Videotape is magnetic tape used to record moving pictures and sound, and it can also mean the act of recording something this way. Before smartphones and digital cameras, videotape was how many families captured birthday parties, school plays, and vacations. A parent might videotape their child's soccer game using a camcorder, creating a physical tape they could play back on their VCR (video cassette recorder).

Videotape works similarly to audiotape for music, but it captures both image and sound. The tape is coated with tiny magnetic particles that store the video information. When you videotaped something, you were literally recording it onto this special tape inside a cassette.

Television studios used videotape for decades to record shows. News stations videotaped interviews and events. Schools videotaped assemblies and performances.

Videotape has mostly been replaced by digital recording, but it revolutionized how people preserved memories and shared information for many years, especially from the 1970s through the early 2000s.