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Maxi single

A maxi single (or maxi-single) is a release format that extends beyond the traditional single's two tracks (an ), typically featuring three or more songs, including es, extended versions, instrumentals, or bonus tracks, to provide enhanced value for fans and DJs. Originating in the early during the era, the maxi single format was pioneered by , who accidentally developed the 12-inch vinyl version by spacing grooves wider on larger discs to accommodate longer mixes when smaller blanks ran out, revolutionizing play with extended tracks up to 10 minutes or more. issued the first promotional 12-inch singles to DJs in 1975, followed by the debut commercial release, a of "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure on in May 1976, which capitalized on the demand for dynamic, bass-heavy sound in . The format exploded in popularity through the late and , influencing genres from and to and pop, with iconic examples including Donna Summer's extended hits and early 12-inches that allowed for and mixing. By the and , maxi singles adapted to cassette and CD formats, with CD maxi singles emerging around 1986 as a compact alternative that maintained the multi-track structure while offering superior audio quality and collectible packaging like jewel cases with inserts. Today, the maxi single persists in digital forms and niche vinyl reissues, celebrated for its role in fostering creative ing and subcultural scenes.

Definition and Characteristics

Definition

A maxi is a music release containing more than the usual two tracks of an A-side and a B-side . It typically features remixes, extended versions, or additional mixes of the lead , allowing for varied interpretations of the core . The primary purpose of a maxi is to offer fans and DJs multiple variations tailored for club mixing, radio , or home listening, enhancing the versatility and replay value of a hit . This format enables record companies to quickly distribute new music with improved sonic qualities, such as deeper bass from wider grooves. Maxi singles emphasize and edits rather than entirely new compositions. Unlike extended plays (), which often incorporate original material, maxi singles center on derivative versions of one primary song. The term "maxi" derives from the extended playtime and increased content volume compared to standard singles, and it gained popularity during the when longer tracks became prevalent.

Distinctions from Related Formats

The maxi single is distinguished from the standard by its inclusion of additional content beyond the traditional structure. A standard typically comprises one or two , serving as a concise promotional for a primary , whereas a maxi single extends this format with three or more , often incorporating remixes, extended mixes, radio edits, or versions of the lead to cater to diverse preferences, such as club play or collector interest. In comparison to an (EP), the maxi single emphasizes variations on a single rather than a set of distinct originals. An EP generally features three to six standalone , functioning as a with varied thematic or musical elements, while the maxi single's tracks revolve around reinterpretations of one core , avoiding the breadth of new material found in . This conceptual focus can lead to misclassification on digital platforms; for example, platforms like classify releases as if they have three or fewer tracks and are under 30 minutes in duration; otherwise, they may be categorized as EPs, often resulting in maxi singles being erroneously labeled as such in streaming libraries. The maxi single also contrasts sharply with a full-length , which represents a comprehensive artistic project with eight or more original tracks designed for sustained listening. Positioned as a targeted extension of a single's promotion, the maxi single supplements rather than supplants an , providing enhanced value for fans without the scope of a complete record. Chart eligibility further underscores these boundaries; in the UK, for instance, rules have restricted maxi singles to prevent them from dominating the singles chart, limiting eligible formats to a maximum of four tracks and 25 minutes of playing time, with earlier iterations in the and adjusting from three tracks to accommodate remixes while maintaining promotional intent.

Historical Development

Origins in the

The maxi single format originated in the early as an extension of the standard 7-inch vinyl single, offering additional tracks to enhance value and appeal. The first recognized maxi single was Mungo Jerry's "," released in May 1970 on ' Dawn label, featuring three tracks—including the hit title song and an version—on a single 7-inch disc. This innovative release marked a departure from the typical A-side/B-side structure, providing listeners with more content for the price of a single. By the mid-1970s, the term "maxi single" gained widespread usage to describe 7-inch vinyl releases with extra B-sides, often two tracks on the reverse to capitalize on popular hits and encourage repeat purchases. A notable example was the 1975 reissue of David Bowie's "" by , formatted as a 7-inch maxi single including "Changes" and "" alongside the title track, which served promotional purposes and helped propel the song to in the UK. This period saw labels experimenting with the format to meet growing demand in pop and emerging dance scenes, where extended play options allowed for deeper exploration of artists' catalogs. The evolution toward 12-inch maxi singles began with promotional copies in 1975, driven by the disco era's need for longer mixes suitable for club DJs, who required tracks with enhanced bass and duration for seamless mixing. This development was pioneered by producer , who created the format by pressing extended remixes onto 12-inch vinyl to accommodate longer durations when 7-inch blanks ran short. Labels like Atlantic issued early 12-inch promos to DJs, setting the stage for commercial viability. The first commercial 12-inch single debuted in May 1976 from with Double Exposure's "Ten Percent," a disco track remixed by Walter Gibbons to nearly 10 minutes, emphasizing the format's role in delivering extended grooves. Casablanca Records quickly adopted the 12-inch maxi for disco hits, exemplified by Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby," whose promotional 17-minute version in 1975 popularized the format among club audiences and mainstream buyers alike.

