Katana VentraIP

Cassette single

A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980.[2]

Media type

Between 10–30 minutes total[1] (3-6 songs/versions), sometimes repeated on both sides

103 × 64 × 12 mm

Audio playback

1980 (1980)

Popularity[edit]

Although the cassette had reached a high level of popularity by the late 1970s, due to the ubiquity of mobile devices such as the Sony Walkman,[1] the boombox, and car audio cassette players, cassette singles never rivalled gramophone records to even near the same extent as cassette albums had done. In the U.S., cassette singles were completely phased out by the mid 2000s. One reason for their lesser popularity was because they appeared to be an inefficient use of the media to consumers; a cassette single took up the same storage space as a full album. In October 2012, American alternative metal band Deftones released the lead single, Leathers off their album, Koi No Yokan as a cassette single. In April 2013, however, psychedelic rock band MGMT released the first single from their third album as a cassette single, and October 2014 saw the cassingle Great Big Happy Green Moonface from Polaris, the band's first release in fifteen years. In 2020, Lady Gaga released cassette singles for her songs "Stupid Love" and "Rain on Me" from the album Chromatica becoming her first single releases on the format.