Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2020 January 26

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January 26

Kosheen - Catch

While Resist (Kosheen album) says the song "Catch" appeared in it in 2001, Amazon and Discogs say it appeared as a single in 2000 and "Hide U" also says so. Does it mean "Catch" first came out as a single and then was included on the album or is there a factual error somewhere? Thanks. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 16:36, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

It used to be common for singles being released prior to the release of an album. In theory, folks would be more inclined to buy an album if there was a song on it that they've already heard. (I personally own several albums with only one or two good songs on it). 2606:A000:1126:28D:B10C:26A0:A0FF:5576 (talk) 17:10, 26 January 2020 (UTC) . . . Also, people wouldn't buy a single if they already have the album.^[1]

See lead single for more detail. --Khajidha (talk) 20:18, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

At an even earlier point, albums were an afterthought. The primary form of release for songs was the single, with albums being put together later from multiple successful singles. As for not people buying the single if they already have the album, this could be countered by giving later singles non-album tracks as their B-sides. But the original poster is probably too young to understand what "B-sides" were..... God, I feel old.--Khajidha (talk) 13:09, 2 February 2020 (UTC)