Steve PMHOver the recent years, vinyl records have made an impressive comeback from the verge of extinction thanks to the revived interest of younger generations in the analog format.
So whether you’re trying to be a part of the music industry or you’re just a music enthusiast looking to learn more about vinyl records, LP is one of the most important definitions you need to get familiar with.
Lucky for you, this article will help you with this exact mission. If you’re wondering “what is LP in music?”, keep reading as today I’m explaining all there is to know about LP records.
What Is an LP in Music?
In music, LP stands for Long Playing vinyl records. This term is often used to refer to 33 and one-third rpm microgroove vinyl records.
Despite their older format, you can find LP still being used today. A lot of people enjoy the analog sound quality of LP vinyl records —as opposed to the digital sound that came into popularity with the introduction of compact discs (CDs).
What is an LP Album?
As I mentioned above, LP stands for Long Playing. It can also be short for Long Play and Long Player.
Whatever you choose to call it, the term LP can be used when talking about albums to define the length of the product a musician releases. As such, an LP album is longer than a single as well as longer than an EP album (more on this later).
Like I explained earlier, LP originally referred to longer-length vinyl records. While that’s still the case, the term LP found a new use in the digital era for describing CDs and downloads.
But as far as vinyl goes, LP albums come in 12-inch records where tracks are placed on both faces because each side has a limited amount of storage space for songs.
What Does LP Mean?
Now that you have a better idea of what LP is in music and what an LP album is, I think you’re ready to dive a bit deeper into the meaning of the term LP between the past and present.
Back in the day, vinyl records were the main way for people to listen to music. These records existed way before online streaming, digital downloads, CDs, and even tapes.
The terms LP and EP (Extended Play) were then used to describe the different types of music released on vinyl records.
A record designated as “LP” means that the vinyl held a full album’s worth of music, while an EP record referred to any vinyl that held more music than a single but less than an album in terms of length and content.
As you’ll read below, an LP vinyl record has a capacity of 40 minutes of music on each face, which gives you a total of 80 minutes per record. Unfortunately, the quality of the sound would be so bad if you use up the entire space, which forced artists to release less music per side.
The limited space wanted to ensure good sound quality on LP records is one of the reasons why the 60s and 70s had so many amazing albums. Musicians had to carefully think about which tracks to record, the placement order of each track, and of course, the length of the track.
Although you can still find people buying CDs and vinyl records nowadays, online streaming is the new standard thanks to the easier distribution on a much broader scale and the virtually non-existent recording limitations.
Luckily, the term “LP”, as well as “EP”, has found a spot in the modern music world so we may never forget where it all started.
Today, when an artist releases an LP, it means they have an album coming out. When they release an EP, it means they have half an album coming out.
History of LP Records
As part of understanding the impact of LP records on the music industry, allow me to take you for a trip back in time.
First Introduction
The world’s earliest encounter with LP vinyl records was back in 1930 when RCA Victor introduced the first commercially available vinyl long-playing record. They marketed LPs under the name “Program Transcription” discs.
Pressed on a flexible plastic disc 12 inches in diameter, these LP records were designed for playback at 33 and one-third rpm. In The Fabulous Photograph by Roland Gelatt, the author reports that RCA Victor’s first launch of a long-play disc failed on a commercial level due to multiple reasons — the Great Depression being on top of the list. Customer wariness and the lack of affordable playback equipment during that period caused this issue.
What kept the spark of LP records going is the lower playback noise level of vinyl compared to shellac.
As such, when shellac supplies became more and more limited during and after World War II, pressing 78 rpm records in vinyl instead of shellac was a popular solution. The 6-minute 12-inch (30 cm) / 78 rpm records produced by V-Disc for distribution to US troops in World War II is a common example.
Development
Starting from 1939, Columbia Records continued developing the LP vinyl technology. A team led by Dr. Peter Goldmark invested a great deal of effort and time to tackle the issues of recording and playing back narrow grooves and develop an economical, reliable consumer playback system.
9 years later in 1948, Columbia Records introduced the revolutionary 12-inch (30 cm) Long Play (LP) / 33 and one-third rpm microgroove vinyl record at a grand press conference in New York.
Competition
The competition between Columbia Records and RCA Victor led to the latter’s introduction of the 7-inch (17.5 cm) / 45 rpm Extended Play (EP) — intended to be a competing vinyl format.
During the period from 1948 to 1950, the market was either version’s game. It was unclear which of the two formats is the favorite among consumers and record companies.
Eventually, the 12-inch (30 cm) / 33 and one-third rpm LP vinyl record came out of the “War of the Speeds” as the standard format for musical albums, and the 7-inch (17.5 cm) / 45 rpm EP record came out as the go-to version for shorter duration releases, typically holding one song on each side.
Adaptation
Fast forward to 1955, LPs are now facing the introduction of high-quality but costly stereo reel-to-reel tapes and the consequent increase of public interest in stereo sound.
As a result, LP records had to undergo intense development to allow for recording stereo sound on the 12-inch (30 cm) / 33 and one-third rpm vinyl. Towards the end of 1957, a system of cutting and playing back stereo was launched and generally accepted by the industry.
Consumer-wise, acceptance of stereo LPs was slow- but sure-paced during the early 1960s. Soon after, companies widely discontinued the production of conventional monaural LP records and playback equipment by 1968.
Similarly, when the quadraphonic (four-channel) reel-to-reel tapes and 8-track tape cartridges were introduced in 1970 LPs had to step up their game, so quadraphonic vinyl records were launched into the market in 1972 after some effort in the development department.
At first, consumer interest was promising, but quadraphonic LP records failed in the end due to the incompatibility between the three competing formats: SQ, QS, and CD-4 formats. Companies seized production of quadraphonic LPs after 1975.
