单曲
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单曲，在音乐领域，单曲是指包含一支歌曲或更多片断音轨这些相对比较简短的录音。单曲能够以多种格式向公众发行。
单曲通常同时发行多种格式的版本，比如数字下载，CD和胶片等。 其它格式含同时发行两张各自先放各自的音轨的CD，然后作为两张独立的CD而使用各自的B面和封面（例如Muse的非专辑单曲Dead Star/In Your World和In Your World/Dead Star）, 或作为两张各有一支音轨的CD比如Kent的单曲FF/VinterNoll2)。拥有两个以上A面的唱片通常不被算作是单曲，而是算作EP。 尽管非专辑内的单曲有些时候也被发行，单曲内的主打歌曲（也有时候B-sides中也有）通常情况下是出自专辑（已经发行或者即将发行的），单曲的发行部分的作用是刺激专辑销量，同时确保电台的播放率（playlisting）。CD单曲通常还有主要歌曲的"radio edit"（电台版本）或者"single edit"（单曲版本）不同于原始录音版本，发行的单曲重新被编辑从而使歌曲长度对于电台播放更有吸引力，或者被检查（通常重新录音新的歌词），也就是clean版本，或者两者都有。 一张专辑典型的单曲发行数量一般是2至4支——更多的则认为是特别的。（比如：Gwen Stefani的专辑Love. Angel. Music. Baby.）However, since an artist's most popular songs are often singles later albums including their earlier works may have many, 比如S Club 7的专辑Best - The Greatest Hits.
[编辑] 英国和美国[编辑] 英国在英国19世纪早期之前，单曲在电台和商店的发行在同一天。随后随着电台空放量的上升，单曲会在榜上爬升至最高位置，一般在一个月左右以后，单曲会缓慢的下降直到掉出榜单。自从19世纪早期，唱片公司开始早约一个月先在电台发行单曲，用来提高销量。先在电台播放可以让听众更熟悉这支单曲，从而确保单曲能够以可能达到的最高销量上榜。不同于美国，最热门的英国榜单（例如UK Singles Top 75）都只依靠统计销售数据，而不包含电台空放量。自从20世纪90年代以来，为了鼓励更多有可能购买的人购买单曲从而让单曲能够在榜单上达到最高值，大部分英国发行的主流厂牌唱片在第一周以非常低的价格销售，在之后则高价销售。与过去缓慢爬行的销量完全相反，在今天典型的单曲排行是在第一周达到最高值。The modern trend towards entering at peak position has led to the common sight of not one single in the UK Top 75 gaining in the chart.单曲在榜上排名下降飞快，所能在第一名持续保持的周数也越来越短，而在下降之后重新爬上的最高名次的机会越来越少。另外，在20世纪90年代之前，专辑的首支单曲早于专辑几周发行，而在今天单曲典型的是在专辑一或者两周之前发行。 其他营销策略是发行主打单曲。偶尔的，主打单曲会在专辑发行一或数月之前发行。例如：Oasis的"Some Might Say"和Pulp的"Help the Aged"。很特别的情况下，两支单曲为了促进专辑的销售在同一时间发行，这样的例子最典型的是Manic Street Preachers的"Found That Soul"和"So Why So Sad". 在英国，开始出现了新趋势：是单曲销售量逐渐下降。这是由于排行榜引入数字下载而使非单曲（专辑中还未或不发行的曲目）在排行榜上上升。美国两人组合Gnarls Barkley通过"Crazy"创造历史记录, 它完全依靠下载成为英国排名第一的单曲(这支单曲能够进入UK singles chart是因为随后发行了唱片版本，直到2007年1月无唱片发行的而仅靠下载得单曲才以进入榜单)。从2006年中期开始78%的英国唱片销售都是数字下载。[1] 在CD单曲销售开始衰退之际，7"黑胶唱片的销售量开始在2006年上升，[2] [3] 在一些著名歌手/乐队的引领下，比如Arctic Monkeys, 据说卖出的7"唱片多于CD，这样的结果与20世纪90年代正相反。目前很多单曲发行两个版本7"唱片和一个CD版本。 [编辑] 美国在美国，自从20世纪90年代早期，单曲逐渐的不做商业发行了。尽管这样做会阻碍它们在Hot 100上的上榜， Billboard magazine认可了这一趋势，并在1998年修改了规则允许只进行空放的音轨（也被它们叫做专辑Cut）上榜。从那时开始，只进行空放的单曲频繁的登上Billboard第一。不过旧规则使一些长期在空放第一的单曲比如No Doubt的"Don't Speak"丧失了获得Billboard Hot 100第一的资格。最近，Billboard开始统计数字下载数据，并计入总榜。 [编辑] History单曲曾经以各种各样的格式发行，包括7英寸，10英寸和12英寸胶片唱片（通常以45rpm播放）；10英寸虫漆唱片（以78rpm播放）；卡式磁带，3和5英寸CD单曲和7英寸塑胶Flexi 唱片。其他不常见的格式包括在digital compact cassette上的单曲，DVD，和LD，还有一些很多非标准尺寸的胶片唱片（5", 8"等）。 胶片唱片最通常的格式是45。这个名字是根据唱片播放的速度而来，45rpm（转/每分钟）。标准的45唱片尺寸为7"（直径）。 这种7" 45 RPM唱片在1949年由RCA介绍，称它作为78 RPM虫漆唱片的替代品而言，既小巧又具有高保真度。第一张45 RPM唱片是monaural，两面均有录音。随着立体声音乐在20世纪60年代的流行，几乎所有20世纪70年代制作的45 RPM唱片都是立体声唱片。 尽管7"仍保持着标准胶片唱片的地位，12英寸唱片也由于DJ20世纪70年代在迪斯科的播放而引入。12"唱片有着更长的播放时间，这就允许了唱片中包含更多的舞曲混音音轨。尽管流行度持续下降，但12"单曲唱片仍然被认作是舞曲的标准格式。 在大多数国家，单曲的销售数据是由Top 40标准记录的。这些榜单通常倒数着(例如：从第40名到第1名)由杂志和众多的节目，以及节目公布。 一些非中文的文字因为尚未翻譯而被隐藏，歡迎參與翻譯。
