B-side

In recorded music, the terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles have been released since the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song (the one that the record producer hopes will receive radio airplay and become a "hit"), while the B-side, or "flipside," is secondary.

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In the era of the 78 rpm shellac records A-sides and B-sides existed, but for the most part radio stations would play either side of the record, and records often had more than one track per side. The "side" did not convey anything about the content of the record.

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The terms came into popular use with the advent of 45 rpm vinyl records in the early 1950s. It became conventional to release "singles" containing two songs, one on each side of the record. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side and which would be a B-side. Because of this, many artists had so-called "double-sided hits", where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts (in Billboard, Cashbox or other magazines), or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places.

Vinyl record: REDIRECT Gramophone record...

Single: Single may mean:...

Song: :For other senses of this word, see song (disambiguation)....

B-side related Images and Photos (experimental)

Side B of the Francois Vase Made by Ergotimos	Side Show	Side Table	Side Saddle
Side Effects (2008)	Blind Side, The (DVD)	Hill Side I	Sunny Side
Blind Side (R-Rated) (DVD)	Harbour Side	East Side West Side 1949	East Side West Side 1949