page_title: Single (music)
section_title: 7-inch format
hierarchical_section_title: Single (music) / Types of physical singles / 7-inch format
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Oberseite eines Pucks. Es handelt sich um einen Adapter zum Abspielen von Singles auf Plattenspielern. Dieses Exemplar aus Plastik stammt von Anfang der 1990er Jahre (mitgeliefertes Zubehör für den Plattenspieler eines Universum-Stereoturms). Die Skala zeigt oben Zoll (Inch) und darunter Meter.
context_page_description: In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album.
  Despite being referred to as a single, in the era of music downloads, singles can include up to as many as three tracks. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes Store, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single. Any more than three tracks on a musical release or thirty minutes in total running time is an extended play or, if over six tracks long, an album.
  Historically, when mainstream music was purchased via vinyl records, singles would be released double-sided. That is to say, they were released with an A-side and B-side, on which two singles would be released, one on each side.
context_section_description: The most common form of the vinyl single is the "45" or "7-inch". The names are derived from its play speed, 45 rpm, and the standard diameter, 7 inches.
  The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable and higher-fidelity replacement for the 78 rpm shellac discs. The first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s. Columbia Records, which had released the ​33 ¹⁄₃ rpm 12-inch vinyl LP in June 1948, also released ​33 ¹⁄₃ rpm 7-inch vinyl singles in March 1949, but they were soon eclipsed by the RCA Victor 45. The first regular production 45 rpm record pressed was "PeeWee the Piccolo" RCA Victor 47-0146 pressed 7 December 1948 at the Sherman Avenue plant in Indianapolis, R.O. Price, plant manager.
  The claim made that 48-0001 by Eddy Arnold was the first 45 is evidently incorrect (even though as of this writing 48-0000 has not turned up) since all 45s were released simultaneously with the 45 player on the 29 March date. There was plenty of information 'leaked' to the public about the new 45 rpm system through front-page articles in Billboard magazine on 4 December 1948 and again on 8 January 1949. RCA was trying to blunt the lead Columbia had established in releasing their ​33 ¹⁄₃  LP system back in June 1948.
  To compete with Columbia RCA released albums as boxes of 45 rpm 7-inch singles that could be played continuosly like a LP on their record charger. In the early era RCA were also releasing 7-inch singles pressed in different colours for different genres, making it easy for customers to find their preferred music. The novelty of multicoloured singles however only lasted a few years, by 1952 all of RCA's singles were pressed in black vinyl.
  The lightweight and inexpensive 45 rpm discs introduced by RCA were quickly popular and in the early 1950s all major US labels had begun manufacturing 7-inch singles.
  
  In some regions (e.g. US), the default hole size fitted the original RCA 1.5 inch hub which, due to a format war, was incompatible with the 0.25 inch spindle of a Columbia-system 33 1/3 RPM 12 inch LP player. In other regions (e.g. UK), the default was a small hole compatible with a multi-speed 0.25 inch spindle player, but with a "knock out" that was removed for usage on a larger hub player.
  
  One could play a large-hole record on a player with a 0.25 inch spindle by use of a single puck or by inserting an adapter.
caption: A single puck, used to play a large-hole single on player with only a 1/4 inch spindle.
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