The lightweight and inexpensive 45 rpm discs introduced by RCA were quickly popular and in the early 1950s all major US labels had begun manufacturing seven-inch singles.Spencer Drate 45 RPM: A Visual History of the Seven-Inch Record, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002, p.10 In the decades that followed, the seven-inch single was the format that many major artists made their recording debut on and some recordings were exclusively released as vinyl 45s only. According to the New York Times, the popularity of the seven-inch single reached a peak in 1974 when 200 million were sold. In the 1980s its popularity began to decline as jukeboxes became fewer, consumers tended to prefer to buy albums and formats such as cassettes and CDs was overtaking vinyl 45s. Despite its major decline, vinyl seven-inch singles has continued to released in the 2000s by indie labels such as Sub Pop and Third Man Records.
The lightweight and inexpensive 45 rpm discs introduced by RCA were quickly popular and in the early 1950s all major US labels had begun manufacturing seven-inch singles.Spencer Drate 45 RPM: A Visual History of the Seven-Inch Record, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002 p.10 In the decades that followed, the seven-inch single was the format that many major artists made their recording debut on and some recordings were exclusively released as vinyl 45s only. According to the New York Times, the popularity of the seven-inch single reached a peak in 1974 when 200 million were sold. In the 1980s its popularity began to decline as jukeboxes became fewer, consumers tended to prefer to buy albums and formats such as cassettes and CDs was overtaking vinyl 45s. Despite its major decline, vinyl seven-inch singles has continued to released in the 2000s by indie labels such as Sub Pop and Third Man Records.