Magnetic tapes are packaged in both open-reel and cartridge and cassette formats.Ī tape transport moves the tape enabling locating, recording and playback of recorded content. In all tape formats, a tape drive uses one or more motors to wind the tape from one reel to another, passing over tape heads to read, write or erase as it moves. A lubricant is normally applied at the factory to minimize head and tape wear. An adhesive binder mixed with the recording material adheres to the substrate.

The magnetic material originally used in this layer was iron oxide, though chromium dioxide and other materials such as metal particles and barium ferrite have been used at times, such as Type II and Type IV compact cassettes and LTO tapes. The magnetic side or recording layer of most tapes is typically a metallic oxide called the oxide side, which is magnetized by a tape head to store the information. The back side is a substrate that gives the tape strength and flexibility. Magnetic tape is usually recorded on only one side.

The Videotape recorder which used magnetic tape allowed TV stations to gather news, timeshift and record content without having to use or develop relatively expensive and single-use film stock while allowing for the tape to be reused. It was a key technology in early computer development, allowing unparalleled amounts of data to be mechanically created, stored for long periods, and rapidly accessed. It allowed gramophone records to be recorded in multiple parts, which were then mixed and edited with tolerable loss in quality. It allowed radio, which had always been broadcast live, to be recorded for later or repeated airing. Magnetic tape revolutionized sound recording and reproduction and broadcasting. A device that stores computer data on magnetic tape is known as a tape drive. Devices that record and playback audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders respectively. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on magnetic wire recording. Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. 7-inch reel of ¼-inch-wide audio recording tape, typical of consumer use in the 1950s-70s

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