Single (music)

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Common forms of physical music singles

A 7-inch vinyl record single

A CD single (12cm/"full-size")

In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album or LP record,^[1] typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standalone tracks or connected to an artist's album, and in the latter case would often have at least one single release before the album itself, called lead singles.^[2]

The single was defined in the mid-20th century with the 45 (named after its speed in revolutions per minute), a type of 7-inch sized vinyl record containing an A-side and a B-side, i.e. one song on each side.^[3] The single format was highly influential in pop music and the early days of rock and roll, and it was the format used for jukeboxes and preferred by younger populations in the 1950s and 1960s.^[4][5]

Singles in digital form became very popular in the 2000s.^[6] Distinctions for what makes a "single" have become more tenuous since: the biggest digital music distributor, the iTunes Store, only accepts as singles releases with three tracks or fewer that are less than ten minutes each (with longer releases being classified as "EPs" or "albums").^[1] However, releases which do not fit these criteria have been promoted as singles by artists and labels elsewhere, such as on Spotify and the Bandcamp storefront.

Nowadays physically-released music is mainly bought in the form of full-length albums instead of singles.^[7][8] The most common physical formats of singles had been the 7" (45) vinyl records and the CD single, but singles have also been released on other formats such as 12" vinyl records, 10" shellac records, cassette single, and mini CD.