Extended play
An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.[1] Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes.[2] An "EP" is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal".[3]
This article is about the audio format. For other uses, see Extended play (disambiguation).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),[4] but as of 2023 applied to mid-length CDs and downloads as well.[5] EPs are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album, and have long been popular with punk and indie bands.[1][6] In K-pop they are usually referred to as mini albums.[1]
Definition[edit]
The first EPs were seven-inch vinyl records with more tracks than a normal single (typically five to nine of them). Although they shared size and speed with singles, they were a recognizably different format than the seven-inch single. Although they could be named after a lead track, they were generally given a different title.[8] Examples include the Beatles' The Beatles' Hits EP from 1963, and the Troggs' Troggs Tops EP from 1966, both of which collected previously released tracks.[8] The playing time was generally between 10 and 15 minutes.[8] In the UK they came in cardboard picture sleeves at a time when singles were usually issued in paper company sleeves. EPs tended to be album samplers or collections of singles. EPs of all original material began to appear in the 1950s. Examples are Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender from 1956 and "Just for You", "Peace in the Valley" and "Jailhouse Rock" from 1957, and the Kinks' Kinksize Session from 1964.
Twelve-inch EPs were similar, but generally had between three and five tracks and a length of over 12 minutes.[8] Like seven-inch EPs, these were given titles.[8] EP releases were also issued in cassette and 10-inch vinyl formats.[8] With the advent of the compact disc (CD), more music was often included on "single" releases, with four or five tracks being common, and playing times of up to 25 minutes.[8] These extended-length singles became known as maxi singles and while commensurate in length to an EP were distinguished by being designed to feature a single song, with the remaining songs considered B-sides, whereas an EP was designed not to feature a single song, instead resembling a mini album.
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.[8]
Ricardo Baca of The Denver Post said in 2010, "EPs—originally extended-play 'single' releases that are shorter than traditional albums—have long been popular with punk and indie bands."[6]
Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks.[2] An "EP" is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal".[3]
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America, the organization that declares releases "gold" or "platinum" based on numbers of sales, defines an EP as containing three to five songs or under 30 minutes.[23] On the other hand, The Recording Academy's rules for Grammy Awards state that any release with five or more different songs and a running time of over 15 minutes is considered an album, with no mention of EPs.[24]
In the United Kingdom, an EP can appear either on the album or the single chart. The Official Chart Company classifies any record with more than four tracks (not counting alternative versions of featured songs, if present) or with a playing time of more than 25 minutes as an album for sales-chart purposes. If priced as a single, they will not qualify for the main album chart but can appear in the separate Budget Albums chart.[25][26]
An intermediate format between EPs and full-length LPs is the mini-LP, which was a common album format in the 1980s. These generally contained 20–30 minutes of music and about seven tracks.[8]