Music Sound

A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The format was introduced in the mid to late 1980s, but didn't gain its place in the market until the early 1990s.

CD singles soon eclipsed sales of other single formats like vinyl and the cassette single, but starting in the late 1990s, record companies began to issue fewer CD singles, to the point where Billboard Magazine changed their rules to allow singles without commercial releases to chart. As a result of this rule, the production and sales of CD singles greatly dropped in the United States.

The release of CD singles in America continued into the 2000s, but 2001 saw the last major surge of CD single releases. Some record companies like Arista/BMG and the imprints of Sony Music Entertainment even tried re-releasing old singles to reboost the market, but without avail. CD maxi singles, however, continue to exist in greater quantity for the dance music market.

Just as the CD single replaced the cassette single (which replaced the 7" vinyl single), CD singles are being replaced by the digital download.