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Will singles ever be popular again?


Guest crazybeats
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This thread is turning into a debate over whether Eminem is good or not, and consequently missing the whole point of the OP.  This individual raises an interesting question, although it may have an easy answer (no one buys them anymore).  But I still like that s/he is asking.  

 

I don't think we are missing the real point of the OP. Eminem= good. New album coming out on Universal= buy it so my boss will be happy.

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I have Skee-Lo's seminal masterpiece "I Wish" on cassingle. Your move Dave, your move.

 

Ok, I also have my Bangles "Eternal Flame" Cassingle. Learned all the words to sing to a girl in middle school thinking I'd win her heart. All I won was a red face from embarrassment. 25 years or so on I can say I win since I sang that song to my kid as an infant during his crying fits and he found it pretty soothing. 

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I do love a good single. Hand-numbered, limited singles really appeal to me. Or anyones that are a double B side like the most recent Washed Out 7". I wish more bands released singles with preorders. More like a bonus or an incentive. But with larger groups I don't see the appeal cause I'll just listen to the album.

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I think not making 7 inch singles is really a missed opportunity. I know when I go to the record store, I would totally look through and pick up a few $5 or $6 singles... It's a way to get people to buy something that they normally wouldn't buy. A few record labels do often times have some good ones they release, but it's few and far between.

 

Maybe record companies are just scared that if people buy a 7 or 12 inch single, they might not buy the LP when it comes out for 20-30 bucks.

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Lets face it 12" singles were good for DJ's who wanted to play 2-3 versions/remixes of the same song everyone heard on the radio about a billion times. You'd occasionally get a b-side, but what drunk twenty-something wants to figure out what b-side it is on MTV's The Grind? I would hope that people that have the attention span would enjoy an LP of a good album overall or the occasional EP with several different songs on it. So in sum 12" singles don't generally work for the people on this board.

Also Eminem's music is something that is unfortunately funny for 13 year olds who don't realize how awful his lyrics really are. No fully functioning adult should enjoy Eminem.

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I think not making 7 inch singles is really a missed opportunity. I know when I go to the record store, I would totally look through and pick up a few $5 or $6 singles... It's a way to get people to buy something that they normally wouldn't buy. A few record labels do often times have some good ones they release, but it's few and far between.

 

Maybe record companies are just scared that if people buy a 7 or 12 inch single, they might not buy the LP when it comes out for 20-30 bucks.

 

the problem is that 7" singles aren't $5 or $6 anymore. And even that is kind of excessive considering how useless 7"'s are. 

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Isn't Enimen that guy featured on that one Rhianna single? The one that was on retail radio a while back. Just Gonna' Stand Here, right? Man, girls love that song.

I think he's that guy Kid Rock pulled up on his hit "Fuck Off". Otherwise, I don't think he's done anything else notable.

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i always resented eminem for the goofy shit. the leadoff single was always some attention demanding clown shit. but catchy to the point where i understood why everyone loved it.  but then the follow-up single would be lights-out: role model, way i am, cleaning out my closet; the tracks where he actually showcased how vicious he could be.

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This thread is turning into a debate over whether Eminem is good or not, and consequently missing the whole point of the OP.  This individual raises an interesting question, although it may have an easy answer (no one buys them anymore).  But I still like that s/he is asking.  

 

This answer is true for 7" singles, picture disc singles, etc.

 

But there is another factor, and it's interesting that the OP basically nailed the date.  12" black/white label/promo/remix singles existed for one sole purpose, DJs.  Sure the public bought them too, but that's not why they were made.  Right around 2007/2008 the game started to change, CDJs, digital mixers, the iPod market was huge.  Your run of the mill club DJ wasn't using a turntable any more.

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Singles never died. It certainly diminished, but what about punk rock? Punk 7"s were essentially singles in the late 80's and through the 90's. Stuff that NOFX, Rancid, etc that couldn't be had on actual albums but weren't EPs were singles.

Interesting question OP. But if we're still keeping score, I don't own anything by Eminem.

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Guest crazybeats

My point was DJs started using digital files when infact you could have argued that DJs were helping keep records alive all these years and then out of nowhere they just drop them. Since the mass public dropped vinyl a long time ago and have now slowly started to get back into it and invest in proper hi-fi equipment, I was wondering if the time would come when DJs would get back into the format and if labels would start releasing singles again.

 

I also used Eminem as an example because I didn't see many threads on hip hop music and the ones I did find people seemed to be surprised. I assumed most people would have at least came across some Eminem records over the years and yeah I do listen to him and like a lot of other artists I used to buy the promos and white labels and singles, I remember around 2003-2005 when singles really were big business, I would have certain MP3 ripping groups I would follow because they always got things first so I was always hoping for the instrumental/acapella on the CD promo and usually a few days later the vinyl rip would be out and if you didn't get the instr/acapella on the CD you were bound to get it on there and sometimes there was B=sides so that meant another instr/acapella. Then a week later you would start to see them pop up on Ebay and certain record sites, you always knew what to look for. I don't know how many promos they were sending out, I assumed the CD promos would be in the hundreds, I'm not really sure how many promos a label would send out for DJs.

 

What I am starting to notice more and more now is limited releases on artists websites, often they are signed by the artist or they bundle it with the CD single. I like that idea if it makes a profit, sometimes that is all I want is just one or two songs that I hear on the radio but they're not always on time. Lady Gaga for instance has a CD single for her new song Applause but it's not out till next month. By the time next month comes around I'll be onto something different. I don't know why 7" singles are the price they are now. I don't know how much it cost before to make records or what it costs now, I assume for the big labels they get it done cheap. I should probably just blame the DJs of the world and hope the come back to records.

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Guest crazybeats

It's for everyone. I just throw it out there and if you feel a little sensation in your body and you feel as though it's meant for you then you know you can reply. I'm very spiritual at my core.

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