Essentially nicknames for columns, allowing shorter queries and other conveniences.
\!h Basic column aliases
SELECT artist_name AS artists FROM artist; -- current_name AS new_name FROM table;
\!h More useful example:
SELECT CONCAT(artist_name, " recorded ", album_name) AS recording
FROM artist INNER JOIN album USING (artist_id)
ORDER BY recording;
-- groups information from two different tables and aliases it
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| recording |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kylie Minogue recorded Light Years |
| Miles Davis recorded In A Silent Way |
| Miles Davis recorded Live Around The World |
| New Order recorded Brotherhood |
| New Order recorded Power, Corruption & Lies |
| New Order recorded Retro - John McCready FAN |
| New Order recorded Retro - Miranda Sawyer POP |
| New Order recorded Retro - New Order / Bobby Gillespie LIVE |
| New Order recorded Substance (Disc 2) |
| New Order recorded Substance 1987 (Disc 1) |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds recorded Let Love In |
| The Rolling Stones recorded Exile On Main Street |
| The Stone Roses recorded Second Coming |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+