The Meaning of EP: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of EP? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the abbreviation EP, including its definition, usage, origin, and more!

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What does the abbreviation EP stand for?

According to Tune Core and Music Gateway, the abbreviation EP stands for extended play. This is a medium length album that has fewer songs than an LP or full-length album. An EP usually contains between four and six songs. This term was created back in the twentieth century and originally stood for extended play record. This was a type of vinyl that was played at a different speed (RPM) than standard play records SPs and LPs. An LP, or a long playing record, has more than eight tracks, while an EP has less. 

Nowadays, while many people do not buy vinyl records, they might buy a CD or digital EP. At the beginning of a person’s career in the music industry, they might begin by recording EPs because, first, it is less expensive than making a full album since it contains fewer minutes of music. Next, it gives them the opportunity to experiment without committing to a whole album. With a maximum of six songs, it feels like less to take on. Many indie and punk bands and musicians also release EPs for their fans. Making contemporary EPs for release on Spotify is not as time-consuming as a whole album, and these can gain popularity on social media like Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, and give others a sense of the type of musical style the artist creates.

EPs can be put on compact discs or a vinyl record, and EP albums can also be released as a digital download on places like iTunes and Spotify. While the sound quality will not be as good as listening to album samplers analog as an extended-play vinyl record, you can still get a sense of the genre of music. An LP record or LP album, as well as a studio album, has a much longer playing time than an EP, with a minimum of just four songs. This is a good middle ground between a single and an LP. Listen to music however you want, in a vinyl record format or through the digital sound of your phone speaker.

According to The Free Dictionary, the abbreviation EP can stand for much more than just extended play. This acronym has a plethora of other definitions. While these are still valid, they are less common and will be used less frequently. If you do decide to use one of these alternate meanings of the term EP, make sure that you provide a reader or listener with the proper context so that they can infer the meaning that you intend. 

