Tom Moulton is the disco remixer commonly credited with creating the 12-inch single vinyl format.
Moulton was a pioneering disco producer and remixer whose work emphasized longer transitions, stronger sound, and space for DJs to blend records. His experiments helped establish the extended dance mix as a central part of disco’s production style.
He is also associated with the development of the breakdown section, a passage where much of the arrangement drops away before the rhythm builds again. That structure became especially useful in clubs, where dancers and DJs benefited from clearer rhythmic sections.
The wording “credited with” matters: the format’s development involved record pressing, label, and DJ culture as well as Moulton’s innovations. Walter Gibbons later made the first commercially available 12-inch single remix with Double Exposure’s “Ten Percent,” but Moulton remains the standard answer for the format’s creation.