Is music getting faster? Listen to 6 Minute English - YouTube
Neil: Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute English,
I'm Neil.
Rob: And hello, I'm Rob.
Neil: Today we're discussing music
and the idea that songs are
becoming faster. What
music do you like, Rob?
Rob: Oh me? I like rock music. It has good
vocals and it's loud! How about you, Neil?
Neil: Well, I like anything and
I prefer streaming my music actually.
No old-fashioned CDs to buy
and load up - it's easier to play
and you can play it anywhere!
And streaming is where
you listen or watch music or
videos directly from the internet
as a continuous stream.
Rob: Did you know that some people
believe that streaming music online
is actually changing
the songs people write?
And it might be leading
to songs getting faster.
Neil: Well, that's what we're discussing
today. Let's hope it doesn't
happen to this programme,
otherwise we might become
Three Minute English!
But before it does, let's get on with our
question for everyone to answer.
In 2017 Luis Fonsi's summer hit
Despacito officially became
the most streamed song of all time.
Do you know approximately,
how many times it was
streamed? Was it: a) 1.6 billion times,
b) 3.6 billion times,
or c) 4.6 billion times?
Rob: I know the song was popular but
4.6 billion sounds too big - so I'll go
for a) 1.6 billion.
Neil: OK. Well, we'll find out later in
the programme. But now
back to our discussion
about how music producers are adapting
their songs for modern technology.
Researchers have found long
instrumental introductions to
pop songs have become almost extinct.
Rob: Of course the aim of many
pop songs is to be enjoyed by many -
to be popular - but
they also need to be a
commercial success - they need
to make money.
Neil: Brendan Williams, a music producer
and professor of music technology
can explain what he thinks influences
the songs. Here he is speaking on BBC
Radio 4's You and Yours programme...
Brendan Williams: I think that, you know,
one of the things that's driving this, there
are a number of things. They're all radio,
they're all singles designed
for radio playlists.
Radio playlists are extremely important
factors in judging the success
of a track and obviously
do feed into the kind of
commercial success of a track.
Neil: So, he mentions that radio playlists
are important factors. A playlist is a list
of songs that a radio station plans to play.
And he says that radio playlists affect the
commercial success of a song.
Rob: By the way he called a song a track -
that's a recorded piece of music.
And notice how he used the word
driving which means having a strong
influence. So getting a song played
on the radio is important and
it has to be made in a way that will suit
the radio station's playlist.
Neil: Now, we know there are
thousands of songs out there
to listen to - and plenty
of ways to listen to them - so how
can record companies get someone
to listen to their particular song?
Rob: Well, have a listen to
Brendan Williams again to see
what he thinks...
Brendan Williams: ... But then there's
the influence of streaming services
like Spotify,
where if a track isn't played for
at least 30 seconds then it
doesn't register a play
and Spotify...
Presenter: And if we don't hear the vocals
then we might not carry on listening.
Is that the theory?
Brendan Williams: Absolutely, yeah, yeah.
That's the theory - it's to get through - I
guess to get into the meat of the song to
hear the lyrical content and get through to
that first chorus.
Rob: Well, it seems songs no longer have
an 'intro' - the instrumental piece of music
that's played before the singing begins. In
the old days, radio DJs - disc jockeys who
played the records - loved to talk
over that bit! Now we need
to get to the lyrical content
- that's the lyrics or the words of
the song - as soon as possible.
Neil: So, the theory, or idea, is to present
listeners with vocals and
a chorus more quickly,
as it will make them want
to continue listening!
That's because if a song isn't streamed
for more than 30 seconds, it
doesn't register a play - it doesn't
get measured or recorded
as a play - so it doesn't make money.
So a song needs to hook
the listener in quickly - in
other words it needs to attract their
attention and be easy
to remember - another
word for this is catchy. Do you have
any favourite catchy songs, Rob?
Rob: Oh, I do, I do. It's got to be Happy
by Pharrell Williams. A very catchy song.
Neil: Well, something that is always
catchy in this programme is
our quiz question. Earlier
I mentioned that in 2017, Luis Fonsi's
summer hit Despacito officially
became the most streamed
song of all time. Did you know
approximately, how many times
it was streamed? Was it:
a) 1.6 billion times, b) 3.6 billion times,
or c) 4.6 billion times?
Rob: And I went for a staggering
1.6 billion times.
Neil: Well, it's not staggering enough, Rob.
It was actually streamed 4.6 billion times.
Rob: Amazing. That's a number that
we can only dream of for this
programme - or is it?!
Well Neil, shall we download
to our memory, some of the vocabulary
we've learnt today?
Neil: Streaming describes the activity
of listening or watching music,
radio or videos
directly from the internet
as a continuous stream.
Rob: Something that is a
commercial success is popular and
makes lots of money - like
a new computer game or pop song.
Neil: A good pop song, Rob - not
something annoying like Gangnam Style.
Rob: Well, that was a huge
commercial success because it was
catchy - a word that describes
something that attracts attention
and is easy to remember.
Neil: We also mentioned a playlist - that's
a list of songs that a radio station plans
to play. And we also use the same
word - playlist - to describe a list
of songs you compile
yourself on a streaming service.
Rob: We also heard the adjective driving,
which in the context of
our discussion means
having a strong influence.
Neil: And we mentioned the verb
to register. If you register something
you record, count
or measure it. Like every download of this
programme is registered.
But how do we download
this programme, Rob?
Rob: By going to our website at
Neil: And we have an app too -
download it for free and stream
all of our content!
Rob: Bye for now.
Neil: Bye.
