In the music industry, 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 different 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.
The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78, 45, and 331⁄3 rpm phonograph records, or cassettes, whether singles, extended plays (EPs), or long-playing (LP) records. The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Others took the opposite approach: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.
Christopher Brian Bridges, known professionally as Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Ludacris is the founder of Disturbing tha Peace. Ludacris has won Screen Actors Guild, Critic's Choice, MTV, and 3 Grammy Awards. Along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast, Ludacris was one of the first and most influential "Dirty South" rappers to achieve mainstream success during the early 2000s. In 2014, Ludacris was featured in Forbes list titled "Hip-Hop Cash Kings", as he earned $8 million.
Billy Ray Cyrus is an American singer, songwriter and actor.
The Black Eyed Peas is an American musical group, consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo. Originally an alternative hip hop group, they subsequently changed their musical sound to pop and dance-pop music. Although the group was founded in Los Angeles in 1995, it was not until the release of their third album, Elephunk, in 2003, that they achieved high record sales. Since that time, the group has sold an estimated 76 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling groups of all time. As of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the Black Eyed Peas were the second-best-selling artist/group of all time for downloaded tracks, behind Rihanna, with over 42 million sales.
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler is a Spanish singer, songwriter, actor and record producer who is widely regarded as the King of Latin Pop. Iglesias began his career during the mid-1990s on an American Spanish-language record label Fonovisa Records under the stage name Enrique Martinez before switching to his notable surname Iglesias. By the turn of the millennium, after becoming one of the biggest stars in Latin America and the Hispanic market in the United States, he made a successful crossover into the US mainstream market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, he parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label Republic Records to release bilingual albums. In 2015, Iglesias parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English.
Fergie Duhamel is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She originally achieved chart success as part of the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas. Her debut solo album, The Dutchess (2006), saw commercial success and spawned three Billboard Hot 100 number one singles; "London Bridge", "Glamorous", and "Big Girls Don't Cry".
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single-player, though the game also contains multi-player modes.
Armando Christian Pérez, known professionally as Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Pérez initially began his career in the early 2000s, recording reggaeton, latin hip hop and crunk music under a multitude of labels. In 2004, Pitbull released his debut album M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records and the executive production of Lil Jon. Pitbull later released his second album El Mariel, in 2006 and his third, The Boatlift, in 2007. His fourth album, Rebelution (2009), included his breakthrough hit single "I Know You Want Me ", which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The now Platinum-certified debut album also produced two more top 20 entries. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, he was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.
Ciara Princess Harris is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and model. Born in Austin, Texas, she traveled around the world during her childhood, eventually moving to Atlanta, Georgia where she joined the girl group Hearsay. She later signed a publishing deal, and befriended producer Jazze Pha, who recorded demos that would appear on her debut album. With his help, Ciara signed a record deal with LaFace Records.
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-Australian-American singer, songwriter and record producer well-known for his work in country music. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the following year. He found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Nashville and charted two singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Pierre David Guetta is a French DJ, music programmer, record producer and songwriter. He has sold over nine million albums and thirty million singles worldwide. In 2011, Guetta was voted as the number one DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll. In 2013, Billboard crowned "When Love Takes Over" as the number one dance-pop collaboration of all time.
Adam Richard Wiles, known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his singles "We Found Love", "This Is What You Came For", "Summer", "Feel So Close", and "Feels". His collaboration with Rihanna, "We Found Love", became an international success, giving Harris his first number one single on the US Billboard Hot 100. He has released five studio albums and runs his own record label, Fly Eye Records, which he founded in 2010.
Elena Jane Goulding is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who later became her manager and A&R. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding later that year.
Jessica Ellen Cornish, known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical Whistle Down the Wind. She studied at the BRIT School before signing with Gut Records and striking a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Little Mix are a British girl group formed in 2011 during the eighth series of the UK version of The X Factor. They were the first group to win the competition, and following their victory, they signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music and released a cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball" as their winner's single. The members are Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson.
Khaled Mohamed Khaled, better known as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, songwriter, record producer and media personality.
Dua Lipa is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Music Group in 2015, she soon released her first single "New Love".
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell is an American singer, songwriter, and model. She gained a following in 2016 when she released her debut single "Ocean Eyes" on audio distribution platform SoundCloud. The single would subsequently be re-released under the record labels Darkroom and Interscope Records.
