(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom's Guide)
A lot of my childhood memories revolve around family roadtrips, and on one such roadtrip, I vividly remember my dad inserting a CD with a white triangular prism on a black background, the colors of the rainbow emerging from one side, into his car's player. I listened to the entirety of that 10-track album and though I didn't understand many of the lyrics as a 7-year-old, the album stuck with me.I didn't even have to name the album and you're already thinking of it. Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" is nothing short of iconic. It's my favorite album of all time (I've even got a tattoo dedicated to it), so when the We Are Rewind x Pink Floyd WE-001 cassette player landed on my desk, I instantly fell in love.And We Are Rewind's CEO, Romain Boudruche, echoes my sentiments. Speaking with him about the inspiration behind the collab, the popularity of cassettes (alongside vinyl) among Gen Z, and how cassettes are becoming "collector's items" will give anyone newfound appreciation for physical media.'Today, you don't own what you pay for'
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom's Guide)Physical media has seen a comeback in recent years, with vinyl purchases in 2025 surpassing $1.04 billion in the U.S. alone, according to a report by the Recording Industry Association of America. On the flipside, Sony announced that it would be ending physical disc production for PlayStation consoles in 2028. Why can't we own what we pay for now?We Are Rewind is doing what it can to keep physical media alive. The French company was founded by two friends who wanted to bring back the cassette player — and that resonates with Gen Z. "Gen Z really want to hold things in their hands," Romain tells me. "You pay for your Netflix and Spotify subscriptions but you never hold anything in your hands. You don't own what you pay for. It's both a global saturation of digital things and that, for example, when you're listening to music, you're constantly distracted by notifications."
