Concepts such as single, album and mini-album gradually lose their meaning. Many representatives of modern youth are not even aware of the existence of such formats. This article will talk about what singles are in music, as well as a brief history of this phenomenon.
Singles
What is a single? This word is translated from English as "one" or "in the singular." This definition is true. As a rule, such recordings contain one or a little more songs on one medium.
The singles were originally released on alkaline and then vinyl records having a diameter of 7 inches. Usually, only one or two songs were placed on such disks. The classic version of the singles contained just a couple of songs.
Rivalry of the parties
By the end of the 50s of the twentieth century there was such a practice that one of the songs on such records was the main one, and the other was of a secondary nature. In this way, most singles of the so-called kings of rock and roll were released: Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. Usually the title did not indicate which of the compositions is of primary importance and which is of secondary importance.
Names were usually written through a slash. The additional number was either an instrumental version of the main one, or it was a song not designed for great commercial success. So what are singles in music? The definition can be formulated as follows: this is a small double-sided vinyl record.
The heyday of singles
The real flourishing of this format occurred in the 60s of the twentieth century. This happened with the advent of the musical groups of the so-called "British invasion".
But then the singles to some extent lost their independent status. The word began to be used to refer to recordings released before the artist’s main album. But, as a rule, the records released on singles were not exact copies of the songs from the long play released later, but differed from them by arrangements.
Attitude of various artists to this format
Not all artists treated singles the same way. So, for example, the Beatles did not neglect the release of these small discs. However, their relationship with this format was special.
All members of the Liverpool four believed that selling fans a song that they would hear later on a long-playing record was at least unfair. Therefore, they have a certain number of singles, compositions from which do not repeat the contents of the albums.
Led Zeppelin Band and Singles
Representatives of this English team were extremely negative about small records. They believed that such records negatively affect the taste of youth. Listening to singles, people tend to perceive only small musical fragments.
They lose their ability to perceive a series of songs. Therefore, Led Zeppelin sometimes refused to release their compositions on singles, preferring only recordings in the form of albums.
Source of New Songs
But Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were very fond of recording singles. So they had the opportunity to perform not only their songs, but also other compositions familiar from a young age. The Rolling Stones chose mostly songs from the so-called "B sides", as these songs were less known to the audience. So, the group had the opportunity to make these songs their hits.
Sound Recording in the Soviet Union
As for the Country of Soviets, it has developed a peculiar unique story related to the release of singles. This format in Russia is most often called the "minion". What are singles in the music of the Soviet era? As a rule, in our country, on small plates, records of performers were published, which were not marked by state ranks and awards.
For example, during the life of Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky, not a single album was released. However, numerous singles with his songs in million circulations dispersed throughout the Union. The same thing happened with the music of jazz performers and some rock bands, which nevertheless fell into mass circulation.
Foreign singers were also published on singles. For example, small-size records with 3-4 compositions of the Beatles Liverpool quartet were widely used. As a rule, on such discs there was not even a mention of the name of the collective. In parentheses under the name of the songs were only the names of the authors.
Separate magazine page
There were even singles, which were a kind of supplement to print media. So, for example, the children's magazine "Kolobok" and the publication for the older age "Horizon" had a separate page that could be cut off and listened to. This was an appendix to the main material. Sometimes children who could not read yet waited for the next issue only because of fairy tales that were placed on floppy disks.
What are singles in modern music?
Later, singles began to be released on CDs.
In the 80s, a new concept appeared - a video single (new clips of pop artists were recorded). Today, these formats are most often published for sale over the Internet. The person who paid for the content gets the opportunity to download a new song from his favorite musician.
To summarize, we can give a concrete concept. What are singles in music? This is a recording whose sound does not exceed fifteen minutes.