In my travels on the Internet today, I came across an interesting piece of trivia: that cassettes are still achieving booming sales – in prisons, the owner of prison mail-order company Pack Central is claiming $600,000 worth of sales per year. The reason is pretty obvious when you think about it, CDs can be broken into sharp shards that can be used as stabbing weapons. Not so, the humble cassette, but it does need to have the little metal screws removed before it is prison-ready.
So what’s being played in U.S. prisons? Read on to find out.
Prison Mail-Order Cassette Best Sellers:
- Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III”
- Mariah Carey’s “E=MC2″
- Usher’s “Here I Stand”
- Rihanna’s “Good Girl Gone Bad”
- Nickelback’s “All the Right Reasons”
- Leona Lewis’ “Spirit”
- Lyfe Jennings’ “Life Change”
- Al Green’s “Greatest Hits”
- Linkin Park’s “Hybrid Theory”
- Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”
- Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”
- Best-of collection by the Stylistics
While $600,000 in sales is hardly anything spectacular, it is worth pointing out that this is one mail-order company and the sales are only to prisoners; it might not be time to write off the humble cassette just yet.
I would be interested in learning of anyone else who still uses cassettes. [NY Times via Gizmodo, Audio Junkies, Image]
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Tags: cassette, music, prison
6 responses
Aug 19, 2008 at 4:12 pm
WOULD YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW DO I OREDER CASSETTE TAPES FOR MY HUSBAND THAT IS IN PRISION.
Aug 19, 2008 at 9:54 pm
First, check with the particular prison that your husband is in regarding their regulations on cassettes. Then contact Pack Central:
Pack Central Mail Order
6745 Denny Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91606
Phone: (818) 760-2828
Sep 1, 2008 at 12:03 pm
how can i start my own business selling cassettes and cds to inmates
Nov 22, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I live in Rochester, N.Y. and have a son that’s in prison.
Do you do of anywhere I can purchase cassette tapes for
him so I can send it to him, or let him know an address in
where he can purchase it himself. And if so, would it be
affordable?
Mar 13, 2009 at 9:37 am
Don’t bother with pack central. You can’t get in touch with them no matter what you do. I have tried their phone for 2 weeks during the day and all night. It is always busy.
Jun 19, 2009 at 11:01 am
I WOULD LIKE TO SEND SOME CASSETTES TO MY SON IN THE BERLIN,NH PRISON.WOULD YOU PJEASE CONTACT ME ABOUT THIS? THANK YOU BETTY JOHNSON
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