The basic parameters of the music single were established in the late 1800s, when the
gramophone record began to supersede
phonograph cylinders in commercial music. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of playback speeds (from 16
rpm to 78 rpm) and in several sizes (including 12
"). By around 1910, however, the 10-inch 78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format.