Cassette Tape Duplication

Custom cassettes wound to the length you require for orders of 20 or more

Cassette tapes are the most popular analogue audio format ever created with over 30 billion blank or pre-recorded cassettes produced to date. Whilst CD sales overtook cassettes in 1991 and cassette sales dropped massively from 2000 onwards, they are now making a resurgence as one of the most popular retro and niche items for bands looking to connect with their audience, bringing back memories of youth way before CDs were ever invented.

‘Compact Cassettes’ were first launched by Philips in Amsterdam way back on 13th September 1963 as replacements for the bulky reel-to-reel tape format and are commonly used for demos, promos, metal, drone, punk music and spoken audio. They can also be used for full albums and bring a character to the music akin to traditional vinyls that is often missing in the technically superior CD format.

We can provide small runs of high quality cassettes with your own audio and artwork on for quantities of just 20 tapes or more. We have tape shells available in over 60 different styles or colours (just scroll down to view each one – they can also be mixed colours within a single order for no additional fee) and they are all priced the same. The cassettes come in a clear single tape case with a full colour double side printed ‘J-card’ insert (the cassette J-cards can also be ordered separately here) for further information, pictures and credits to be added.

Benefits of our cassette duplication include:

• Real time tape duplication on high quality Tascam cassette decks
• Minimum orders start at just 20 cassettes
• The cassettes are wound with tape to the exact length that you require
• Cassettes come in clear cases with double-sided full colour printing on the cassette and a double-sided full colour printed J-card in the case
• Over 60 different cassette tape colours available (see below), with play lengths up to 120 minutes.
• Competitive pricing that includes UK delivery (international delivery available) and can offer quick turnaround times

Cassette shell colours available

We have all the colours in the rainbow with over 60 different shell colours and one of the largest selections in the world.

Pricing for cassette tapes in cases with printed J-cards for total lengths up to C45 (22.5 minutes per side):

Further unit price reductions are available for larger quantities, please contact us with your requirements and we can quote.

Pricing for cassette tapes in cases with printed J-cards for total lengths up to C90 (45 minutes per side):

Further unit price reductions are available for larger quantities, please contact us with your requirements and we can quote.

Pricing for cassette tapes in cases with printed J-cards for total lengths up to C120 (60 minutes per side):

Further unit price reductions are available for larger quantities, please contact us with your requirements and we can quote.

Deductions from above pricing

If you don’t require the clear cassette cases, printed insert J-cards, printing on the cassettes or audio on the cassettes then please deduct the following from the above pricing:

No J-cards: £0.30+VAT less per cassette
No printing on the tapes: £0.30+VAT less per cassette
Printed labels only on one side of the tapes: £0.10+VAT less per cassette
No audio on the tapes: £0.10+VAT less per cassette
No clear cases with the tapes: £0.15+VAT less per cassette

On-body cassette shell printing – new options!

We can now offer full colour, white, black and even spot gloss on-body cassette printing with the same turnaround times as stickers and with the option of printing over the full surface of the cassette as shown in the example on the right. Our new in-house printer is a state-of-the-art UV LED printer that is very high resolution and prints incredibly hard and durable inks directly onto the tapes in vibrant colours. There is a small additional fee for the on-body printing, but it is now priced per tape (rather than a fixed setup cost for printing plates), making it more economic for shorter production runs.

Click here to find out more about our new on-body printing, view prices and see some examples

Cassette case colour options

Most people choose the clear front and back cassette cases for their orders and these are the ones that are provided as standard. However you can also choose black, grey, cream or white case backs with clear front hinged panels if you prefer. We also now offer the purple, red, transparent orange and transparent green cases that perfectly match our transparent purple, red, orange, and green cassette shells. The red, green and orange cases are available either with the same colour throughout or with clear front doors.

The prices for all the different cassette tape cases are the same, apart from the red cases that add £0.10+VAT per case. Please notify us when ordering if you would like a colour other than clear.