  • Equi-Probable
  •  Earth Probe
  •  European Perspective
  •  Exclamation Point
  •  Elbow Pitch
  •  Engineering Procedure
  •  Emulator Program
  •  Educational Psychologist
  •  Epididymal Protein
  •  Eastern Pacific
  •  Equal Population (sectorization method)
  •  Elazul’s Pad (website)
  •  Electrophysiology
  •  Eye Piece (optics, astronomy)
  •  Executive Protection
  •  Education Plan
  •  Exchange Participant (International Association of Students in Economics and Management)
  •  ElitePage
  •  Electrical Power
  •  Electronic Protection
  •  End Point
  •  Extramural Programs (National Library of Medicine bureau)
  •  Entry Point
  •  En Passant (chess)
  •  Executive Protector (life insurance)
  •  Everyday People (song)
  •  Emergency Procedure
  •  Essential Power
  •  Evangelii Praecones (Latin)
  •  Edge Proxy (SIP)
  •  Erythropoeitic Porphyria
  •  Essential Pivot
  •  Elvis Presley
  •  Enhancement Predicted
  •  Ethylene Propylene
  •  Eastern Province (South Africa)
  •  Equivalent Personnel
  •  Exploration Plan
  •  Equipment Publication
  •  Ecole Polytechnique (Paris, France)
  •  Error Pattern
  •  Electrical Panel
  •  Enterprise Planning
  •  Equal Partition
  •  Electric Propulsion (space)
  •  Ebony Polished (piano manufacturing)
  •  Extraction Procedure (toxicity)
  •  Extended Protocol
  •  Edible Portion (weight)
  •  Economic Profit
  •  E-Prostanoid Receptors
  •  Equal Protection (law)
  •  Erythropoietin
  •  Explorer Platform
  •  Environmental Profile
  •  Employee Plans
  •  Electron Potential
  •  Ethane-Propane
  •  East Point (southwest Atlanta, GA, USA)
  •  End-Product
  •  Exército Português
  •  Elektro Phalasteeni (artist)
  •  Edge of Pavement (surveying)
  •  Electrum Piece (gaming)
  •  Extreme Pressure
  •  Externally Powered
  •  Entity Paradigm (band)
  •  Exclusively Pump (nursing mothers)
  •  Electronic Publication
  •  Electrophosphorescence
  •  Epileptic Psychosis (neurology)
  •  Engineering Practice
  •  European Patent
  •  Evolutionary Programming
  •  Electronic Payment (various companies)
  •  Exhibition Proofs (art)
  •  Earth Protectors
  •  Equator Principles
  •  Envelope (printing industry)
  •  Earning Potential
  •  Experimental Product
  •  Estimated Position
  •  Essais Périodiques (French: Periodic Testing)
  •  Emergency Power
  •  Electrical Parameter
  •  Exploration Permit
  •  Ecumenical Patriarch (religious)
  •  Electronic Publishing
  •  Enviro-Protect (Cameroon)
  •  Earth Prayer
  •  European Plan (hospitality industry)
  •  Edmonton Planet (website)
  •  Evaluation Package
  •  Energy Production
  •  Electric Piano
  •  Electrostatic Process
  •  Electrophoresis
  •  Earth Penetrator
  •  Engineering Proposal
  •  Emission Policy
  •  Eagle Project (various organizations)
  •  Expansion Pack (gaming)
  •  Ectopic Pregnancy
  •  Engineer Pamphlet (Army Corps of Engineers)
  •  Equine Piroplasmosis (tick-borne disease)
  •  Evening Prayer
  •  Explosion Proof
  •  Evoked Potential
  •  End Phenomena (Scientology)
  •  Emancipation Patent
  •  Evening Post (New Zealand newspaper)
  •  Educational Publication
  •  Early Position (poker)
  •  Predictive Orbital Element
  •  Executive Producer
  •  Error Propagation
  •  Engineering Phase
  •  End-Use Product (environment)
  •  Emergency Procurement (various locations)
  •  Entitled Parent
  •  European Parliament
  •  Electronic Printer
  •  Escalation Protocol (gaming)
  •  Epoxy Paint
  •  Electronic Prevention
  •  Enzootic Pneumonia (swine mycoplasmosis)
  •  Electronic Protection (previously ECCM)
  •  Enterprise Payments
  •  Early Production (Record)
  •  Equivalent Persons
  •  Emergency Pump
  •  External Publication
  •  Editorial Photographers
  •  Enlisted Personnel
  •  Extra Player (extra batter in slow pitch softball)
  •  Estes Park (Colorado, USA)
  •  El Paso (Texas)
  •  Environmental Performance (California)
  •  Training Effectiveness Evaluation Plan
  •  Electronic Principles
  •  Errorprint (assembly language ASM51 assembler control)
  •  Empresa Pública (Portugal)
  •  Extreme Power (retreat for churches in MN)
  •  Emergency Protection (nuclear reactors)
  •  Equipment Priority
  •  Electric Pump
  •  Earnings-to-Price (investments)
  •  Estate Planning
  •  Employment-to-Population Ratio
  •  European Pharmacopoeia
  •  Externship Prep
  •  Electro Plating
  •  Evaluation Plan
  •  Emergency Preparednesss/Preparation
  •  Earned Premium (insurance)
  •  Extended Plan
  •  ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) Project
  •  Electropolishing
  •  Emotional Processing
  •  Encroachment Partnering
  •  Experience Points (gaming)
  •  Evolutionary Psychology
  •  Economic Prosperity
  •  Elbow Pad
  •  Elite People
  •  Explosive Package
  •  Easy Pass

Overall, the acronym EP means extended play. This is a reference to a type of miscal album that has between four and six songs. This has more songs than a single, and less than an LP or studio album.

Sources:

  1. EP Meaning | The Free Dictionary
  2. What is the Difference Between a Single, an EP and an Album? | Tune Core
  3. What’s An EP, What Does EP Stand For & EP Meaning? | Music Gateway