iTunes have strict criteria on what they class as a single, and what they class as an EP. This criteria will determine how your release is displayed on the iTunes store. Taking this into consideration, it can be worth keeping this in mind when deciding on how many tracks you want to include on your release.
Single
iTunes Definition:
1 to 3 tracks, where each track has a duration of less than 10 minutes. All releases that meet the above criteria will have their release title appended by ‘- Single’ when displaying on iTunes.
Note that only the release title and not the track title is appended by ‘- Single’ and the term ‘Single’ will always display in English.
EP
iTunes Definition:
• 1-3 tracks, if one track is 10 minutes or longer and the total running time is 30 minutes or less.
• 4-6 tracks, with a total running time of 30 minutes or less.
All releases that meet the above criteria will have their release title appending by ‘- EP’ when displaying on iTunes unless the term ‘EP’ is already part of the title.
Example: ‘My Release – EP’
Example: ‘The Slim Shady EP
As with the ‘Single’ reference, the term ‘EP’ will always display in English. When releasing mixed media bundles (audio and video), videos are not counted towards the track total in the case of both singles and EPs.