Questions About Singles

[mellody]

Sorry If this already posted before...

Okay, this is the main question :

What is a Maxi Single?

Is it just an usual single with standard 4 tracks like INSPIRE?
A-Side + B-Side and any examples?
Or just like Mirrorcle World and such (one titled singles)?

But, another questions appears according to those singles...

INSPIRE singles have a real name INSPIRE c/w GAME
fairyland singles also have fairyland c/w alterna
So, what kind of singles is that?

If they are Double A-Side Single, isn't Double A-Side Single are like this?

• Days / GREEN
• You were... / BALLAD
• STEP you / is this LOVE?

Please share your knowledge...

Thanks!

[Picaflor 7/4]

Wikipedia

A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks (generally an a-side song and a b-side song).

Yeah, I'd assume it was any single with more than two tracks. I.E. Together When... is a regular single. but Rule/Sparkle is a maxi single, so is HEAVEN, or really any single that has a B side, or focuses on more than one song. Which (off the top of my head) is every ayu single besides Together When..., and her early singles from ASFXX.

[mellody]

Together When... is digital single I think, am I wrong?

I'm still curious about the singles marked with c/w.
Some people said it was Double A-Side, but why the name written in the single is just the first one...

And IMO, the first Maxi Single starts from Free & Easy.
Because it's Ayu first single that didn't include many tracks...

And in Ayu CM in the past, If i'm not mistaken, the man voice ever said "New Maxi Single..."
But I didn't remember which single...

[Delirium-Zer0]

The term is nothing more than a marketing term, and as such is VERY loosely defined. I've found that in the jpop world the term came into use in order to clarify whether a single was a 5" cd as opposed to a 3" one. 3" singles have rarely been manufactured since 1999, but the phrase "maxi single" is still used, just out of habit really. Now it's become largely meaningless, but I suppose it does clarify cd vs digital download singles.

The double a-side vs c/w thing? That's meaningless marketing terms as well. It means literally nothing. It's multiple songs packaged on one single no matter how you look at it, and the level of promotion those songs get relative to one another varies too much for anyone to give any clear cut rules on what makes a song a second a-side or a c/w song or whatever. It's all BS. lol

[mellody]

So, It's all nothing and meaningless? XD

I have no words to say right now for awhile.

Thanks anyway, I'm still curious about these things anyway~

[Delirium-Zer0]

Lol yeah... The term "maxi" conjures up the idea that you're getting more if you buy it, which you are - but what single even HAS only one or two tracks anymore? It's so rare now. So yeah, it's a term that did mean something once, but not so much anymore.

Same with the a-side/b-side thing. Back in the day, singles were on 7" vinyl, and record labels needed something to put on the b-side of the record, so they'd have the artist record a second song. Usually the record labels had no intention of promoting the b-side; it was just filler. Later on, when CDs came into the picture, the term carried over in the west but japan stuck with their mor appropriate term "coupling with". In the westernization of their music industry practices, the terms a-side and b-side entered the vocabulary, but there' really not much difference between a b-side and a coupling song. Nowadays, labels are giving the other tracks some measurable amount of promotion, so they've started using the term "multiple a-side", but exactly how much promotion those songs get varies wildly. What's an a-side and what's a b-side is a point of contention here for alot of members, which... Is stupid. XD what truly defines an a-side or a cw song changes from person to person. To me, it's a b-side if it's on side b! lol

[hsienko]

Don't forget Ayu also tends to blur the line more when it comes to a-sides and b-sides. Usually/traditionally a b-side is a track that is excusive to the single like "ever free," not good enough/appropriate to be on the album. Songs like "Will" and "decision" are considered b-side tracks but they appear on the album, so I guess you could say the majority of her singles are double a-sides.

And in the west the term "maxi single" is usually used for singles that are nothing but remixes. It's in the offical rules for the UK singles chart.

[mellody]

Agree about c/w thingy, it's just the B-Sides!

If I could give an example, maybe normal singles is just like Utada Hikaru - Be My Last?
The single has just only 2 tracks, the song itself and instrumental~

Anyway, If I could see another artists release like Otsuka Ai & YUI singles, they always have a normal A-Side & B-Side and additional songs sometimes, maybe they release are just an example of Maxi Single.