Study shows music streaming services are shortening musical intros

Music streaming services aren’t just disrupting traditional record labels. It seems they’re changing the way songs are made, too. A new study from Hubert Léveillé Gauvin, a doctoral student in music theory at The Ohio State University, finds that songs are getting shorter instrumental introductions to try and accommodate the shortening attention span of listeners. And it seems the streaming services—such as Spotify and Pandora—are to blame.

Gauvin listened to and analyzed songs that made it into the top 10 from 1986 to 2015 and found “a dramatic shift away from long intros” and “a marked increase in tempo.” Songs back in the mid-80s had intros averaging over 20 seconds, now they’re down to five seconds on average so they immediately get to the lyrics. Tempo has also increased by around eight percent.

Gauvin theorizes that this is so musicians can attract the attention of listeners easily and not be skipped over, which can be easily done when using music streaming services. And it isn’t about earning from these songs but getting publicity from them.

“Artists and producers are shifting from having their songs as cultural products to having their songs as advertisements for themselves. Your product isn’t necessarily your song, it’s your personal brand,” Léveillé Gauvin said. “We’re operating in an ‘attention economy,’ and attention is scarce and valuable.”

Source: Ohio State University