Due to the huge influence of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, pop songs are becoming increasingly shorter. The average song duration on the Billboard Hot 100 dropped from 3 minutes and 50 seconds to 3 minutes and 30 seconds between 2013 and 2018.

In the Netherlands, the average song length on the Top 2019 list at the end of January was 3 minutes and 15 seconds. This is shorter than the average length of routes from the United States. On the Billboard Top 100, the average duration dropped from 3 minutes and 50 seconds to 3 minutes and 30 seconds between 2013 and 2018. A representative study from the Netherlands is still needed.

Accordingly advertisement The decrease in height is related to two factors. For example, music consumers’ attention spans have become shorter due to the offerings of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Secondly, financial resources play a major role. Now that artists no longer earn anything from physical sales via CDs or LPs, streaming has become an important source of income. You pay for every single stream, listening to a song for at least 30 seconds.

Since there is no payment for every second listened to, it is more attractive to produce short songs.

The revenue from the song is not large: the artist receives 0.0013 euros for each song listened to. One million streams earns the artist 1,300 euros. With these prices, it is important to get as many streams as possible. Jack $hirak asserts that the payment system is linked to creative choices. “As long as there’s no charge for every second listened to, it’s more attractive to produce short songs. Now, an hour-long song only produces the equivalent of one minute.

This not only shortens the conclusions, but also shortens the introductions. According to an Ohio State University study, intros to US charts became 78 percent shorter between 1986 and 2015. With today’s songs, it takes about 5 seconds before the “main voice” is heard, whereas in the 1980s it used to take 20 seconds.

It also seems that albums no longer have any added value. Artists don’t see any point in spending time on songs that aren’t hits. Anyone who wants to release an album now releases three singles to increase their popularity. Before the arrival of streaming, one song was enough to justify the production of an album.