America's Last Cassette Tape Factory Booms with Retro Revival

The National Audio Company in Springfield, Missouri, the only remaining cassette tape factory in the United States, achieved its highest-ever revenue in 2015, driven by a retro wave that has revived interest in analog music formats. Bands from independent acts to superstars like Metallica, who reissued their 1983 track "Hit the Lights" on tape, are embracing the format. Factory engineer Robert Coverston explains that younger generations, despite using digital software and MP3s, increasingly desire physical objects that can be customized, stored, and passed hand-to-hand. Owner Steve Stepp told Rolling Stone that the company's survival was due to "stubbornness and stupidity," admitting they never believed the cassette was dead and stayed afloat long enough to benefit from the comeback.