What is an EP? How to Use it to Your Advantage
There is a lot of confusion around EP and what it is. Many wouldn’t be able to give a detailed answer when asked what is an ep. Even the name itself causes confusion. EP is “extended play.” However, the format is shorter than the other alternative, an LP (Long Play).
Let’s take a look at what this format entails, how you can use it to your benefit, and how some of the leading music streaming services define EP.
What is an EP?
Initially, when vinyl was the absolute leader in sound storage mediums, the only format that pretty much existed on the market was a single. That is because one vinyl could hold only one music record, and that is why pretty much until 1920s music was sold by one song.
However, as the technology developed, the music industry entered the race of quantity and quality. Industry leaders were competing to come up with better storage mediums. Eventually it led to Columbia releasing a 12-inch long playing record (LP), and RCA Victor releasing a 7-inch record (EP).
Columbia’s format was physically larger, but could also fit about 22 minutes of music on each side. The competitor had smaller mediums, but could only fit about 4 minutes of sound on each side. RCA Victor hoped that consumers would prefer a higher sound quality over the storage capacity, yet Columbia won the mainstream race. It has set to become the standard. Later RCA introduced an EP where they compromised the sound quality, but managed to fit almost double the original music, yet it still didn’t help them to become the market leader. Especially after The Beatles popularised a concept of an album, an era of album-oriented rock has started, and EP could not compete with the trend.
However, an EP did not fully disappear. Instead it became a niche that was successfully used by a few musicians. In fact, The Beatles who set the trend for proper album creation in its modern concept, also had an EP (Twist and Shout) that outsold most singles for some time in 1963. Overall, the format was more popular in the UK (and some other European countries) than in Canada or the US.
In the 80s with the emergence of punk rock bands, who were not initially able to afford to record full albums, EP gained more popularity. It provided an opportunity for new bands to put something out there and get noticed.
Later in the 90s, Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains was famously the first EP to get number one on the Billboard album chart. Eminem signed with Aftermath after the Slim Shady EP was heard by Dr. Dre who owned the label. Many musicians used the format, when they were not able to afford a creation of a proper album. Many used the format to give something to their fans in between albums, to keep the interest. Draw the inspiration and consider releasing your own EP. Here are the examples of what some of the streaming platforms qualify as this format.
Extended Play on Spotify and Apple Music
Nowadays, the definitions of what qualifies as an EP vary. For example, The Official UK Charts Company qualifies a record as an EP if it is under 25 minutes of length or four tracks. Alternative versions of the songs included in the record are not included in this count.
Recording Industry Association of America qualifies a release as an EP if it is under 30 minutes long, and contains 3 to 5 tracks.
As there is no one precise definition for the term, online music streaming giants also use a little different definition.
Spotify
- The release is under 30 minutes.
- The release has 4-6 tracks.
Everything that meets the above criteria will appear on Spotify under EPs and Singles. If you want your audience to specifically know that the release is EP, you can manually add it to the title yourself, as Spotify will not add it automatically.
Apple Music
- The release of 1 to 3 tracks, where at least one of them is longer than 10 minutes. The whole release should be under 30 minutes.
- The release of 4 to 6 tracks, where the whole release is under 30 minutes long.
If your release meets these criteria, Apple Music will automatically add -EP after your title.
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