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It was the era of Tina Turner, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince, where a chart-topping song could easily exceed eight minutes in length and no one would bat an eye.
But while recording long songs was common in the 1980s, there’s no denying that pop songs have been getting shorter and shorter over the past 40 years.
So far this year, some of the biggest pop hits (including Charli XCX’s 365 and Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso) have been less than three minutes long.
In contrast, Prince’s Purple Rain, which was one of the most commercially successful songs of 1984, lasted a total of eight minutes and 41 seconds.
Earlier this week, music fans on X expressed their frustrations with the trend of artists releasing “TikTok-friendly” songs in hopes of them going viral.
Responding to the 28th anniversary of Celine Dion’s It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, user Irish X Shane raged: “The sooner this trend of releasing embarrassingly short pop songs to appease the TikTok generation ends and we get back to these seven and a half minute long hits the better.”
The post has racked up over 38,000 likes and hundreds of music fans were quick to agree with Shane’s sentiment.
One wrote: “When music was music! We had instruments and arrangements and vocals and bridges and repetitions! Wow… what a time!”
Another added: ‘Bring back the power ballad!’
Meanwhile, a third mused: “In a few years, no one will have the patience to listen to anything longer than 30 seconds. Radio stations now cut out full versions of songs and play the same ones over and over again.”
A fourth replied: “I don’t want seven minute songs, I just want songs that aren’t just a solid chorus (made solely to trend on TikTok) and then verses in between.”
Here FEMAIL reveals why pop songs are becoming shorter in the age of social media and streaming platforms.
Streaming Platform Algorithms
Pictured: Katy Perry dressed as Rosie the Riveter in the music video for Woman’s World, her first single in 10 years.
Earlier this month, Katy Perry returned to music after a 10-year hiatus and was accused of trying to make songs that would simply “go viral” on social media.
Following the release of Woman’s World (which clocks in at just two minutes and 44 seconds), TikTok users criticized the song, saying it “sounded robotic” and “AI-like.”
Upon its release on July 11, Woman’s World debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since disappeared from the charts entirely.
However, Katy and her team of songwriters may have shortened the song in hopes of reaching more listeners on TikTok and other streaming platforms.
In 2019, Mark Ronson complained about the effect that streaming platforms’ algorithms were having on the music industry at large.
Pictured: American-British DJ and producer Mark Ronson attends the Gucci Spring/Summer fashion show in Milan in June 2024
Speaking to The guardnorthThe DJ and producer explained: ‘All your songs have to be under 3:15 because if people don’t listen to them all the way through, they fall into this ‘incomplete listening’ ratio, which causes your Spotify rating to go down.
‘Everything has to be produced to sound as loud as possible coming out of an iPhone or as loud as possible coming out of a Spotify hits playlist – you have to make sure the kick drum and guitar have the same volume and presence throughout the whole damn song or you don’t stand a chance.’
According to research conducted by Musical machinery25 percent of listeners skip a song within the first five seconds.
However, the length of time a user listens to a song determines whether streaming platforms will include it in playlists for consumers to discover.
The impact of TikTok
Pictured: Stock image of TikTok, which was originally just a music-sharing app and changed its name to musical.ly in August 2018.
Although it changed its name from musical.ly to TikTok in August 2018, the video-sharing app still has close ties to the music industry.
Speaking to VICESwitched on Pop podcast host Charlie Harding explained: ‘TikTok has had a substantial impact on the way musicians write songs.
‘The platform is one of the most important forces for discovering and amplifying music, both new and old.’
As a result, shorter, catchier pop songs, such as Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso (2:55) and Charli XCX’s 365 (2:13), are said to be more likely to resonate with users of apps like TikTok and Instagram.
In an interview with BillboardKelly Clarkson’s producer Mitch Allan said: ‘A short song has charm because the person repeats it: plays it over and over again.’
Pictured: Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, known by the stage name ‘Djo’, shared this video after one of his little-known songs was ‘toked’.
As a result of its social media success, End of the Beginning jumped into the Top 10 of Billboard’s Global 200 and now has over 865 million streams.
Earlier this year, Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, known by the stage name ‘Djo’, experienced the full effect of going viral on TikTok with one of his shorter songs.
Her song End of the Beginning, which has already been streamed over 865 million times, appeared on her independent album Decide, released in September 2022.
However, it only started gaining popularity in March 2024, when the song, which is only 2:38 long, began being used on TikToks.
By January 2024, the single had been used in 18,000 videos, but increased to 2.2 million the following month.
While filming a video on the New York subway, the actor joked: “I’ve been touched.”
As a result of its social media success, End of the Beginning jumped into the Top 10 of Billboard’s Global 200.
Speaking to Rolling StoneJoe revealed: “I’m probably more confused than ever, but it’s really cool to see that something you’ve written affects people and they take it as their own and incorporate it into their own lives.”
You could say it was a perfect storm. End of the Beginning’s viral moment coincided with the conflict between TikTok and Universal Music, where the label removed all of its artists’ work from the platform. Djo is signed to AWAL.
Pressure to capture listeners’ attention immediately
Industry expert Charlie Harding has also said that musicians now face even greater pressure to capture the immediate attention of their listeners, meaning longer songs are becoming increasingly rare.
So far this year, some of pop’s biggest hits, including Charli XCX’s 365 and Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso (pictured), have been less than three minutes long.
Prince’s Purple Rain, one of the most commercially successful songs of 1984, lasted eight minutes and 41 seconds in total.
Elsewhere in her interview with VICE, she explained: ‘There were at least four major changes that came from TikTok: shorter songs, hooks at the beginning, vibe capture, and lo-fi aesthetics.
‘Songs that ‘capture vibes’ from older songs through interpolations and samples are also more likely to grab attention, because listeners are already familiar with the material.’
However, TikTok’s UK head of music operations David Mogendorff says the app now offers music fans a “new way to interact”.
According UCLA ResearchToday, the average length of a song is 197 seconds, while in the 1980s it was 242.
What’s more, album sales in the 1980s were arguably more important than individual singles, meaning that song length was not as critical to their commercial success.
Speaking to Business InsiderSony Music’s Andy McGrath said: ‘Our entire music catalogue is effectively tracked on a daily basis.
‘We are constantly monitoring the actions, reactions and trends that happen on TikTok.’
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