The sales of singles are recorded in charts in most countries in a Top 40 format. These charts are often published in magazines and numerous television shows and radio programs count down the list. In order to be eligible for inclusion in the charts the single must meet the requirements set by the charting company, usually governing the number of songs and the total playing time of the single. In popular music, the relative commercial and artistic importance of the single (as compared to the EP or album) has varied over time, technological development, and according to the audience of particular artists and genres. Singles have generally been more important to artists who sell to the youngest purchasers of music (younger teenagers and pre-teens), who tend to have more limited financial resources and shorter attention spans. Perhaps the golden age of the single was on "45's" in the 1950s and early 1960s in the early years of rock music; albums became a greater focus as artists like The Beatles and others created albums of uniformly high quality and coherent themes (one of many examples being the concluding medley on Abbey Road), a trend which reached its apex in the development of the concept album. Over the 1980s and 1990s, the single has generally received less and less attention as albums, which on compact disc had virtually identical production and distribution costs but could be sold at a higher price, became most retailers' primary method of selling music. The single became almost exclusively a promotional tool for radio play and to appear on television via the video clip. Dance music, however, has followed a different commercial pattern, and the single, especially the 12-inch vinyl single, remains a major method by which dance music is distributed. As of 2006, the single seems to be undergoing something of a revival. Commercial music download sites reportedly sell mostly single tracks rather than whole albums, and the increase in popularity seems to have rubbed off on physical formats [4]. Portable MP3 players, which make it extremely easy to load many songs from different artists and play them, are claimed to be a major factor behind this trend. A related development has been the popularity of mobile phone ringtones based on pop singles (on some modern phones, the actual single can be used as a ringtone). These are reportedly a very lucrative new business for the music industry[來源請求] . In a reversal of this trend, recently a single has been released based on a ringtone itself. The Crazy Frog ringtone, which had become a cult hit in Europe in 2004, was released as a mashup with Axel F in June 2005 amid a massive publicity campaign and subsequently hit #1 on the UK charts. [编辑] Video singlesIn relation to music singles, the industry has released music videos as singles as well. Originally released on very short VHS cassettes (T-15), these eventually were released on LaserDisc as LD-singles (18 cm or 8" format, instead of the full 1'/12"/30 cm LD), and on cDVD as DVD-singles (8 cm or 3" format, instead of the full 12 cm/5.25" DVD). [编辑] 參見 |
