The Economics of Streaming Is Changing Pop Songs
8th October 2019
“Where the streets have no name”, the first song on u2’s blockbuster 1987 album, “Joshua Tree”, begins with 40 seconds of ambient noise. A guitar arpeggio enters and accelerates into the driving rhythm of the drums and bass that arrive around 1:10. Nearly two minutes pass before Bono breathes the first lyrics. Such leisurely intros are no more, says Justin Kalifowitz of Downtown Music Publishing, a rights manager. Streaming platforms like Spotify have reshaped the music business—and pop songs. The gist of it: songwriters now get to the good stuff sooner.
Well, if it means less ‘artiste’ crap from rockers, I’m fur it. They need to get back to the ‘it has a good beat and you can dance to it’ roots of rock & roll.
October 10th, 2019 at 10:08
Really not anything new. Jimi Hendrix (and others) complained that radio format demanded that songs be kept short so that more commercials could run. It’s pretty rare to hear the LP version of “In-a-Gadda-da-Vida” (Iron Butterfly, 1968) on a radio. The only times I’ve heard it played was when the station was about to change formats (and the DJ was pissed) or when the DJ was sick/hungover and needed 17 minutes of toilet time.
For a while, FM was home to “album rock” where the DJs were playing LP cuts while AM stations played more of the short “pop” cuts. Sirius XM would like people to believe they service that broader spectrum, but they really don’t. A lot of songs were also modified to be more mellow for the average listener. The Beatles “Let It Be” has some powerful guitar sound in the LP version, but it’s all muted in the single release.
The “average” music purchaser is a 12 year old girl. That’s why every “American Idol” type program desperately searches for the next Bieber or boy-band singer (cute, but non-threatening sexually). That also explains why hip-hop and pop (and even country) is all so crappy these days.