No longer living the single life.

Last week's announcement that high-street stalwart Woolworths was to discontinue selling CD singles was greeted by widespread lamentations that the final nail had been hammered into the format's coffin. But, with the physical albums market still in rude health, perhaps it is simply time to let the single thrive online while shining a spotlight on more profitable product

"Everyone," claimed Woolworths commercial director Jim Batchelor as he announced the retailer's decision to end the sale of physical singles, "remembers buying their first record at Woolworths."

Elaborate PR guff, you might think. But a straw poll of the Music Week office reveals Batchelor's observation to be surprisingly on the nail: who in the UK doesn't have the odd dusty memory of visiting the local Woolies to sift through the seven-inch singles of a Saturday afternoon?

It is unsurprising, then, that Woolworths' announcement last week that it is to stop the sale of physical singles from August - with the exception of the odd X Factor winner and one-off "event" releases - was met with such widespread dismay.

"The death knell was sounded for CD singles," claimed the Daily Mail; "a slump in CD singles," argued the Daily Mirror, as the press scented blood.

However, as Batchelor so rightly pointed out, who can remember the last time they actually bought a CD single?

"All of us are from the generation that grew up living and breathing singles. They were an essential part of growing up," says Woolworths trading manager for music and DVD Alan Hunt.