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Post by Panda on Sept 13, 2023 0:33:31 GMT 1
Is it just me or does the average length of a song seem to be getting shorter? It particularly seems to be the case when it comes to rap/grime tracks, most of which seem to be under 3 minutes now and in some cases, under 2, but it applies to other genres too. Is it a TikTok thing? Do songs have to be shorter now in order to grab increasingly short attention spans that spend hours scrolling through their phones? I'm not saying longer tracks don't exist anymore but I'm finding an ever increasing number of short tracks.
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Post by ManicKangaroo on Sept 13, 2023 2:30:01 GMT 1
It's definitely a tiktok thing
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Post by Whitneyfan on Sept 13, 2023 5:47:21 GMT 1
Some of them feel a lot longer, to be honest.
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Post by o on Sept 13, 2023 9:04:58 GMT 1
Post of the week Whitneyfan! I never listen to that sort of thing unless it comes on 6 music, or my son plays me something, so I wouldn't notice about that style of music. But this just makes me think of Yard Act and the Trenchcoat Museum and their 5 min jam at the end of the song, fab!
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 13, 2023 9:30:04 GMT 1
Not noticed myself, but then most of the short ones don't interest me
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Post by greendemon on Sept 13, 2023 9:32:22 GMT 1
I think MK is right that it's definitely influenced by TikTok. Can't remember who it was but ages ago I watched a YouTube video postulating that TikTok has been responsible for 'the death of the bridge' in songwriting because it's all about instant gratification these days.
Conversely though what I've been noticing across multiple genres is song length in general just seeming a lot more varied. Lots of short songs, yes, but also lots of long, meandering ones even in genres that aren't particularly known for it. 8-minute behemoths like that one song on the Wednesday album somehow don't surprise me in indie the way they used to. 2023 in particular also seems to have a bit of an epidemic of 'double' or extra-long albums going on but I think that fits with the idea that albums in general are becoming more 'art forms' in and of themselves rather than just a collection of tracks, hence even on shorter albums I've been noticing more interlude tracks and short little fillers etc.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 13, 2023 11:31:12 GMT 1
The only new music i listen to is my personal chart so that is all i an go off is my top 100
Under 2 minutes - 0 Under 2 minutes 30 seconds - 6 Between 2.30 and 3 minutes - 10 Over 3 minutes - 84
Longest song 6.38
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 13, 2023 21:31:22 GMT 1
The shortest track I have is this one:
But it's not really a song. Whereas this one is...
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 13, 2023 21:45:59 GMT 1
The shortest ever NM #1 happened in 2013.
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Post by Panda on Sept 13, 2023 22:00:22 GMT 1
200 songs on my August playlist on Spotify:
Under 2 minutes - 3 Under 2:30 - 16 Under 3 minutes - 53 Under 4 minutes - 160 Over 5 minutes - 12
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Post by greendemon on Sept 13, 2023 22:19:24 GMT 1
Of the 110 songs on my July-August final chart playlist, only 12 are 3 minutes or under, with the shortest being 1:58 (Corinne Bailey Rae) and the longest being 8:25 (Yard Act).
YouTube though, so inevitably some songs are padded out for purposes of the video - the Yard Act one is one of these though it is still quite a long song.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 13, 2023 23:59:03 GMT 1
I too am finding more recent tracks to be under 3 minutes long but I don't think it's a recent thing. I'm speculating it's probably been the case since streaming was included in the charts.
Sure TikTok has had an influence but could be a money thing too. In theory, you could generate more "plays" on a 2-minute track than a 4-minute track and land in the charts more easily.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 14, 2023 0:16:35 GMT 1
I'm surprised someone hasn't gamed the system yet by turning one song into 10 different tracks...sort of like a reverse Jethro Tull.
