Why is a song's radio edit called a ‘7" version’?

Question

For some reason, I used to think that a 7" version of a song was a 7-minute long version.

Then, I started noticing that most 7" versions I came across were in fact around 3:30 long. Upon further inspection (understand "I googled the question"), I found that 7" version was another expression for the radio edit of a song.

My best guess would be that, back in the day, the vinyls used for radio edits were 7 inches in diameter (or radius?) but I can't find this information anywhere.

Surely, someone knows more about this?

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EDIT (for context): I'm seeing this 7" version thing a lot in song titles.

For instance, here is Rasputin (7" version), and here is Tied Up - 7" version.

Answer 1

When I was growing up in the '60s, in Australia, there were three common formats of vinyl record available. My comments below are based on my own experience and purchases of records from major bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

1. Singles:

   • These were the primary format that was used to promote a new song from an artist. The tracks were commonly selected from a newly released, or about to be released, LP (A.K.A. Album).
   • The 'A' side had the song that was being promoted, and played on the radio. The 'B' side was not necessarily of less quality but was not promoted or played as often.
   • They were 7 inch diameter with one song per side.
   • They were played at 45 RPM.
   • Each song was usually about 3 minutes long, give or take 30 seconds. This seemed to be the preferred length for commercial radio stations.
   • This ties in with the the idea that the 7" version is the edit aimed at radio performance.

2. EPs (Extended Play)

   • These were also 7 inch, 45 RPM discs, but with two tracks per side.
   • Again they were usually a selection of tracks from an LP.
   • I think they were, primarily, a way for the record companies to get a higher value than singles for customers (young teens) who could not afford to buy LPs.

3. LPs (Long Play)

   • These were the major works of many artists.
   • They were 12 inch diameter and played at 33 1/3 RPM
   • Playing time was usually around 20 minutes per side.

Answer 2

A "7 inch single" was a 7 inch diameter vinyl record, which ran at 45 rpm, with a single song on each side; the main 'A' side the 'B' side which normally had a less popular song.

Answer 3

I think the point being missed in the otherwise good answers so far comes from a later distinction.

Yes, the 'seven inch' was the format of a 'pop single', potentially though not necessarily shortened from a longer album track - but until the 80's no-one would have called that single a 'seven inch', they would have just called it 'a single', as opposed to 'an EP' [Extended Play] 'an album' or earlier 'an LP' [Long Player].

The 7" distinction comes from when people first started making 12" singles - longer cuts intended for the dance floor. Often they would drop for minutes into deconstructed sections not really suitable for home listening & certainly not for mainstream radio. A 12" single would still be played at 45rpm unlike an album; the reasoning being that using all the available space for a 10 minute track as opposed to the 22 minutes of an album at 33rpm, you could space the grooves wider & therefore cut more bass into it.

So the distinction initially came about to differentiate the two physical formats & incidentally their intended audiences.

Later distinctions have come about as more & more different 'mix' versions of tracks became popular, hence the rise of the term 'radio edit' - as for the past few years vinyl formats haven't been so popular, so a lot of those simple 'distinctions by physical size' have been blurred.

Answer 4

More typographically precise would be to write 7″ (using a double prime mark) instead of 7" (using a generic double quotation mark).

The OP's initial speculation about 7″ possibly meaning seven minutes seems to be rooted in a misunderstanding of one of the meanings of the double-prime mark. It does not refer to minutes, but rather to seconds:

• 7″ means seven inches or seven seconds.
• 7′ means seven feet or seven minutes.

(Minutes and seconds written this way can be measures of time or fractions of angular degrees.)

As other answers have mentioned, in the context of song titles, 7″ Version does not refer to time; it is just another way of writing Seven-Inch Version, meaning a version which was intended for release on a 7-inch single, a.k.a. "a 45".

As compared to the album version of a song, the 7″ version was often edited, sped up, remastered, or sometimes a completely different mix, especially in the 1980s.

You may find that compilation albums and radio stations nowadays often use album versions instead of the original hit single versions; it seems no one remembers or cares what version was actually the one you would hear on the radio at the time.

Answer 5

Historically, music was sold as either singles (one track often with another track on the "B-side"), EP with 3-6 songs, or LP or full album with 8-15 songs.

In vinyl records, LPs and later EPs used a 12” (300mm) diameter disc. Singles used a 7" (178mm) diameter disc. Notably, the 7" format was used on jukeboxes, and it was also liked by radio stations.

So the 7" version is the mix of the song intended for radio broadcast. It may have different fade-in/out, may be shortened for brevity, or had its dynamic range altered to suit radio and its listeners' less quiet environments (office, car, etc.)

The term 7" version became critical to distinguish from a new use of the 12” single format, for DJ's at nightclubs. They contain a variety of (often outlandish) long-cut remixes of the song, with differing styles or beats optimized for different dance music styles (and not radio). Often the 12" single was the only single release, and the 7" version is one of the tracks on it.