Anyone born after the mid-1970’s is most likely to be completely unaware of what an eight-track tape is. While today’s youth grew up with cassettes and VHS tapes, eight-track was a short-lived technology used for music payback during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Today, though, the idea of eight-track takes on a new concept. A website called 8tracks allows users to compose and listen to other users’ playlists with no advertisements.

The original eight-track was a cartridge that contained eight songs on it and would be placed into an eight-track player. After realizing that most people do not want to listen to the same eight songs over and over again, the eight-track faded into music history. In August 2008 the site 8tracks was created, drawing its name from the old music technology.

The site allows anyone to sign up and create playlists that can be shared with all other users. One condition for these playlists is that they must have at least eight songs on the playlist. While some adhere to the traditional concept of an eight-track, other playlists far exceed the eight tracks, seeing some go up to 100 songs.

Any and all types of music can be found on 8tracks. A search bar is provided that allows users to enter keywords and find playlists that fit their genre of interest. Each playlist also has a short description of the music it contains and lists a few of the artists featured on it.

Dubbed as “handcrafted internet radio” on its website, 8tracks is like Pandora, except the playlists are created by people rather than a genome. Another great addition is that there are no commercials or advertisements in the middle of the playlists. This means if one needs constant dubstep to get a research paper done, there will be no interruptions in the deafening beats.

One downside to the site is that listeners are only allowed a certain number of skipped songs in an hour. Once that number has been maxed out, they need to listen to the playlist all the way through. While this can deter people, the benefits outweigh this negative. Not only can users choose which handmade playlist they want to listen to, but these playlists also feature an iTunes or Amazon button next to almost every song. This means that if someone absolutely loves one of the songs, he can click on the button and be taken to the song at the iTunes or Amazon music store.

In November 2011, 8tracks was debuted on the Android Market, allowing users to download their favorite handcrafted music to their smart phones. They also have an app available for iPhones. Even though listeners may not be able to choose every individual song they hear like on Spotify, the playlists have more cohesion than those featured on Pandora. For any music lover who wants to be introduced to new songs or hear other music lovers’ tastes, 8tracks offers the perfect platform.