for desirable rarities, or items you have multiple copies of. Take the time to make one listing, set the quantity to n, and see what happens.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Anne Lister
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 05:53 PM

Thanks, all of you - the problem is, of course, that I have multiple copies of the same titles, and however interested groups and residential homes might be they're unlikely to want more than one of each. Yes, I am in Wales but there aren't any specific "Welsh Culture" societies that I'm aware of, and the same problem applies.
I'm not bothered about the money at this stage - more concerned that we're moving stuff from house to house and it's pretty pointless. I have loads of CDs, but they at least do sell, from time to time!

And, by the way, if you're in the UK and have lots of CDs (especially small labels, such as most folkies record for) try Music Magpie to sell them. Sadly they don't accept tapes - but even if they did they wouldn't take multiple copies!

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 01:58 AM

Is there an Age Action or Friends of the Elderly group that might distribute them to old people's centres or nursing homes from a central location?

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 02:03 AM

None of your cassettes are listed for sale anywhere on the two biggest physical media sites (Discogs & Ebay) That obviously has a lot to do with the sales numbers.

You probably should list at least one each on Discogs just for the history & discography. It can be frustrating though. If you know somebody that's a member they can do it for you. (One cassette is mentioned on a CD reissue's notes.)

Unfortunately any effort to sell them will involve moving them to the new place so...

If you do list them for sale be sure to mention Mint++, Factory Sealed but maybe hold off on the autographs unless requested. If they don't move you can always bin them at a later date.

Same-same your "Anonyma" stuff if any.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 02:17 AM

yeah.. i was thinking along he lines of giving a box of duplicate tapes to a voluntary group organizer,
and letting them take care of distributing them as they see fit..

eg.. a local dementia music therapy group might find them useful for handing out to individual patients
to take home to play..
Must be some local community use for the tapes...???


Maybe I'm stretching this, but i hate to hear of perfectly playable music media being skipped / land filled..

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 03:47 AM

Anatoly has wares, if you have coin:

Anonyma - Burnt Feathers (LP) - €100.00

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 04:00 AM

I'm having a hard time throwing out my cassettes and VHS tapes unless I can find digital replacements, but I haven't played tapes in years.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 04:26 AM

If there's anything irreplaceable on them they should be digitised otherwise, personally, I'd bin them. You will then find someone who has convinced themselves that music recorded on cassette sounds better, warmer and more authentic than music recorded on modern digital equipment and wants them.

Vinly records are becoming popular again, by those who know no better, and I hear that people are returning to film cameras; must dust off the old Nikon bodies and the enlarger!

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 04:35 AM

It doesn't help make good use of the musical content, but as I have said elsewhere, avoid landfill if possible.

When we have old cassettes, or VHS videos, at church sales which have been offered for sale a few times, but failed to sell, they don't go straight to the skip.

I take them home, separate the three parts (cover(plastic), insert(paper/card), cassette (plastic/mag tape/metal)) The cover & inserts can then go in recycling, reducing the amount that goes to landfill.
I suppose I could also strip down the cassettes into recyclable/non-recyclable, but that would take too much of my voluntary time anyway.

Cheers
Nigel

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 05:50 AM

If you keep them long enough cassettes will come back into fashion. Look how popular vinyl is becoming just now. :-)

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 12:37 PM

ok.. seeing as we all have opinions based on varying degrees of misinformation and misunderstanding...

time for an entertaining & informative video from one of my favourite bloggers...

Cassettes - better than you don't remember

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 03:41 PM

Not only for you...but EVERYONE who is interested......you can take all your CD's...OR vinyl records, and convert them to digital, and put them on DVD's OR any digital player, with this FREE download!!!

http://www.audiograbber.org/

....and it's simple.....just put the tape player into your computer, with the program, play the music, and bang, you got it!!

Regards!

GfS

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 04:04 PM

Perhaps I have misjudged the inventory as mostly "new, old stock". The majority have been remastered/reissued on CD, ergo already digitized.

Their value to collectors will be as the "original release" or "first issue."

It's quite likely the J-Cards will be scanned for new/old credits and notes but the cassette will go in a box, on a shelf, and never touch the inside of a player.

The application itself has already moved past CDs and on to digital files, USB and wireless.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Anne Lister
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 04:24 PM

Thanks again, hive mind - but yes, it's new old stock and the contents of all the cassettes is available as CDs or even MP3s for the most part. Back in the day you could order, say, 1000 CDs and 500 cassettes as a job lot and expect to sell them ...these days the CDs sell at gigs but the cassettes don't. And haven't for some time. We have been hopefully taking the boxes with us when we moved house each time but nothing has changed. I don't want to get into listing them anywhere and waiting for the sales to come in one by one, when it's more boxes to pack next week and unpack in due course, just to gather dust.
Equally I'd much rather not put them into landfill, and I appreciate Nigel's careful dismantling of the cassettes but in all honesty we have so many other things to do right now it's pretty much the last thing I'd like to spend time doing!
As to dementia sufferers etc - again, I'd need to find a suitable residential home and see what they think, but it seems like a long shot to me and my guess would be it would be simply another stockroom for a box to grow dusty in.
There was a place in Bristol that would do the recycling thing, it seems, but no longer.
I'm sorry but I think it's going to have to be landfill. In the meantime if you'd like a CD of any of my album titles, all except the first one ("Spreading Rings") are available as CDs and I think I have two mint vinyl copies of "Burnt Feathers" left. Back to the packing ...

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 05:35 PM

De-cluttering is one of the few benefits of the otherwise thoroughly unpleasant experience of moving.

I'd suggest splitting the difference and dumping them on a major chain of thrift shop-relief org.

North America's Salvation Army, Goodwill &c would try to sell them in piece or bulk. They do online sales of books as well. Failing that, they will do the proper recycling tasks. Either way it benefits their employees and you.


L.A. Freeway, Guy Clark

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Feb 17 - 02:38 PM

I suppose many of us missed an important detail in the original message - apparently these are Anne Lister recordings that Anne wants to dispose of. Selling them at ridiculously low prices deprives her of CD sales income, although some people do that. All of Anne's albums are gems, but not so good that it's buying a cassette player - buy her CDs, folks. Off to the dustbin with them, Annette. There is no efficient way to recycle large numbers of cassettes, although I'm pretty good at prying individual cassettes apart with a screwdriver for recycling.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: GUEST,Some bloke or other
Date: 19 Feb 17 - 04:43 AM

The ones of mine I wished to carry on listening to, I ripped into iTunes. Having iTunes Match, those nice people at Apple then allow me to download a high quality AAC copy.

Mind you, I still have some Eight Track in a box but no player..

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 17 - 10:11 AM

Here you go, Musket.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Anne Lister
Date: 19 Feb 17 - 12:47 PM

Thank you, Joe, for reading carefully, and Phil - for all of the rest of you giving me hints about how to transfer the contents onto iTunes etc., fewer thanks because you haven't been paying attention, have you?

But I'm sure you all meant to be helpful.

Subject: RE: What to do with pre-recorded cassettes
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 19 Feb 17 - 03:38 PM

oh dear, I am so old fashioned I have Burnt Feathers as a vinyl album---!!!

am ragin' to read of the free way of playing cassettes into pc to convert to digital- - about 5 years ago I spend lots of £££ on a contraption that was designed to do this- - then I couldn't understand the instructions!
(also someone told me I had to do it is real time so- - - I gave up)
most of my cassettes are sessions and summer schools recorded by me over the years -- many of them classic, memorable- - amazing memories. can't part with them, even if there's never going to be enough time to listen to them all again--!)