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
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