Editing Extended play (section)

==Definition==
The first EPs were seven-inch vinyl records with more tracks than a normal single (typically four <!-- to six -->of them). Although they shared size and speed with singles, they were a recognizably different format than the seven-inch single. Although they could be named after a lead track, they were generally given a different title.<ref name="Strong" /> Examples include [[the Beatles]]' ''[[The Beatles' Hits]]'' EP from 1963, and [[the Troggs]]' ''Troggs Tops'' EP from 1966, both of which collected previously released tracks.<ref name="Strong"/> The playing time was generally between 10 and 15 minutes.<ref name="Strong"/> In the UK they came in cardboard picture sleeves at a time when singles were usually issued in paper company sleeves. EPs tended to be album samplers or collections of singles. EPs of all original material began to appear in the 1950s. Examples are Elvis Presley's ''[[Love Me Tender (EP)|Love Me Tender]]'' from 1956 and "Just for You", "[[Peace in the Valley (EP)|Peace in the Valley]]" and "[[Jailhouse Rock (EP)|Jailhouse Rock]]" from 1957, and [[the Kinks]]' ''[[Kinksize Session]]'' from 1964.

Twelve-inch EPs were similar, but generally had between three and five tracks and a length of over 12 minutes.<ref name="Strong"/> Like seven-inch EPs, these were given titles.<ref name="Strong"/> EP releases were also issued in [[Compact Cassette|cassette]] and 10-inch vinyl formats.<ref name="Strong"/> With the advent of the [[compact disc]] (CD), more music was often included on "single" releases, with four or five tracks being common, and playing times of up to 25 minutes.<ref name="Strong"/> These extended-length singles became known as [[maxi single]]s and while commensurate in length to an EP were distinguished by being designed to feature a single song, with the remaining songs considered [[A-side and B-side|B-sides]], whereas an EP was designed not to feature a single song, instead resembling a mini album.

EPs of original material regained popularity in the [[punk rock]] era, when they were commonly used for the release of new material, e.g. [[Buzzcocks]]' ''[[Spiral Scratch (EP)|Spiral Scratch]]'' EP.<ref name="Strong"/>

[[Ricardo Baca]] of ''[[The Denver Post]]'' said in 2010, "EPs—originally extended-play 'single' releases that are shorter than traditional albums—have long been popular with punk and indie bands."<ref name="Chattanooga Times Free Press 2010-01-04">{{cite web|url=http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jan/04/albums-fade-away-music-industry-looks-shorter-reco/?breakingnews|title=As albums fade away, music industry looks to shorter records|first=Ricardo|last=Baca|author-link=Ricardo Baca|work=[[The Denver Post]]|publisher=[[Chattanooga Times Free Press]]|date=January 4, 2010|access-date=July 21, 2010}}</ref>

Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks.<ref name="Definition - Billboard, etc.">{{cite web |date=2014-08-19 |title=EP to the Rescue! Short Albums Are a Rare Music Business Success Story |url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/ep-music-business-success/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501080522/https://www.billboard.com/pro/ep-music-business-success/ |archivedate=2023-05-01 |access-date=2023-12-31 |publisher=Billboard |language=en |quote="Extended play," a format comprising eight or fewer songs...}}<br />{{cite web |title=EP's, LP's, Albums and Mixtapes |url=https://marshall.com/live-for-music/moving-on-up/eps-lps-albums-and-mixtapes |website=marshall.com |language=en |quote=EP stands for 'Extended Play,' meaning that an EP is longer than a single but shorter than an album. They typically feature between 2–5 songs and are under 30 minutes in length.}}"[https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/music-distribution/play-music-make-killer-ep-4-steps What Is an EP? What Does EP Stand For & EP Meaning]". Music Gateway{{cite web |date=2023-07-07 |title=What Is An EP In Music? ( Examples, # of Songs, vs. LP ) |url=https://hiphopmakers.com/what-is-an-ep-in-music |accessdate=2024-01-01 |quote=An EP, short for Extended Play, is a shorter music album with 2 to 9 songs and is usually under 30 minutes in length. EPs tend to be more concise mini albums with a much smaller price tag. The term "EP" has been used in various ways in the music industry, but today we use it most often when referring to albums with fewer than 10 tracks. In some cases, an EP may contain only three or four songs, while others might have seven or even nine.}}</ref>

In the United States, the [[Recording Industry Association of America]], the organization that declares releases "gold" or "platinum" based on numbers of sales, defines an EP as containing three to five songs or under 30 minutes.<ref name="Gold and Platinum">{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/about-awards/|title=About the Awards – RIAA|publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]}}</ref> On the other hand, [[The Recording Academy]]'s rules for [[Grammy Award]]s state that any release with five or more different songs and a running time of over 15 minutes is considered an album, with no mention of EP.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.org/awards-process-updates|title=Awards Process Updates|publisher=[[The Recording Academy]]|date=July 8, 2015|access-date=January 26, 2017|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703200557/https://www.grammy.org/awards-process-updates|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, an EP can appear either on the album or the single chart. The [[Official Charts Company|Official Chart Company]] classifies any record with more than four tracks (not counting alternative versions of featured songs, if present) or with a playing time of more than 25 minutes as an album for sales-chart purposes. If priced as a single, they will not qualify for the main album chart but can appear in the separate Budget Albums chart.<ref name="UKCS">{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/media/647278/official-uk-charts-singles-chart-rules-march-2015.pdf |title=Rules for Chart Eligibility – Singles |date=March 2015 |first1=Chris |last1=Austin |first2=Lucy |last2=Blyth |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903160821/https://www.officialcharts.com/media/647278/official-uk-charts-singles-chart-rules-march-2015.pdf|archive-date=2019-09-03}}</ref><ref name="UKCA">{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/media/647277/official-uk-charts-album-chart-rules-march-2015.pdf |title=Rules for Chart Eligibility – Albums |date=March 2015 |first1=Chris |last1=Austin |first2=Lucy |last2=Blyth |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327103824/https://www.officialcharts.com/media/647277/official-uk-charts-album-chart-rules-march-2015.pdf|archive-date=2019-03-27}}</ref>

An intermediate format between EPs and full-length LPs is the [[mini-LP]], which was a common album format in the 1980s. These generally contained 20–30 minutes of music and about seven tracks.<ref name="Strong">{{cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |edition=6th |year= 2002 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=978-1-84195-312-0 }}</ref>