Advantages of an LP Record
You may be thinking why would anyone want to own an LP vinyl record in our age of digitization, well, here are a few reasons:
- LP vinyls are the ultimate physical format — you know how they say ‘go big or go home’? I think that when it comes to owning a physical copy of your favorite tracks, owning an LP vinyl record is “going big”. There’s just something about that large disc that’s incomparable with CDs or flash drives. Perhaps it’s the artwork on the cover, the musty smell, or the act of flipping the disc from one side to the other to continue listening.
- Vinyl records sound unique — I’m aware it sounds cliché, but there’s got to be some truth to it if vinyl enthusiasts often talk about it. I’m referring to the unique warmth of sound produced by vinyl. This particular aspect of the vinyl sound is largely debatable, especially with so many factors to consider, but one thing is for sure: there’s a significant dynamic factor that drives people when they talk about this “warmth”. For them, listening through the “real” distortions in the vinyl beats any sound from a digital platform.
- Some vinyl records are mastered with more dynamics compared to their digital or CD counterparts.
- LP vinyl records often come with digital download cards, so you can enjoy whichever format whenever you feel like it. I do wish more of them offered lossless formats, but most of the included MP3 files already sound better than streaming on digital platforms.
- LP vinyl records demand your attention — for this one, I’m going to quote the CEO and Founder of Twibble, Marc Hoag, who purchased a new turntable as a way to disconnect from the world: “I didn’t buy a record player just for its nostalgia or audio quality. While arguably important and legitimate reasons, without more, they were important, necessary even, but not sufficient. I bought it for something else entirely. I bought it because it enabled me to disconnect. From everything. And to just listen to music and do nothing else at all.”
Disadvantages of an LP Record
Owning an LP vinyl record does have a few limitations, which include:
- Vinyl records are very prone to damage, which is why they require a lot of care to preserve their quality of sound. This involves a certain level of knowledge when it comes to storage, routine cleaning, and turntable maintenance tasks.
- There’s a chance you’ll encounter some surface noise in the form of pops, clicks, and minor hiss. Most of this noise is tamable through care and cleaning.
- Collecting LP vinyl records can be quite expensive.
How Many Tracks Can an LP Record Hold?
An LP record can hold 40 minutes of music on each side, offering a total of 80 minutes of music per record. However, it’s rare to find 80-minutes’ worth of music on LP vinyl records because the quality of sound tends to significantly drop beyond a certain capacity.
That being said, LP records have varying track numbers and playtimes, but the average is about 10 to 12 tracks for 30 to 50 minutes.
Are LP Records Worth A Lot of Money?
LP records can be quite valuable, and as a rule of thumb, the rarer the record, the more money it’s worth. This is why you should never give out your LP vinyl record for free — you just might be sitting on a treasure without realizing it!
Here are some LP records to keep an eye out for if you’re looking to cash in:
- The Beatles, Yesterday and Today (1966)
- Mariah Carey: “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
- Village People: “YMCA”
- Celine Dion: “My Heart Will Go On”
- Baccara: “Yes Sir I Can Boogie”
- USA for Africa: “We Are the World”
- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: “You’re the One That I Want”
- Scorpions: “Wind of Change”
- Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman: “Time to Say Goodbye”
- The Beatles: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
Where Can You Sell an LP Record?
If you got your hands on an LP vinyl record and you’re looking to sell it, you can try record shops and online platforms. A smart move would be looking for shops that sell records in your genre and get your LP in these stores.
You should probably focus your search on brick-and-mortar stores. Most of these places accept SOR (Sale or Return) deals.
What’s the Difference between LP and EP?
I’ve mentioned the term “EP” a few times throughout the article, so it’s time to give you a brief breakdown of what it means so you can better understand how it’s different from LP records.
For starters, the term “EP” is used to refer to Extended Play vinyl records. An EP record contains more music than a single but still less than a full-length album (which is another description for an LP record), which falls somewhere between 3 to 5 tracks.
The fact that it’s called “extended play” is part of the reason why people often confuse EP and LP. Long-playing records were designed to “extend” beyond regular play, while EP records were meant to “extend” beyond a single.
As such, EP records are different from the standardized 78 rpm and LP records. Initially, they were especially popular among indie and punk bands, but their popularity among artists of various genres has massively grown over the years.
While the traditional use of the term “EP” is no longer common since vinyl records and tapes have been dethroned by streaming, it’s still used but in a newer context. When a musician releases an EP, it means they have half an album coming out.
Releasing an EP album could be due to financial reasons, testing out different tracks, or filling gaps in the artist’s agenda.
What’s the Difference between LP and Album?
The term “album” was coined when the 78rpm record was first introduced. The early versions of these popular records could hold a maximum of about 3 minutes of music per side. However, towards the 1930s record longer works were released in sleeves with a cardboard or paper cover, also known as “record albums”.
Time skip to today and the term “album” now refers to a collection of songs that consists of at least 10 tracks with a playtime of around 45 mins. Still, there are exceptions to the standard number and length of tracks as some albums are shorter or longer.
When an artist is making an album, their record label will have an input in every step along the way, which sometimes includes the creative process as well. Not to mention, it’s very expensive to produce an entire album and market it, so self-releasing is often off the table.
What’s the Difference between LP and Mixtape?
If you’re new to the music scene, you may confuse the term “mixtape” with any of the other terms I discussed today, so I want to shed some light on its meaning just in case.
A mixtape refers to a re-recording of a bunch of different songs onto a tape format (such as cassettes or reel-to-reel tapes) to give to a friend or an agent. It was popularized by the rap community, but you can find mixtapes across all genres of music.
Think of mixtapes as the lawless version of all records I’ve talked about so far. Here, the artist gets to completely control what goes on that mixtape with no restriction on playtime or theme.
