Lead single

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A lead single is the first single released by a musician or a band from a given album. The lead single is special compared to other album-derived singles, due to the fact that the lead single will often be released before the rest of the actual album, in order to give listeners a taste of what is yet to come. This is not always the case, however, but it tends to be common practice with North American popular music, particularly throughout the 1990s and the 2000s with album-oriented artists.

Lead singles are often the deciding factor for consumers when deciding whether or not to purchase a not-yet-released album. That is one of the reasons why an artist's decision on what song to use for the lead single is an important one, since a disappointing lead single can turn off many potential buyers, whereas a successful one can build up hype for the upcoming album and hopefully persuade consumers to purchase the album when it is released.