Is music getting shorter and less complex thanks to TikTok and social media? Actually, it’s quite the opposite
Next time an older family member tells you music isn’t what it used to be, shine them with these statistics
- Has TikTok diminished the artistry in music in recent years?
- With the social media platform offering ‘clips’ of songs rather than ‘odysseys,’ perhaps music has gotten shorter and easier.
- You and I would be very wrong, however, and two examples demonstrate how music has gotten more complex.
If you’re of a certain age – okay, if you’re my age – you might have recently started investing more time into TikTok. It seems the answer to almost anything these days is on Reddit or TikTok.
From shopping for items to keeping up to speed with current events and live streams, perhaps most notable about the platform is how many musicians are cultivating their fan bases through direct-to-fan marketing as well as shining a light on some of those classics we loved back when we only had MSN Messenger… or Yahoo Messenger.
But there are some curmudgeons out there who think that more and more musicians are tailoring their music to the TikTok crowd, making it shorter and less complicated to become the next viral sensation: a flash in the pan, a one-hit wonder.
With that comes a lot of ‘old anorak’ talk, too, about how music, quote, ‘back in our day was meatier, lengthier and complex. These days it’s all just a clap, a whistle and a crowd hollering during a chorus”.
But Startle, who create and manages strategic audio-visual experiences to make retail and hospitality brands unforgettable, thought this to be an unfair assumption and set out to find out if music has gotten shorter and less complex (subtext: lazier) over the annals of time.
Sorry, old timers – we might be very wrong in our estimations...
The science part (Methodology)
Startle analysed 300 top-charting songs from the UK, selecting 50 from each decade between 1974 and 2024. They used Spotify to measure song length and manually counted total words, while ChatGPT was used to analyse lyrical complexity based on metrics like syllables, pronouns, and unique words.
A "Complexity Score" between 0 and 10 was then calculated for each decade using minmax normalisation, where 10 represents the highest complexity.
Has music gotten shorter and less complex in recent years?
Well, as it turns out, no.
Startle’s study found that the average song length in 2024 was 3 minutes and 51 seconds, which is a 20-second increase from the average length in 1974.
Eurovision fans might enjoy this example: 'Waterloo' by ABBA, considered a concise and memorable pop track, runs for a mere 2 minutes and 44 seconds. By contrast, 'Too Sweet' by Hozier (who happens to be playing Leeds and Reading this month) clocks in at 4 minutes and 11 seconds.
While some would argue that the rise of mumble rap in the 2010s surely demonstrates a lack of lyrical complexity, you would also be wrong about that. The study shows that modern songs are more lyrically complex and use more words and unique language than the most popular tracks from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.
To top it off, Startle found that while songs peaked in length in the ‘80s, they often featured fewer words and simpler structures than today's music.
Using the classic ‘90s hit, ‘U Can’t Touch This’ by MC Hammer, that song runs for 4 minutes and 16 seconds, with a total number of lyrics adding up to 270 words. Compare that to Danny Brown’s track, ‘Pneumonia,’ which lasts 3 minutes and 39 seconds; he spits a total of 360 words in his song, outpacing Hammer by 99 words per minute compared to the 63 per minute Hammer utters.
It shows that although some music has gotten shorter, it still manages to provide some dense lyrical content and is pretty much a testament to the adage “it’s not size that counts – it’s what you do with it.”
Looking for more music content? Check out the 15 most valuable records sold on Discogs last month, or take a look at the odds as to which festivals, if any, Oasis could perform at in 2026.