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.