Why physical music media still matters in 2025

It’s official: physical music media is booming. Last year, the market for vinyl records in the UK grew by 10.5 per cent – 6.7million discs were sold, generating a total of £196million. Cassettes are also back in a big way: in 2022, sales reached their highest levels in 20 years as music fans embraced the cool collectability of this retro format.

For this reason, the ‘Bose x NME: C25’ mixtape is getting a limited edition release on vinyl and cassette – as well as being made available on streaming. This lets fans decide how they consume this incredible collection of songs by chart-topping singer-songwriter Alex Warren, electropop crew Parcels, alt-pop duo Zimmer90, rising star LANA, dance alchemist ZIN CHOI, and many more.

The ‘C25’ campaign is also helping fans to experience music in a more 360-degree way with the On Tape music video performance series and two social franchises rooted in the beauty of physical music media: Cassette Confessions and Play The Tape.

So, with ‘Bose x NME: C25’ out now, here’s a guide to the physical music media renaissance, with insights from the artists themselves.

It offers a more focused listening experience

Streaming services give us instant access to millions and millions of songs, which is obviously incredible, but they don’t necessarily encourage us to listen closely and carefully. If a particular track doesn’t grab you quickly, you can just skip to the next one.

But when you play an album on vinyl or cassette, you’re in it for the long haul. “You kind of have to commit to listening to a full body of music, which we don’t get much of a chance to do these days,” says Parcels’ Louie Swain. It’s also more of a ritual to play a record on vinyl or cassette, so you’re more likely to give it your full attention.

It lets you hear music in a different way

Music fans know that vinyl makes everything sound richer – even the distinctive crackle is comfortingly nostalgic. Many listeners get a similar sensation from listening on cassette, a format that may conjure beloved childhood memories. “Tape sounds so beautiful – it’s just so warm and real,” says Parcels’ Patrick Hetherington.

For Alex Warren, there’s an extra benefit to switching between streaming and physical music media. “I think it’s important to listen to music in different formats, whether it’s on a different speaker or on cassette or vinyl, because you hear different things that you didn’t hear the first time,” he tells NME.

It helps you to cultivate and curate your music taste

Owning a physical copy of an album or mixtape is a subtle act of commitment – you’re quite literally making space for those artists in your home. There’s also real pleasure in building a physical record collection slowly, over several years, as you stack up new releases next to rarities found in independent record shops.

“The first vinyl that I bought was ‘Pet Sounds’ by The Beach Boys,” Zimmer90’s Josch Becker tells NME. “I was like, 15 or 16, and I was like, ‘OK, now I’m gonna start this vinyl thing.’ I felt a little bit cool when I bought it. I don’t have an impressive vinyl collection, but I try.”

What makes a record collection impressive is subjective, but you’ll definitely know when yours is taking shape – and starting to take over your living room.

It helps you to support your favourite artists

Unless you’ve scored a global megahit, streaming royalties probably won’t pay your bills – Spotify pays artists between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream on average, so it’s tough to make money until your numbers really explode.

Thankfully, artists earn a lot more from sales of physical music media like CDs, cassettes and vinyl. So, purchasing an album or mixtape on one of these formats is a boost to their bottom line as well as your record collection.

But it’s not just an altruistic gesture. Artists put plenty of thought into their artwork, so purchasing a physical copy of their latest album, particularly on vinyl, is the best way to appreciate all that dazzling design detail. In a way, physical music media is the ultimate form of merch: they’re collectables that you can play as little or often as you like.

The post Why physical music media still matters in 2025 appeared first on NME.