What Happened to the 45? The Record That Ran the Charts

Who decided, in the 1990s, that Americans should stop buying 45s? For four decades the seven-inch single was the record the Billboard Hot 100 was built to count, and then it quietly left the stores. RCA launched the 45 in 1949 at 65 cents. By 1973 the industry shipped 228 million singles a year and certified 70 gold singles, an all-time high. The usual story blames cassettes and compact discs. The trade press points elsewhere: a price held at 98 cents for sixteen years, a format split three ways, and labels that held many singles back from the stores. What this video covers: 1949 - How the wide-hole 45 beat Columbia in the battle of the speeds 1958 - The 98-cent single, and who took which cents 1973 - The peak year, measured in shipments and gold records 1989 - The year the cassette single passed the 45 1998 - Why Billboard rewrote the Hot 100 2003 - What the 99-cent download revealed about demand If you ever stacked 45s on a changer and waited for the next one to drop, tell us which record you played most. Subscribe for more histories of vanished audio formats. The 45 did not fade away; it was taken off the shelf. #45rpm #VinylSingle #45Single #RCAVictor #BillboardHot100 #CassetteSingle #RecordChanger #Jukebox #VinylRecords #RecordIndustryHistory Disclaimer: The voiceover used in this video was generated using AI.