Claim: Popular songs nowadays are shorter because of TikTok.

Question

Yes, popular songs are generally getting shorter, and part of that is due to platforms like TikTok and streaming services driving the change. According to Billboard, TikTok and streaming “fragmentary moments” favour shorter tracks. The Washington Times reported that many artists are adapting to algorithms by trimming intros or making songs around the 2½-3 minute mark. However, it isn’t only TikTok: analyses say the trend also reflects changes in songwriting, listener habits, and how streaming counts are measured. So the claim is broadly correct: songs are shorter and TikTok plays a role, but it isn’t the sole cause.

Answer 1

I find this claim to be based more so on the opinion of an individual. While many pop songs are getting used frequently on various social media apps like TikTok, I don't believe the length of the song is due to these apps affecting attention spans I think that it's the music artist's choice on how they want the album/songs to appear. In the article https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/apr/14/songs-getting-shorter-thanks-part-spotify-tiktok-algorithms/ It states how music artists songs are becoming shorter and shorter, of 3 minutes or less, and how artists are using the beginning of a song as a "hook" to maintain a listener's attention. While this style of song, is extremely popular and useful for various TikTok audios, I find that pop songs tend to be more of a mixed bag of genres and their populartiy, that it tends to be based solely on the artist(s) that created the song in any specific way.

Answer 2

This claim is true. Chartmetric’s 2024 Year in Music Report found that “the average Spotify charting song was around 3 minutes long—nearly 15 seconds shorter than in 2023 and 30 seconds shorter than in 2019.” This change in song length isn’t an imagined phenomenon, but a fact, and the widespread consumption of short-form media is the likely reason why. 

One song often mentioned when discussing the shortening of song lengths is Lil Yachty’s “Poland”, an 83-second-long song with an appealing hook that allowed the song to go viral quickly. Professor Andrew Mall, studying music and media at Northeastern University, believes that “Artists, especially new young artists, are simply just creating hooks and trying to circulate those on TikTok.” If this is true, it means that not only are songs being made shorter in length, but that they’re elaborately crafted around the demands of streaming services.

TikTok is a good platform to bring up, specifically, as its format demands that only a small part of the song is catchy, allowing artists to cut corners outside of these few critical seconds. Derek von Krogh, musician and producer who has worked with NENA, Samy Deluxe, and Silbermond, states that “Today’s music must be TikTok-friendly. It needs a key moment in the first 15 seconds that is so spectacular that it can act as a trailer for the whole song”. When social media users offer free advertising through the creation of content using just snippets of songs, the inevitable result is that songs following this model will generate the most revenue. 

Sources:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/apr/14/songs-getting-shorter-thanks-part-spotify-tiktok-algorithms/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pop-songs-shorter-than-ever/

https://hmc.chartmetric.com/shorter-songs-trend-streaming-history/

https://blog.recordjet.com/en/the-revolution-of-pop-songs-how-streaming-and-social-media-are-revolutionizing-music-production/