The Future of Singles

[George]

The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) is not the first song that the band themselves have declared to be a single but have not released as a commercial single (that title goes to Original of the Species).  However, given that Original of the Species was the fifth cut taken from its album and promoted (via video and promo CD) two calendar years after the album's first single, the differences between the two are significant.

Is this the end of the commercial physical single for U2, minus oddity releases such as the limited edition 10" vinyl release of Ordinary Love?  Invisible was given away freely online and then only ever sold as a lossy downloadable track.

I understand that the market has changed significantly, and the glory days of U2 singles coming as two CDs and maybe a DVD, 3" CD, 2-track CD, 7" vinyl, or 12" vinyl are gone, but I do wonder if we've really seen the last true single, the last b-side.

I know that the general public won't buy these releases anymore, but I do wish that the releases would continue, perhaps being sold exclusively on U2.com.

[morgan1098]

I do think we've pretty much seen the end of CD singles for U2 and everyone else. A limited edition or special release is always possible, I guess (such as something for Record Store Day), but I think that's about it.  Sad but true. 

Having said that, it's interesting that the announcement of the Live Aid 30 song includes mention of a CD single... But again, that's a charity thing and I just don't see CD singles coming back in any meaningful way. At this point I think we'd be more likely to see U2 singles released on 7-inch or 12-inch vinyl.

As for "b-sides," Deluxe editions have now become the defacto format for extra songs. All of Disc 2 of SOI could have been split up and used as b-sides for singles, but instead they just collected them all on one disc. It's easier for collectors like us, at least.

This has been the norm for several years now. An artist will release a standard 12-track album and also a "deluxe edition" with 3 or 4 bonus songs. Those bonus songs would have been b-sides on physical singles back in the day.

[miryclay]

Even though singles filtered out during the NLOTH era there was a steady gluttony of material mixed in with exclusives, Super Deluxes and fanclub. I would like to see the band embrace RSD a little more.

[Brad]

I don't think we are likely to see a return of CD singles either. I would love to see some more collectible vinyl singles.

A couple of points:

The single mix of Original of the Species is different from the album version and the track is available as a separate digital single, neither of which is true of The Miracle (of Joey Ramone). At least, I don't recall seeing The Miracle available anywhere as a digital single.

Invisible (RED Edit) is available in lossless in a few places: Qobuz in Europe and The Pono Music Store in the US. Access to the Pono store is limited to people who pre-ordered the Pono player for now, but will open up to everyone after the beta period ends.

[Aaron]

And to add to Brad's post...

I think it was Universal in Germany that was offering "The Miracle of Joey Ramone" as a separate song with the artwork from the "single promo".  It's now part of the album offering there, but i think the cover hasn't been changed.  I have notes at home about it...so that would at least be one place where it was available as a single.  I'll be home tomorrow am.  Someone remind me to look it up

[Brad]

For what it's worth, U2 did put up a high-quality image of the single cover in their press release section.



http://cdn.u2.com/rmpphoto/U2_TheMiracle%28ofJoeyRamone%29_single-cover.jpg

[Aaron]

This is what I was thinking of - but I think it was for streaming on Spotify...

http://www.universal-music.de/main?url=L3UyL2Rpc2tvZ3JhZmllL2RldGFpbC9wcm9kdWN0OjIyMzQwNS90aGUtbWlyYWNsZS1vZi1qb2V5LXJhbW9uZQ==&album=223405

[Brad]

Something else you never imagined you would have to consider: Does a digital single only available on a streaming service count as an official digital single release?

[George]

Something else you never imagined you would have to consider: Does a digital single only available on a streaming service count as an official digital single release?

I would say no, because a digital streaming service is, in my mind, similar to paying for satellite radio.  Yes, it's made available to be heard publicly (like the various live U2 radio shows as well as the various U2.com streams), but it's not made to be kept by the consumer.

[God, Part II]

George's response for the win!