8 track tapes first came on the scene in 1963 and were first featured in car stereos. Later, home stereo 8 track players and recorders became available.
8 Track tapes player heads move across 4 play positions, each one being 2 track stereo, which added up to 8. After it reached the end it would detect a small strip of metal tape and then jump to the next position. The tape inside was in an endless loop. It could only move forward, no rewind.
They peaked around 1978. By 1979 cassettes were the most popular recordable format and best for playing in a car. Most 8 track tapes sold were of prerecorded music. However, it was possible to purchase blank 8 track tapes and record your own audio on them and many people did record personal messages, music demos or dictation to them since most home recorders had microphone inputs on the front.
Pretty much all 8 track tapes that still exist today are not playable, now being 50 years old, for two reasons. First, the foam pressure cushion that pushes the tape against the play head will have disintegrated. Secondly, the sticky tape splice that keeps the two ends together will be dried up and get disconnected from the other end once the tension is placed on it when it is played. On top of this, it may be tough to find a working player. Deep Signal Studios can recondition the tape's foam pressure pad so it is playable. We have a working machine and we can retrieve the audio from the tape as wav files, mp3, or CDs.