Some examples of our work:

Outer O-cards for the cassette cases

For a finishing touch where you can include further information and which helps to provide extra protection and a premium appearance, you can add oversized outer O-cards with you own full colour artwork on an extra heavy weight 350gsm matt or gloss white card or 300gsm brown Manila card for £0.49+VAT per cassette. The cassettes can still be provided cellophane wrapped within these outer O-cards if you wish.

Download the artwork template for cassette case outer O-cards

• Download the artwork template for cassette case outer O-cards

Audio cassette J-card material options

Our cassette J-cards are available in five different card stocks. The most widely used and the default for orders (if you don’t ask us to use a different one) is the bright white 200gsm matt card stock (second from right) that gives excellent colour reproduction and an authentic smooth matt J-card feel with good rigidity. We can also supply 170gsm and 280gsm gloss white (shown on the right – a slighty creamier colour than the matt white), 300gsm brown Manila 100% recycled card stock, a 300gsm eco-natural 100% recycled light brown/grey card and then a 140gsm tracing paper (also referred to as ‘clear vellum’, shown on the left of the five samples) for an interesting effect where you can partially see the cassette through the J-card (as shown with the pink cassette in the case), looking like a frosted case.

Your artwork can be printed in full colour on all J-card stocks.

To the right is a picture of how the tracing paper inserts can look (click to enlarge):

For the tracing paper inserts we only recommend printing on one side of them, otherwise you can see both front and reverse prints at the same time.

The prices for all the different cassette tape J-cards are the same. Please notify us when ordering if you would like a card colour other than matt white.

Cassette case obi strips

If you wish to add a Japanese-style release obi strip to the cassette case with full colour printing then we can make them for your order with either a horizontal or vertical orientation around the cases.

Our obi strips are full colour printed onto a high quality 200gsm matt card and the edge folds are perforated for the authentic obi style.

Click here to find out more about the obi strips, pricing and artwork templates

‘Cassingles’ in printed O-card slipcases

As an alternative to standard cassette cases, you can go for full colour printed cassette O-cards, often referred to as ‘cassingles’, with a variety of card stocks available.

Click here to find out more about our printed card cassette slipcase O-card printing

Cassette tape mailers

To assist with posting your tapes out, you may wish to consider our card mailers, specifically made to fit a single cassette in a plastic case or O-card. They are strong, rigid, give better protection than a bubble envelope or Jiffy bag and will allow your cassettes to be sent as a large letter size in the UK.

They can either be added to your order for £0.23+VAT each, or can be ordered individually from our online store: www.retrostylemedia.co.uk

Artwork template downloads:

Cassette tape Sticker printing template downloads

• Download Photoshop cassette sticker artwork template

Cassette tape on-body printing artwork templates

The artwork should just be black and white. Only the black areas are printed (whether in black or coloured ink). Please notify us of your prefered print colour when sending the details of your order.

• Download PDF cassette on-body printing artwork template
• Download Photoshop cassette on-body printing artwork template

Standard cassette case insert ‘J-card’ artwork templates

The standard cassette case ‘J-card’ inner insert artwork is as follows:

Cassette case J-card artwork template downloads

• Photoshop standard cassette case J-card front template
• Photoshop standard cassette case J-card inside template

Extended cassette case J-card artwork templates with additional panels downloads

If you require additional panels to your cassette inserts, then you can add up to 3 additional pages to the cassette J-card inserts by using the templates below. Each page is printed full colour on both sides, so the three pages actually give up to six sides of additional artwork content and each additional double-sided page costs an additional £0.12+VAT per cassette. In the artwork templates below, just fill in the additional panels of artwork that you require and leave any others blank that aren’t required (please always fill in +1 as the first extra panel, then +2 and +3 if required).

• Photoshop extended cassette case J-card front template (up to 3 extra panels)
• Photoshop extended cassette case J-card inside template (up to 3 extra panels)

Chrome tape option

If you wish to swap the standard 'Type I' ferric tape for a higher quality 'Type II' chrome tape with better higher frequencies and lower hiss then please ask when placing the order. It adds £0.60+VAT per cassette.

