Album
From Freepedia
- For other uses, see Album (disambiguation).
An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public.
The term "record album" originated from the fact that 78 RPM gramophone or phonograph disc records were kept together in a book resembling a photo album. Later, "album" came to refer to a single long-playing 33⅓ RPM 12-inch record of songs or music, since one disc contained as much music as an old-style album of records. The standard industry format for popular music was an album of 12 songs, originally the number related to payment of composer royalties.
Now that the vinyl record is archaic, the term "album" is applied to any collection sound recording, including CD, Minidisc, and cassette. Even a set of tracks released at the same time for distribution on an online music download site is sometimes referred to as an album.
Due to the large capacity of new media, the matter of how long an album should be is open to debate. One author suggested at least eight tracks, but there are albums of fewer tracks. According to the rules of the British Charts, a recording counts as an album if either it has at least four tracks or lasts more than 20 minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as EPs, an abbreviation of extended play. The term "mini-album" may also be used.
Returning to the older meaning of the term, there are now albums of compact discs: collections of CDs in a single package. If such a collection is packaged in a box, it is known as a box set.
