Song duration

[musicartist99]

By listening to radio music by the age I am I was conditioned to think that 3-4 minutes is the "right" duration for a track.

Then, getting interested in music from other decades I started listening to popular songs from the 60's and I realized that most songs had a duration of about 2-3 minutes.

I think that tracks becoming shorter would be a logical thing to happen, given the internet and social media contributing to shorter attention spans and the availability of music on streaming platforms.

Did anyone noticed any trend in that direction: of songs durations getting shorter ?

I'm talking about mainstream music, the kind most people listen to.

[thecontrolcentre]

Pop songs don't seem to have intros any more ... so are possibly shorter(?)
I don't listen to very much mainstream music these days.

[osiris]

Definitely shorter. I remember when songs were 7 to 11 minutes long. Fine if it's good, otherwise it's what I call 'remixer diarrhea'. If you do mainstream stuff 3:30, dance stuff averages 5:30, but I have seen as short as 2:30.

[harryupbabble]

i like prog rock
7+ minutes (stairway to heaven)

i like punk rock
2+ minutes (i wanna be sedated)

[vurt]

say what you gotta say, however long that takes.

[ere2learn]

Why do a 4 minute song when you get paid twice for a 2 minute one.. /streaming

[mjolnir]

i have noticed a few popular mainstream tracks that are less than 3 minutes long.
personally, i feel inadequte unless i cross the 3 minute finish line.
if i don't make something long enough to be at least 3 minutes, then i feel like i'm just making ringtones. LOL

and actually, i might convert a bunch of unfinished tracks into super fancy ringtones for real.
a 1 minute fancy ringtone is a total embarrassment of a tune/song, but perhaps impressive for smartphone culture LOL
hello smartphone bluetooth folder

[CrystalWizard]

I listen to (and make) pieces that are 20+ mns long and pieces that are 1.5mns (i've also done audio logos that were 5-10 sec). I don't listen to modern mainstream product, oops, music, but, i would think it's still in the 3-5mn range depending on the "genre."

[eLawnMust]

Yes, because of short attention spans anything much over 8 seconds is probably wasted... I can listen to a QUALITY tune for a good 10-15 minutes but often nowadays a desktop dabbler doing a 15-20 minute much looping of patterns is sheer masturbation... Make your musical statement then get the hell out don't keep 'looping' it for a dopamine hit & cut out all the frickin' FX to cover a lack of ability>>>

[osiris]

Also if you do make a long song you can always do a 'radio edit;. Also if you think there's something you can add to a song do a Remix.

[funky lime]

if we're talking mainstream music (i.e. music as a consumer good)... a shorter song is likely going to be cheaper to produce, just by virtue of using less studio time and fewer man-hours (e.g. session musicians, writing teams, arrangement, orchestration, engineering, mastering, etc). so we could say oversaturation (there's too much music and not enough time to listen to it), or dwindling attention spans (thanks social media), but it might really just be about the bottom line... if your business is cranking out thousands of songs, then those savings will definitely add up.

[revvy]

2-3 seems norm now which does feel shorter than before.

That said, one of my faves, from 1986, weighs in at 1m 22s.

[donkey tugger]

That said, one of my faves, from 1986, weighs in at 1m 22s.

[musicartist99]

So it's actually a thing, songs durations getting shorter...

personally, i feel inadequte unless i cross the 3 minute finish line.
if i don't make something long enough to be at least 3 minutes, then i feel like i'm just making ringtones. LOL

That's exactly what happened to me too.

I felt I had to make the song duration over the 3 minutes mark when I was used to the songs on the radio.

Music making felt kind of "forced" by the time duration to attain.

Sometimes one idea felt exhausted, and to get to the "required" time I would start a new idea without realizing it, when it should have been a separate track.

Nowadays if I have an idea, I develop it naturally, and it rarely gets to the 3 minutes mark.

Music making feels more natural.

[VOODOO U]

Anything past 3 minutes is a waste of time.