Musical hits from the last decade are increasingly shorter, study finds
A striking trend has been transforming the music industry over the last 20 years: hit songs are getting shorter.
A recent study by The Economist magazine analyzed 1,200 songs that reached number one on the music charts and revealed a significant drop in the average length of hits over time.
According to the data collected, in the 1990s the tracks reached their peak length, with an average of 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Currently, this value has dropped to 3 minutes and 30 seconds - the same level recorded in 1960. However, the similarity with that time does not mean a return to past preferences.
Previously, songs were short due to technological limitations: vinyl records had restrictions on recording time. As the decades passed and the creation of the cassette tape, it became possible to record longer songs, reaching 6 or 7 minutes. The entry of the digital era, however, reversed this trend, taking the average duration back to lower levels.
In addition to the total duration, another element of the musical structure also underwent drastic changes: the introductions. According to research carried out by Ohio University, in the 1980s, the average introduction to a song lasted 20 seconds. Now, that rate has dropped to just 5 seconds, with the songs going straight to the main point.
Agents of transformation in the music industry
According to experts, two central factors explain this transformation. The first is financial: on platforms like Spotify, the artist is paid for streams that exceed 30 seconds.
Long starts increase the risk of the listener skipping the track, while shorter songs increase the likelihood of being listened to multiple times, generating more plays and, consequently, more profit.
The second determining element is behavioral. The trend of consuming increasingly shorter content has been amplified by the TikTok phenomenon, in which excerpts of up to 15 seconds become soundtracks for viral videos.
As a result, many listeners only know a few seconds of a song - enough to memorize the chorus - without ever having heard the complete track. The result is that, when listening to the full version at a show, some of the content sounds completely unfamiliar and, in many cases, fans prefer the cut version of the hits, finding the extended version strange.
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Source: CNN