Expansion in the 1980s and 1990s

During the , cassette maxi singles gained popularity as a format that complemented the widespread use of dual-cassette decks in homes, allowing consumers to easily dub and create personalized mixes from extended remixes and versions. This accessibility encouraged experimentation with the format, moving beyond to more portable suitable for and pop genres. A representative example is Debbie Gibson's "" (1987), released as a cassette maxi-single by , which included four distinct mixes: the Club Mix, Bonus Beats, Drumapella, and Dub Version, providing variety for DJs and home enthusiasts. In the , the rise of compact discs further expanded maxi singles by enabling higher-fidelity playback of intricate remixes without the hiss common in cassettes, aligning with the era's emphasis on and production. Optical media allowed for more tracks per release, enhancing the format's appeal for collectors and club scenes. For instance, Saint Etienne's "Who Do You Think You Are?" (), issued as a CD maxi-single by Warner Bros. Records, featured eight tracks including the Album Version (3:52), Strobelights & Platform Shoes Mix (7:00), Quex-RD (8:07), and Dub (6:59), showcasing diverse remixing approaches. A notable series from this period came from the Smashing Pumpkins, whose 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness spawned multiple maxi singles with exclusive B-sides, later compiled in the 1996 box set The Aeroplane Flies High, totaling 33 tracks across five expanded single releases—such as "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," "1979," and "Zero"—that included rarities like covers and instrumentals not on the original album. Industry regulations also influenced maxi single production and chart performance in the UK, where the Chart Supervisory Committee (predecessor to the ) imposed a 20-minute playing time limit for singles eligibility in June 1987 to curb extended formats dominating sales, which restricted many maxi releases; this was revised in June 1991 to 25 minutes for multi-song singles and 40 minutes for remix-heavy packages to better accommodate the format while maintaining chart integrity.

Physical Formats

Vinyl Maxi Singles

Vinyl maxi singles originated as an extension of standard singles, providing additional tracks or longer versions tailored for specific playback environments. The 12-inch maxi single emerged as the dominant format starting in 1976, revolutionizing dance music distribution. Pioneered by remixer for with Double Exposure's "Ten Percent," these records played at RPM to allow for extended mixes lasting up to 10-12 minutes per side, providing club DJs with seamless transitions and deeper grooves for bass-heavy playback. This slower speed enhanced low-frequency response, making it ideal for environments where louder, distortion-free sound was essential. A notable later example is Madonna's 1999 UK promotional release of "," which featured multiple remixes on 12-inch vinyl at RPM, including the Club 69 Future Mix exceeding 8 minutes. Production of maxi singles emphasized durability and club performance, with mastering techniques that prioritized louder volume through wider groove spacing to minimize surface noise and maximize . Many 12-inch releases incorporated sleeves, offering expanded space for artwork, , and promotional inserts that highlighted credits and artist visuals. However, by the late , production declined sharply as the industry shifted to formats like , reducing vinyl single shipments from millions in the early to near obscurity. Culturally, vinyl maxi singles were pivotal in the era, enabling DJs to extend tracks with breaks and builds that sustained dance floors, as seen in early releases like "Ten Percent." This format transitioned into early , where 12-inch singles provided breakbeats for scratching and mixing, influencing pioneers like and laying the groundwork for in rap and beyond.

Cassette and CD Maxi Singles

Cassette maxi singles emerged in the as a portable adaptation of the vinyl maxi single, utilizing standard C60 or C90 audio cassettes capable of accommodating 4 to 6 extended mixes or remixes of a track on each side. This format aligned with the surge in personal stereos like Sony's , introduced in 1979, enabling consumers to carry and play extended dance-oriented versions during commutes or outdoor activities. A representative example is Madonna's "" cassette maxi single, released by Records in 1985, which included the 4:40 title track and a 6:15 dance mix of "" on its two sides, mirroring the content of contemporaneous 12-inch releases. The cassette maxi single's appeal lay in its affordability, typically priced between $3.98 and $4.98, making extended content accessible compared to vinyl equivalents, while also allowing easy home onto blank tapes for sharing or backup. Labels like experimented with variations, such as the cassette maxi single for Debbie Gibson's "Out of the Blue" in 1987, which featured multiple remixes to capitalize on the teen pop market's demand for club-friendly versions. By the , the CD maxi single supplanted cassettes as the preferred physical format for extended singles, consisting of standard 5-inch (120 mm) compact discs that could hold 6 to 8 tracks, including , B-sides, and additional material, all encoded in uncompressed for superior clarity and fidelity without the analog degradation common in tapes. This shift reflected ' overall dominance in music sales, with the format's capability—enabled by track indexing—allowing instant navigation to specific , a feature absent in sequential cassette playback. In the UK, where CD maxi singles thrived through the decade, Erasure's "Breathe" release in exemplified the format's maturity, packing eight tracks onto the disc, including radio and acoustic versions, an exclusive song ("Mr. Gribber and His Amazing Cat"), and a video file in enhanced editions. Both cassette and maxi singles expanded beyond mere by incorporating content like interviews, live recordings, or versions, enhancing value for collectors and fans seeking deeper engagement with releases. Cassettes further benefited from their low production costs and compatibility with existing home equipment, while offered greater durability against physical damage and environmental factors like magnetism. Cassette maxi singles began to phase out by the mid-, overtaken by the 's superior and , with cassette production for largely ceasing as a medium. maxi singles, while peaking in popularity throughout the with sales driven by their inclusion in chart compilations, started declining in the early as digital download platforms like rose, offering track-by-track purchasing that undercut the bundled format's appeal.

