Are short social media songs getting our attention span shorter? Or are 10 second videos positively affecting the music industry?

There is countless evidence that social media has been making the average user’s attention span shorter and shorter – some studies suggesting that the average duration of a viral video is 19.5 seconds, other studies suggest 8 seconds. This would mean that our attention span would be shorter than that of a goldfish – 8 seconds compared to 9 seconds for our fishy friends.

Social media platforms utilise short snappy videos and a “swipe” attitude, but it is up to the creator to grab the attention of viewers.

This being said, there are many positives and negatives to short-formatted videos – after all, music continues to evolve and has always evolved. For example, long song intros and outros aren’t being utilised as often as 20 years ago due to radio stations lacking in demand in the age of instant streaming. Song intros and outros would have usually been the time for the DJ to make a snappy joke and talk over the music, but they are a rarity in modern music due to artists needing to grab the listener’s attention in a short amount of time.

Many social media platforms pay content creators per view as opposed to per minute, meaning that creators are pushed towards shorter videos as it is more likely that viewers would play the song twice if it is shorter. This means that songs are progressively getting shorter, with most lacking intros, outros and bridges to keep the song under 3 minutes due to the monetary incentives of streaming new releases on social media. The concept of swiping on social media means that artists don’t have much time to pitch their music.

However, the listeners may enjoy longer songs once they’ve found a music artist they love in order to keep the warm feeling of amazing music running as long as possible! Some music is created to ensure that it starts with a hook to the listener but keeps the listener attentive throughout the duration of the music as it creates a loyal fanbase.

Despite these negative views, it is up to the listener what music they deem worthy of their time – a catchy or thought-provoking song is what the fan wants, regardless of the length. There is a variation of lengths of songs – and short songs are easier to remember! Many of the “negative” points above also have positive side e.g. potentially we are listening to more artists when their songs are shorter, it just depends on your outlook!

The only question is how will music evolve – short tunes, long songs or a mix???