Who decides which song is a single and how?
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Popular music started as singles when the technology was very expensively produced on vinyl and broadcast over the radio. There was only so much possible time that a single vinyl cut could record, I believe around 3 minutes, but, eventually, there was also a flip/B side, so 6 total minutes . Artists liked to record two songs on a single vinyl for many reasons whether that’s their two most marketable, two favorite, or the two demonstrate their musical range, and distribute them because it was the most cost effective way for a fledgling artist to get music out there. Sometimes they were independent; sometimes they had already been approached by a record company who saw them perform live.
Based on a single, a record company may 1)approach you to maybe make more singles or do a full album or 2)decide you were a good investment and keep working with you. Either way, the company would have more control over your product and future singles/albums; however, you’re getting the added benefit of increased exposure. They could then use these singles to test other markets and determine where they should dedicate or develop their distribution and build your and ultimately their brand.
As time moved on, the single mechanism endured because vinyl was the primary means of distribution for so long and has endured through the history of recorded music. The idea of singles and albums is truly just a hangover from the initial way music was produced and distributed.
Fun fact, this is how the television industry was similarly originally constructed, on the Pilot to series model; it was a reflection of the Single to album model.
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