A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio airplay or significant commercial sales.
Historically, before the era of the dominance of recorded music, commercial sheet music sales of individual songs were similarly promoted and tracked as singles and albums are now. For example, in 1894, Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern released "The Little Lost Child", which sold more than a million copies nationwide based mainly on its success as an illustrated song, analogous to today's music videos.
Read more about Hit Single: Chart Hits, Sales Figures, Hit Singles Worldwide, Albums of Hit Singles
Famous quotes containing the words hit and/or single:
“You don’t hit a child when you want him to stop hitting. You don’t yell at a children to get them to stop yelling. Or spit at a child to indicate that he should not spit. Of course, you want children to know how to sympathize with others and to “know how it feels,” but you ... have to show them how to act—not how not to act.”
—Jeannette W. Galambos (20th century)
“An error the breadth of a single hair can lead one a thousand miles astray.”
—Chinese proverb.