What exactly is an "outtake"?

From the Cambridge Dictionary :

a short part of a film or television programme or music recording that was removed and not included, usually because it contains mistakes:

This is consistent with my understanding. ALL unused session takes are outtakes. Some of those outtakes are alternate takes and some are unreleased songs. Outtake is the general term.

 

Your opinion is fine but your definition is (partly) wrong.

 

This.

 

A song recorded during album sessions, but ultimately not included on said album.

 

Stones did the same thing for the Exile and Some Girls reissues, to great results imo. Part outtake-part new song

 

For me, an outtake is without any doubt a song that was worked on for inclusion on an album but was left off.

 

It can't be both. You've got to choose!

 

An alternate take is still an outtake.

 

I very much enjoyed "Plundered My Soul." But, in my opinion, that's *not* an outtake; it's a new song (and, in my opinion, it's the best new Stones song since "Mixed Emotions").

 

An outtake to me is a "finished", unused, version of a song. An "alternate" version is if it was done acoustically, or with an orchestra, or radically different from the officially released version.

 

I agree with the Cambridge Dictionary.

 

They're also outtakes but of a less specific nature (meaning, as opposed to an outtake of a known, officially released song). They are simply "takes" during a given studio time that never developed into a complete song, or *did* but never officially released. The term, "outtakes" is like an umbrella term for either.

 

What do you call an "unfinished", unused, version of a song?

 

An Outtake--They are what they put on Box Sets to get you to spend more $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

a different version be it big or small...

 

...an "outtake". Again and very simple...one overall term used for unused recorded studio material in any capacity.

 

...or something that never became "a version".

 

Indeed! : )

 

..now NO ONE can argue with *that* definition!!

 

This. A song intended for an album but ultimately left off.

Not really, is it? Because if the song is on the album it can't be an "outtake". But an alternative version of a released song.

 

These seem like good, clear words and definitions. Make it so!

 

May we assume that the songs that are not outtakes are intakes?

 

Same.

And the second message on this thread.

Case closed.

 

The Beatles Anthology invented a new word 'outfake' When a lot of different takes are edited together to make new version.

 

I like the way they documented Bob Dylan's Cutting Edge box set. I don't remember anything being called an outtake. Everything was a numbered take, with additional clarifying information. Like "Take 7 (2/14/1966) Complete", or "Take 1 (3/10/1966) Rehearsal and finished track. Released on Blonde on Blonde, 1966."

I think "outtake" is just a lazy way to refer to something that was recorded but not on the official release. Details need to be added to make it a useful annotation.