Digital and Modern Developments

Transition to Digital Formats

The transition to digital formats for maxi singles accelerated in the early , coinciding with the launch of Apple's in April 2003, which revolutionized music distribution by offering legal downloads as an alternative to . Maxi singles adapted to this environment as bundled digital packages, typically comprising the lead track alongside multiple remixes—often 4 to 6 versions—to appeal to DJs, radio stations, and fans seeking variety, mirroring the extended play structure of their vinyl and predecessors. These bundles were sold as single downloads or individual tracks, allowing consumers greater flexibility in purchasing specific remixes. Digital maxi singles were primarily distributed in compressed audio formats suited for online delivery and portable devices, with and files encoded at bitrates ranging from 128 to 320 kbps to balance quality and . Higher-quality files, uncompressed and preserving full fidelity, were commonly used for promotional downloads sent to radio stations and industry professionals, enabling seamless integration into broadcast and mixing workflows. A key milestone came in 2003 when the revised rules to accommodate "maxi-discs"—physical multi-track releases up to 20 minutes with three tracks plus remixes—setting the stage for similar digital eligibility. This was followed by the incorporation of legal downloads into the starting April 2005, enabling maxi singles with longer track counts to contribute to chart positions without requiring a physical counterpart, thus promoting widespread . The shift faced significant challenges, including platform misclassification where digital maxi bundles were often categorized as extended plays (EPs) rather than singles on services like , potentially limiting visibility and chart eligibility under varying rules. Additionally, the rise of file-sharing piracy in the early severely impacted physical maxi single sales, contributing to a nearly 62% decline in U.S. recorded music revenues from to as consumers turned to unauthorized downloads for remixes and extended versions. These factors accelerated the decline of physical formats while establishing digital maxi singles as a viable, though evolving, medium for artists to extend track longevity through variations.

Current Usage and Trends

In the , maxi singles persist primarily in digital formats through platforms like and , where independent artists bundle multiple mixes, remixes, and instrumentals to offer extended value beyond standard . For instance, rapper released the 2025 digital maxi single "WANTED," featuring collaborations with and LA Giantz, structured as seven segmented tracks from a single five-minute to maximize streaming plays and engagement. Similarly, artist Theophilus Oluwafifehami Ajayi issued "I'm Calling You - 2025 Digital Maxi Single" on , including radio edits and expanded versions for direct fan purchases. Regionally, maxi singles remain prominent in , particularly among idol groups like , which continue to release theater editions containing exclusive tracks unavailable elsewhere to incentivize attendance at their dedicated performances. These editions, such as the 2025 66th single "Oh My Pumpkin!" and earlier Type-II limited runs, maintain the format's role in fan-driven sales and collectibility. In the UK, maxi-CDs adhere to rules established around 2003, capping audio at 40 minutes provided all tracks are remixes of the lead single, allowing for extended releases without qualifying as full albums. On streaming services like and , standalone maxi singles are rare in 2025, as the format has largely integrated into deluxe editions or playlist-friendly bundles with remixes to align with algorithm-driven discovery. Glasses Malone's "WANTED," for example, appears as segmented tracks on these platforms to boost stream counts, reflecting a shift toward quantity in and electronic releases. In the , this evolution underscores uncertainty in single-focused strategies, with major labels prioritizing , short-form content over extended maxi formats amid streaming's dominance. As of 2025, maxi singles see a modest in and scenes for direct fan engagement, with artists using digital bundles on to foster through exclusive mixes, contrasting the post-2020 decline in label adoption. Physical formats like contribute to this niche resurgence, but overall industry emphasis on viral singles via and playlists has widened gaps in broader maxi single usage.

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