Hit songs are shorter and shorter due to influences of music streaming such as Spotify and Apple Music

In the past, digital distribution of songs, mainly download sales, became main streaming distribution with the spread of smartphones, music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music are bustling. It has been pointed out that the length of hit songs has been getting shorter year by year due to the influence of such music streaming service.

Is Spotify making songs shorter? - Quartz
https://qz.com/1519823/is-spotify-making-songs-shorter/

In September 2018, " I Love It " announced by Lily Pump and his charisma in hip-hop world as a teenage rapper, " I Love It " was released in Spotify of music streaming service 100 million 93 million or more, YouTube recorded more than 270 million views. The length of this song which continued to chart-in for 6 weeks to Billboard Hot 100 which is American single popularity chart is only 2 minutes 7 seconds. Lil · Pump also has a career in "Billboard Hot 100" with only 2 minutes and 4 seconds song " Gucci Gang ".

Kanye West & Lil Pump ft. Adele Givens - "I Love It" (Official Music Video) - YouTube


According to Quartz of overseas media, the average length of songs ranked in Billboard Hot 100 was 3 minutes 50 seconds in 2013, it decreased to about 3 minutes 30 seconds in 2018. For example, in the album " Good Kid, MAAD City " announced by Kendrick Lamar in 2012, the average song length is 5 minutes 37 seconds, and all songs are longer than 3 minutes 30 seconds. On the other hand, in the album " DAMN. " Announced in 2017, it turns out that the average length of the song is shortened to 3 minutes 57 seconds.

In addition, the phenomenon that the music becomes shorter can be seen not only in hip hop but also in other genres. The following graph compares albums of five songs released by country singer Jason Aldeen every two years from 2010. Although the number of tracks is the same as 15 tracks, the length of the album is gradually shorter It is understood that it is becoming. Compared to " My Kinda Party " released in 2010, the total replay time of " Rearview Town " released in 2018 seems to be shrunk by 18%.

The following graph shows the proportion of songs that have been charted in to Billboard Hot 100, whose song length is 2 minutes 30 seconds or less. From 1 to 2% until 2015, it has rapidly increased from 2016, and it reaches 6% in 2018.

Quartz points out that music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music are greatly affected by the songs getting shorter little by little. According to the industry report of 2018 by the American Recording Industry Association (PDF file) , 75% of American music revenue comes from music streaming service. In Spotify and Apple Music, once it is played, approximately $ 0.004 (about 0.44 yen) is paid to the right holder, and the amount is the same regardless of genre and length of the song. For that reason Quartz argues that songs are getting shorter as more compact and catchy songs are required to increase the number of streaming playbacks.

Once a gramophone could record only a few songs, hits from the 1920s to the 1950s were lengths that fits in 2 to 3 minutes in general. However, as the storage capacity of the media such as the LP board , cassette tape, and CD became larger, it became possible to record long songs, and along with that, the length of the song extended. "Modern times, the era of streaming, technology and economy, our favorite music is returning to a simple direction," Quartz says.