This page concentrates on official small format releases [10"s, 12"s and CD singles / EPs] by The Rolling Stones which offer exclusive and interesting artworks unavailable on the 7" format.
By the end of the 70's, the disco wave had made a must of the 12" maxi single format [enabling a greater sound and extended remixes] among DJs and collectors, but this market really boomed in the early 80's, when virtually any new - studio recorded - single would also be released on 12", along with its generally boring dub version or other mixes. 12" PS artwork would generally be the same as for their 7" counterpart, but not always, and some were no extension of an existing 7" format [eg: 'Too Much Blood' in the US].
If some extended versions [eg: 'Miss You', 'One Hit (To The Body)'] were successful and a work of art in themselves, most of the Rolling Stones remixes, especially in the 90's, failed to bring a new life for the original track, burying it instead. Although these mixes hardly made it on the dance floor, the habit lasted until 1998, generating many promo-only releases of all kinds, both on 12"s [less and less care was brought for artworks] and CDs.
The
first commercial 5" CD single appeared in 1989 [with 'Mixed Emotions']. Simultaneously, a 3" CD format saw the light of the day, lasting a few years in Europe and Japan.
The 5" CD 2-track single in cardboard sleeve eventually became a standard in many European countries, as its EP version in jewel box [soon in slim case] containing up to 6 tracks [a way to add bonus tracks or/and remixes]. As the record collectors market was mature, record companies, especially in the UK, issued many CD singles in special packagings and limited editions all along the 90's.
Some artworks - like the ones for 'Wild Horses' [live] or 'Like A Rolling Stone' - were only to be found on CDS.
During the 2000's, computer and home made counterfeits / fakes popped up on Ebay while record labels less and less cared for the manufacturing of their own releases. The promos market got soon drowned, collectors and dealers lost. Consequently, titled-only sleeves - or stickered carboard sleeves - used for promo silver CDS have been voluntarily omitted here due to
their dubious origin or lack of interest.
As of today, internet has definitely changed the face of the record market which mainly survives through the production of collectors items and endless luxuous reissues [eg: 4 box sets of CD singles imitating their original 7"s packages], but can still offer a few vinyl only releases of interest [10"s from the 2010's].