Note that chrome tapes are only available in clear, black and white shell colours as the shells themselves are different as they need the notches in the top of the shells for cassette decks to recognise that they contain a chrome tape and adjust the settings automatically. Chrome tapes are still available with either sticker or on-body printing, just like the other ferric tapes.

How are the cassettes recorded and what is the quality like?

We record all of our tapes in real-time from a master CD for the best sound quality. We run twenty eight active decks, allowing us to record over fifty tapes at a time and the decks are regularly serviced and calibrated to keep them in the best recording condition.

Click here to find out more about the setup and some the technical specifications that we work to.

Important note about the tape styles that we stock

Blank cassette production worldwide is very limited and stocks of our coloured tapes can be restricted and cannot be guaranteed, so please check before ordering as some are discontinued styles that may not be available again. However conversely, some new batches are produced from time to time, so we may be able to source alternative styles or other colours if required.

Special offer on cassette tape presentation frames

When placing a cassette order with us, you can get 50% off our cassette tape presentation frames when using the tapes from your order and being ordered and delivered at the same time as your main tape order. The frames are fully finished, ready to hang and include additional copies of your release and can even be provided with a full colour printed metal plaque with your artwork on to celebrate the cassette release or as a memento for the band members. The frames can include both a copy of the tape and also the packaging and are available in black or white borders with black or white backgrounds.

Click to find out more about our cassette tape presentation frames

Do you need a barcode?

If you will be selling your cassettes through a retail store then you will probably need to register a unique barcode for your release and apply it to the rear outer artwork of your product to make it possible for them to sell via their product barcode scanner.

In Europe we use the EAN 13 barcode system and in North America the UPC system is used. We can register an EAN 13 barcode for you and embed the barcode graphic within your cassette packaging artwork for just £12+VAT. The only information that we will require from you will be the name of the band/artist and the title of the release, then just leave a suitable space in your artwork and we will register the barcode and add it to your artwork for you, all for just £12+VAT.

For further information about barcodes, please read our barcode FAQs.

Delivery

The above prices include courier delivery fees to a single UK address. International delivery can be arranged, please click here to view our overseas delivery rates.

How to place an order or request a sample

The best way to place your order or request a custom printed sample is to complete our ONLINE ORDER FORM

However there are also three other main ways in which you can get your contents and artwork across to us:

1. By email If the artwork (and contents if we are burning the discs for you) are less than 10MB then you can email them to us here.

2. By uploading online Any size of files can be uploaded to us free of charge online via our WeTransfer upload - please remember to provide your order details (band name, type of cassettes required, packaging type, total order quantity and delivery address) in the information field when uploading.

3. By post Please send your artwork (and contents if we are recording the tapes for you) to: Disc Production Manager, Wizbit Internet Services Ltd, Corhampton Lane Farm, Corhampton, Hampshire SO32 3NB

Payment for orders

Payment is required before production of the order. Once we have received your artwork files (and audio contents if also being recorded) and verified that they are ready for production then we will email an invoice across to you that can be paid by cheque, BACS, PayPal or credit/debit card. The card receipts and VAT receipt will then be included with your order.

Cassette name place holders and letter racks

Available now on our sister site, RetroStyleMedia.co.uk are some unique items that we have developed ourselves, including a cassette tape letter rack and cassette tape name place holders that are each available with 32 different mix and match cassette tape colours to help fit your décor or colour scheme. Just click on a picture below to visit the relevant page to view pricing and options:

Cassette tape letter racks

Cassette tape name place holder in hot pink

Cassette name place holder, sky blue & baby pink

Any questions?

There are often many questions that customers may have that are not answered above, in which case please do not hesitate to pick up the phone or email us and we will try to help. Our contact details can be found here.

We also have an extensive CD and cassette production FAQs section which may help to answer your questions.

What our clients say

© Wizbit Internet Services, 2016.