12-inch single

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The 12-inch [30 cm] single gramophone record came into existence with the advent of disco music in the 1970s. As the songs became much longer than the average pop song but the DJ in the club wanted a sufficient sound level, the format had to be changed from the 175 mm (7 in) single. Since production costs for 175 mm (7 in), 250 mm (10 in), and 30 cm (12 in) records were about the same by this time, there was no real motivation to use the smaller formats.

Record producers sought a loud recording level to compensate for the poor signal-to-noise ratio, apparent when simply turning the volume up during playback with 7-inch singles. A loud recording level requires more space as the grooves' excursions (especially in the low-end so important for dance music) become much greater. Many record companies began producing 12-inch singles at 33 1/3 rpm, as the slower speed enhances the bass on the record. By the same token, however, 45 rpm gives better treble response and was used on many 12-inch singles, especially in the UK.

At first, these special versions were only available as promotional copies to DJs. By 1976, with the release of "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure, the new format was sold to the general public.

Increasingly in the 80s, many pop and even rock artists released 12-inch singles that included longer, extended or remixed versions of the actual track being promoted by the single. These versions were frequently labelled with the parenthetical designation "12-inch version", "12-inch mix", "extended remix", "dance mix" or "club mix".

Later musical styles took advantage of this new format and recording levels on vinyl 30 cm (12 in) maxis have steadily increased, culminating in the extremely loud (or "hot") cuts of drum and bass records of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Many record labels produced mainly 12-inch singles (in addition to albums) during the 1980s, such as Factory Records who only ever released a handful of 7-inch records. One of Factory's resident artists, New Order, produced the biggest-selling 12 inch record ever, Blue Monday, selling over one million copies (some sources say more than three million). It was somewhat helped by the fact that Factory did not release a 7-inch version of the single. By way of comparison, Blue Monday came in 76th on the 2002 UK list of all-time best-selling singles.

Maxi-singles

The term "12-inch [30 cm]" usually refers to a single with several remixes. Now that advances in compact disc player technology have made the CD acceptable for mixing and "turntablism", the term maxi single is increasingly used.

In the mid-late 1980s, prior to the rise in popularity of the CD single, vinyl maxi-singles for popular artists often included "bonus" songs that were not included on albums, in a manner similar to the older EP format.