Vinyl Record Sizes and Speeds: The Complete Guide

Vinyl records have been a source of joy for music enthusiasts for decades. Despite the significant developments in technology for music production over the years, vinyl has maintained a place within the music industry along side the newer digital formats.

Two distinctive aspects of vinyl records are the different record sizes and playing speeds that exist. Vinyl records are usually manufactured in three sizes: 7 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch diameters, while the playback speeds used are 33 RPM, 45 RPM and if you go back far enough 78 RPM.

In this guide, we’ll delve into how and why the various types of record sizes and vinyl playback speeds exist. In the process, we’ll explore how these differences can effect the music itself. Let’s dive in!

Different Vinyl Record Sizes 

There are three main vinyl record sizes: 7 inch (18cm), 10 inch (25cm) and 12 inch (30cm) which developed through the 20th century. 

12" Record

The 12 inch vinyl record is now the most commonly produced size of vinyl and has the longest playing time. Each side of a 12 inch record will hold around 20 minutes of stereo music at 33rpm, a physical limit that came to define the LP (long player) album through the second half of the 20th century as a thirty to forty minute experience. Although 12" vinyl was first developed in the 1930's as an alternative to the then dominant shellac records, it was incompatible with most existing players and it was only after the Second World War with the rise of US consumerism in the late 1940's that Colombia Records' Microgroove LP really took off.

7" Record

Whilst the 7 inch vinyl record, is now mostly associated with the classic 45 rpm single, it was originally launched as a direct rival to the 12" LP by fellow US company RCA Victor.  The 7 inch was cheaper to produce and could fit on older, existing record players. However, despite an improvement in audio quality over the old shellac records the capacity was limited compared to the 12" LP. In the end the 7 inch 45 would provide the perfect format for the Rock'n'Roll and Pop singles that provided the soundtrack to fifties and sixties America and spread across the globe. Its compact size also lead to the creation of the Jukebox. As a result, during the fifties and sixties, the 7" 45 was the most popular vinyl format.

10" Record

The 10 inch vinyl record is really a hangover from the old shellac 78s which were the same size but has predominantly been produced as an oddity or gimmick in more recent years.

5" Vinyl Records

Yes they do exist!  The five inch vinyl record is probably the most frequently found of freaky vinyl record sizes but there are examples of 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11 inch vinyl records out there for the vinyl collector to track down.  Smaller sizes were frequently aimed at the children's market, particularly in Japan where 3" records were produced to be played on special 8-Ban mini record players, but generally the more esoteric vinyl sizes were special editions dreamed up by record label marketing departments. At the other extreme discs up 16 inches in diameter were used to record and archive audio in the early 20th century.

Different Vinyl Record Speeds

There are three main vinyl record speeds:33 RPM, 45 RPM and 78 RPM where rpm stands for revolutions per minute. Let’s explore the differences between the three.

33 RPM

33 RPM or more accurately 33⅓ is the speed of the classic LP album as it offers a good balance between audio quality and playing time. It is also sometimes used for 7 inch EPs (extended play) to offer better value for money than the usual single with a longer playing time but sacrificing sound quality in the process.

45 RPM

The other widely used speed for vinyl records is 45 RPM. It's the speed of the classic 7 inch single; so much so that singles were frequently known as forty-fives at the height of their popularity in the sixties and seventies. During the 1970's we saw the development of the 12" single which utilised the larger diameter and increased 45rpm speed to provide higher audio quality.

78 RPM

78rpm was the standard speed for shellac records in the first half of the twentieth century but was dropped with the development of vinyl records. Record players continued to be sold with 78rpm settings until the mid 1970's enabling consumers to play their old 78s, however, eventually the 78 setting was dropped from all consumer record players and is now the preserve of vintage gramophones and specialist machines used by archivists.

Vinyl Record Size Chart

The chart below shows the playing time for different record sizes at both 33 RPM and 45 RPM.

Record Size	Minutes per Side at 33 RPM	Minutes per Side at 45 RPM
7-inch	7:00	5:00
10-inch	13:30	10:00
12-inch	19:30	14:30

How Do Different Play Speeds Affect the sound of Vinyl Records?

There are two important parameters that affect the sound quality of a record which are both set when the record is cut. Firstly the speed and secondly the gap between the grooves which is determined by the playing time. In simple terms the higher speed of 45rpm provides better sound quality than 33rpm as there is a longer section of the groove to hold each second of audio. This is analogous to the sample rate of digital audio. But it's not that simple! The outer edge of a 12" record travels at more than twice the speed of the runout groove near the label so in theory the audio quality is gradually decreasing as the record is playing.

Equally as important is the space between the grooves. The louder a source recording and the more bass the greater the lateral vibration of the cutting needle and hence the width of the groove itself. It is possble to extend the playing time by reducing the volume and attenuating the bass but this reduces the quality.

The 45rpm 12" single developed in the 70's would often have only one track per side and made the most of vinyl limitations to get the maximum dynamics and quality available. Ultimately the standard 12" LP album at 33rpm is a compromise between sound quality and the playing time.