8-Track Tape

The 8-track tape format was released in 1964 and brought to market by the combined efforts of Ford, General Motors, Motorola, RCA, Ampex, and Bill Lear of the Lear Jet Corporation. Even though the compact cassette was introduced 18 months before the 8-track tape, the fact that Ford made an 8-track player an option in all their cars by 1966 helped push 8-track to be a popular tape format for the car, home, professional, and personal recording. The 8-track name comes from the four programs, each with two stereo channels, on each tape. The popularity of 8-tracks peaked in 1978, but declined rapidly after that. The tape is wound in an infinite loop inside the plastic case, which contributed to its reputation as an unreliable format. The last major commercial music release on an 8-track was in 1988 and today they’re considered an obsolete format. Most 8-track tapes are pre-recorded commercial music, but many people had 8-track recorders they used to capture music, spoken word, or personal interviews.

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