The 1/4 inch tape was housed in a plastic cartridge, running in an endless loop at 3¾ inches per second. The pinch roller was built in to the cartridge, and cheap manufacturing led to the use of plastic rollers instead of rubber, which caused excessive tape wear and jamming. The tape is divided in along its length into 8 channels (tracks)- allowing 4 "channels" of stereo music. Most major companies quit producing 8-tracks by 1988. It's hard to believe, but several smaller companies still release titles on this format today!

Now, in the late 1990s, the popularity of collecting 8-track tapes is noticeably on the rise. It wasn't too many years ago that most collectors would pass these by at conventions and on lists, figuring them as pretty much worthless. Just try to find ANY Beatles title of a 1960s 8-track tape that is still sealed - you'll find many titles harder to find and perhaps rarer than their sealed vinyl counterparts. Even sealed, they hardly exist in mint condition, as many had "bubbled" labels and bent outer cardboard sleeves. Solo Beatles titles are more common, but it can still be difficult to find unopened copies of many titles.

The first Solo Beatles 8-track tape issued was John & Yoko's Two Virgins at the end of 1968, and the last was George's Cloud Nine in 1987.