(Note to self: form band called Llut Orhtej to do this)
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Post by Panda on Sept 14, 2023 1:28:27 GMT 1
200 songs on my August playlist on Spotify: Under 2 minutes - 3 Under 2:30 - 16 Under 3 minutes - 53 Under 4 minutes - 160 Over 5 minutes - 12 As a comparison, this is the breakdown for my top 100 of 1992 chart that I posted a few months ago: Under 2 minutes - 0 Under 2:30 - 0 Under 3 minutes - 1 Under 4 minutes - 37 Over 5 minutes - 24
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on Sept 16, 2023 16:16:34 GMT 1
A song only has to be streamed for 30 seconds to attract revenue and also to count as a stream for chart purposes. In addition, in the US there is no limit on how many tracks can count towards an album "sale" from streams. In the UK a maximum of the 16 most streamed tracks count (or all tracks if 16 or less).
The end result has been to make individual tracks shorter while encouraging acts to record albums containing more tracks. It comes down to maximising revenue.
Both have largely contributed to a dearth of tracks (at least tracks in the charts) with lengthier musical intros. Songs now tend to get to the vocals and a hook much quicker.
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 18, 2023 14:45:17 GMT 1
I just looked at the playlist of my top 150 of 1982. The shortest song on it is "Margate" by Chas & Dave which comes in at 2 minutes 20 seconds. There are no other songs shorter than 2:30 but there are 12 songs in total that are less than 3 minutes long.
The longest track (from the version I picked) is Nightporter by Japan which is 6 mins 48 seconds. That's one of 3 songs over 6 minutes the others being "Black Coffee In Bed" by Squeeze and "I.G.Y" by Donald Fagen. I'd never even noticed those songs were so short or so long.
Compare that to my playlist of 2013 which was 257 songs so a lot longer but as well as Parry Gripp there are a 4 other songs under 2 minutes and 81 under 3 minutes.
So by 2013, when I was in full streaming mode, there were far more short songs than in 1982.
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Post by Mic1812 on Sept 19, 2023 13:59:13 GMT 1
The shortest song i have is something like 38 seconds long.
The Ladies Bras - Johnny Wisbey
and that charted
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Good Old Days
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Post by Good Old Days on Sept 19, 2023 22:45:35 GMT 1
My favourite "under 2 minutes" songs are Patricia Bredin - All (British debut on Eurovision) and "Kinky Boots".
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Sept 25, 2023 22:17:42 GMT 1
I remember making a mixtape for a friend in school and including C’Mon Everybody by Eddie Cochran, it was the late 80s and had been reissued for some reason and made the top 10. He asked me, in all seriousness, why I’d not included all of it.
I just checked and that’s 1m 56s.
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 26, 2023 11:32:55 GMT 1
Every year until 1969 there was at least one hit that was in my chart of the year (reached my top 10) that was under 2 minutes long. 1970 was the first year in which there was not: "Down The Dustpipe" by Status Quo clocks in at 2:02 that year as the shortest hit.
I've used this because that's where I have Spotify playlists I can sort by duration.
From my early chart of the year playlists, these are the shortest songs (one per year), their duration, and their peak in the NM chart. Surprising that 1956 has fewer of them then the year that follows. Elvis Presley first appears in 1956 and that seemed to have "triggered" short songs as he indeed appears on this list twice.
1956: Julius LaRosa - Lipstick And Candy And Rubbersole Shoes (1:53) (#1[1]) 1957: Elvis Presley - (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear (1:47) (#1[1]) 1958: Ruth Brown - This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' (1:48) (#2) 1959: Annette Funicello - Tall Paul (1:34) (#7) 1960: Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs - Stay (1:35) (#6) 1961: Buddy Holly - Baby I Don't Care (1:37) (#6) 1962: Elvis Presley - Follow That Dream (#2)/ Hayley Mills - Johnny Jingo (#6) - (both 1:39) 1963: Mike Berry & The Outlaws - Don't You Think It's Time (1:43) (#9) 1964: Millie Small - Sweet William (1:45) (#6) 1965: Jack Jones - The Race Is On (1:48) (#4) 1966: Herman's Hermits - A Must To Avoid (1:55) (#6) 1967: Alan Price Set - Simon Smith & His Amazing Dancing Bear (1:49) (#3) 1968: Ohio Express - Down At Lulu's (1:54) (#10) 1969: Ventures - Hawaii Five-O (1:54) (#6)
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