Single (music)

In music, a single is a short (usually ten minutes or less) record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-side, often accompanied by several "B-sides"—usually remixes or other songs. Most singles have only one A-side and are named after this song, but some may have a double A-side (a famous example being Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane by the Beatles), where two tracks are given equal billing in the title of the single. Rarely, a single will not be identical in name to the featured track—such as the Nine Inch Nails single, Closer to God.

Related Topics:
Music - A-side - B-sides - Remix - Double A-side - Strawberry Fields Forever - Penny Lane - The Beatles - Nine Inch Nails - Closer to God

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In the older record format, there was no "track 1" as the disc itself was reversible, so the difference between an A-side and a B-side was one of promotion. CD singles do have a defined ordering of tracks, so that even on a double A-side single, one track has to come first. Some single releases have been released in two different versions, one with each track first (such as Muse's non-album single Dead Star/In Your World or In Your World/Dead Star. Records with more than two A-sides are usually not considered singles, but EPs.

Related Topics:
Record - CD single - Dead Star/In Your World - In Your World/Dead Star - EP

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The lead tracks (and sometimes B-sides) of singles usually come from an album (either one already released or one about to be) and the release of the single is partly to promote sales of the album. Non-album singles are also produced. A typical number of singles to release from an album is four—more is considered exceptional.

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Singles often feature "radio edit" or "single edit" versions of the main song, which differ from the original recording in being edited to an attractive length for radio play, having expletives censored (often by re-recording with different lyrics), or both.

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