🎵 Are songs really getting shorter — and is streaming to blame? The answer: yes… but it’s more complicated than that. According to Chartmetric's 2024 Year In Music report, the average Spotify charting song last year clocked in around 3 minutes, nearly 30 seconds shorter than in 2019. While it’s easy to point to short-form content and streaming economics as the culprits, history tells a more nuanced story. 🕰️ Short songs aren’t new - In the early 1900s, 78 rpm records physically limited songs to 2–3 minutes. Tracks like “Blue Moon” and “Days of Wine and Roses” (just 2:05!) dominated the charts long before TikTok existed. 📀 Technology reshaped creativity - The rise of LPs, cassettes, and CDs in the '70s–'90s gave artists more room to experiment. Songs lengthened. Storytelling evolved. Formats like verse-chorus-bridge took hold. George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” (6:30) exemplified the CD era’s expansive possibilities. 🎧 Today’s shifts are multifactorial - From 2018 to 2024, songs across pop, hip-hop, Latin, and dance shrank by at least 17 seconds. Hip-hop and Latin saw the steepest drop — 29 seconds on average. But it’s not just attention spans or streaming thresholds, it’s also genre norms (short, catchy structures in hip-hop/pop) and viral-friendly music creation. From shellac discs to streaming data, the form and function of songs continue to evolve. Shorter doesn’t mean lesser — it just reflects the times. Read the full article at How Music Charts: https://lnkd.in/egUzw6Hn #musicindustry #musictech #musicbusiness #streaming
I would add that is a perfect blend of duration, nostalgia and a credible storyteller. There´s so much Bee Gees on "Birds of a feather" hook, so much A-ha in "Blinding lights", so much of "I will survive" in "Flowers" by Miley C. You can do it in your bedroom, you can have your #AI tools, but you have to know a lot to create that kind of products 🎧 Great articule by Chartmetric and Sonia Chien !
There are no longer songs. Only viral tracks that generate revenues. No more fellings envolved.
Music has traditionally been a storytelling tool—for example, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven (8:30). Now, it’s becoming more of a dopamine-releasing tool.
Things can be done differently. This band's average song length has increased with every release. Latest record's average was 12+ minutes (743 seconds). They don't release "radio edits". They take a minimum of 5 years between records and the last one took 13 years to produce. They still sell out arenas whenever they decide to tour. They don't wait for a new record to tour. There is no formula for success.
Agreed wholeheartedly with Oli, so I ask: How would you change the medium? We've enjoyed MP3's ride to the top of the audio medium, after decades it is time to ask: What's next? What features will we wish upon a future medium? File format space for attribution enhancement? How might the medium's format help the creator get paid? And so on. It is productive conceptual thinking, so I ask ... what's ahead for the audio medium? What message will it offer?
Meanwhile, the cover song community is holding strong at 299 seconds 😃
Would love to use this chart for a Social Media video on this topic!
"The medium is the message" Marshall McLuhan. True then and true today.
It’s because the wrong teaching of wrighting music & it’s content is growing to rapidly there’s no real debate People lack comprehension skills & compassion and empathy for others with in music development
Creative Rapper and Songwriter with Skills in Communication
1moNow this is interesting