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Coming from the question about distinguishing songs from tracks based on presence of vocals, I wonder if track is a term that can be used for every kind of musical work?
In the comments, Noach mi Frankfurt thinks that a track has to be recorded on a medium, while Unihedro thinks that the definition of the term has changed.
So, how do we define track?
Most literally, a 'track' is a section of a medium (tape, wax, vinyl) on which a physical (or magnetic) track has been created due to a recording being made or pressed there. Even during times when audio usually did correspond to a physical track, when people said 'track' they were often talking about the song/piece of audio, rather than the physical track.
Now that many media (e.g. mp3 files) don't have a physical track, the word 'track' seems to mean a recording of the type that would have been a track on a record (or other medium). So a two second mp3 file of someone laughing isn't a 'track' unless it has actually come from a sequence of other sound files arranged like an album; A song can usually be called a 'track', because we are used to songs being tracks on albums.
According to the definition a 'track' (when referring to music) is
one of several songs or pieces of music on a CD or other musical recording:
or
a part of a magnetic strip onto which sound can be recorded, with several tracks on one magnetic strip: When a piece of music is recorded, each instrument is recorded separately on a 24 or 48–track tape.
So a song is a song whether live, sheet music, cd, tape, vinyl. But a track is a song or piece of music when recorded onto a physical medium.
