B-side

B-sides are songs released on the same record as a single to provide extra "value for money." These songs are normally songs which did not make it onto the album, either because they were not considered good enough or because they did not fit in with the overall sound of the album tracks, or remixes. Occasionally they are instrumental versions of the A-side. The term comes from when a vinyl record had only two songs, the "A-side" (the single) and the B-side (or flip side as you had to physically turn a record over to play the other side).

B-sides are different from unreleased material, outtakes and demos. Unreleased material, for obvious reasons, usually doesn't see the light of day. On rare occasions, particularly for reissues (although singer Moby's recent dvd, 18 B-Sides and DVD, featured 21 of them) these songs are in fact placed on albums, often with that description after it.

Outtakes are songs recorded for an album, but, whether for space, 'theme' or artistic purposes not included. They too occasionally appear on reissues of albums. Georgia group REM's album Dead Letter Office, for example, is largely a collection of outtakes from their previous albums.

Demos are early versions of songs which, like "unreleased material," seldom see the light of day. Demos of songs often have additional or alternative verses. Often times more demos then full songs are recorded, as an artist goes back and retools what is already present. Singers Moby, Prince, and Billy Corgan of now-defunct group Smashing Pumpkins are rumored to have large collections of demos in their personal collection.

On occasion, artists release albums of compiled B-sides and rare tracks, making it easier for fans to listen to new and unheard material from discontinued singles. Nirvana's Incesticide and The Smashing Pumpkins' Pisces Iscariot are two more recent examples.

The flip side of a single does not necessarily contain B-side material. A single containing two songs of normal quality is referred to as a "double A-side". In reference to this convention, Marvin the Paranoid Android released a "double B-side" single in 1981.