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Hub AI
Extended play AI simulator
(@Extended play_simulator)
Hub AI
Extended play AI simulator
(@Extended play_simulator)
Extended play
An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal".
An extended play (EP) originally referred to a specific type of 45 rpm phonograph record other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and 33 rpm long play (LP), but as of 2025[update], also applies to mid-length CDs and downloads. EPs are considered "less expensive and less time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album, and have long been popular with punk and indie bands. In K-pop and J-pop, they are usually referred to as mini-albums.
In the 1940s, when the 45 rpm single and 331⁄3 rpm LP were competing formats, 7-inch 45 rpm singles had a maximum playing time of only about four minutes per side. Partly as an attempt to compete with the LP introduced in 1948 by rival Columbia, RCA Victor introduced "Extended Play" 45s during 1952. Their narrower grooves, achieved by lowering the cutting levels and sound compression optionally, enabled them to hold up to 7.5 minutes per side—but still be played by a standard 45 rpm phonograph. In the early era, record companies released the entire content of LPs as 45 rpm EPs. These were usually 10-inch (25-cm) LPs (released until the mid-1950s) split onto two 7-inch EPs or 12-inch (30-cm) LPs split onto three 7-inch EPs, either sold separately or together in gatefold covers. This practice became much less common with the advent of triple-speed-available phonographs.[citation needed]
Introduced by RCA in the US in 1952, EMI issued the first EPs in Britain in April 1954. EPs were typically compilations of singles or album samplers and were played at 45 rpm on 7-inch (18-cm) discs, with two songs on each side. The manufacturing price of an EP was a little more than that of a single. Thus, they were a bargain for those who did not own the LPs from which the tracks were taken.
RCA had success in the format with Elvis Presley, issuing 28 EPs between 1956 and 1967, many of which topped the separate Billboard EP chart during its brief existence.[citation needed] Other than those published by RCA, EPs were relatively uncommon in the United States and Canada, but they were widely sold in the United Kingdom, and in some other European countries, during the 1950s and 1960s. In Sweden, the EP was a popular record format, with as much as 85% of the market in the late 1950s consisting of EPs.
Billboard introduced a weekly EP chart in October 1957, noting that "the teen-age market apparently dominates the EP business, with seven out of the top 10 best-selling EPs featuring artists with powerful teen-age appeal — four sets by Elvis Presley, two by Pat Boone and one by Little Richard". Other publications such as Record Retailer, New Musical Express (NME), Melody Maker, Disc and Music Echo and the Record Mirror also printed EP charts.[citation needed]
The popularity of EPs in the US had declined in the early 1960s in favor of LPs. In the UK, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, both individually and collectively, and the Beatles were the most prolific artists issuing EPs in the 1960s, many of them highly successful releases. The Beatles' Twist and Shout outsold most singles for some weeks in 1963. The success of the EP in Britain lasted until around 1967, but it later had a strong revival with punk rock in the late 1970s and the adaptation of the format for 12-inch and CD singles. The British band Cocteau Twins made prolific use of the EP format, releasing ten EPs between 1982 and 1995. Typically used for the CD single, some bands like The Locust made use of the 8cm/3" CD format to release EPs, including their 1997 self-titled EP.
EPs of original material regained popularity in the punk rock era, when they were commonly used for the release of new material, e.g. Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP.
Extended play
An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal".
An extended play (EP) originally referred to a specific type of 45 rpm phonograph record other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and 33 rpm long play (LP), but as of 2025[update], also applies to mid-length CDs and downloads. EPs are considered "less expensive and less time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album, and have long been popular with punk and indie bands. In K-pop and J-pop, they are usually referred to as mini-albums.
In the 1940s, when the 45 rpm single and 331⁄3 rpm LP were competing formats, 7-inch 45 rpm singles had a maximum playing time of only about four minutes per side. Partly as an attempt to compete with the LP introduced in 1948 by rival Columbia, RCA Victor introduced "Extended Play" 45s during 1952. Their narrower grooves, achieved by lowering the cutting levels and sound compression optionally, enabled them to hold up to 7.5 minutes per side—but still be played by a standard 45 rpm phonograph. In the early era, record companies released the entire content of LPs as 45 rpm EPs. These were usually 10-inch (25-cm) LPs (released until the mid-1950s) split onto two 7-inch EPs or 12-inch (30-cm) LPs split onto three 7-inch EPs, either sold separately or together in gatefold covers. This practice became much less common with the advent of triple-speed-available phonographs.[citation needed]
Introduced by RCA in the US in 1952, EMI issued the first EPs in Britain in April 1954. EPs were typically compilations of singles or album samplers and were played at 45 rpm on 7-inch (18-cm) discs, with two songs on each side. The manufacturing price of an EP was a little more than that of a single. Thus, they were a bargain for those who did not own the LPs from which the tracks were taken.
RCA had success in the format with Elvis Presley, issuing 28 EPs between 1956 and 1967, many of which topped the separate Billboard EP chart during its brief existence.[citation needed] Other than those published by RCA, EPs were relatively uncommon in the United States and Canada, but they were widely sold in the United Kingdom, and in some other European countries, during the 1950s and 1960s. In Sweden, the EP was a popular record format, with as much as 85% of the market in the late 1950s consisting of EPs.
Billboard introduced a weekly EP chart in October 1957, noting that "the teen-age market apparently dominates the EP business, with seven out of the top 10 best-selling EPs featuring artists with powerful teen-age appeal — four sets by Elvis Presley, two by Pat Boone and one by Little Richard". Other publications such as Record Retailer, New Musical Express (NME), Melody Maker, Disc and Music Echo and the Record Mirror also printed EP charts.[citation needed]
The popularity of EPs in the US had declined in the early 1960s in favor of LPs. In the UK, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, both individually and collectively, and the Beatles were the most prolific artists issuing EPs in the 1960s, many of them highly successful releases. The Beatles' Twist and Shout outsold most singles for some weeks in 1963. The success of the EP in Britain lasted until around 1967, but it later had a strong revival with punk rock in the late 1970s and the adaptation of the format for 12-inch and CD singles. The British band Cocteau Twins made prolific use of the EP format, releasing ten EPs between 1982 and 1995. Typically used for the CD single, some bands like The Locust made use of the 8cm/3" CD format to release EPs, including their 1997 self-titled EP.
EPs of original material regained popularity in the punk rock era, when they were commonly used for the release of new material, e.g. Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP.
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