Songs longer than 5 Minutes

[producer12999]

Hello, I produce a mix of progressive house and trance. I like to build epic 16 (sometimes even 32) bar chords and make it very plucky with fairly modern drums and basses. I'm just about to finish mixing my first song after producing for 1.5 years now and testing pretty much every genre. I'm moving out soon and will then have a nice room to produce and semi-professionally master, then it should really get started!



After this long introduction, let's get to the point: my first release will be 7 minutes long. Do you think that is still possible today? I probably won't release songs under 5-8 minutes because I love the art but at the same time I want to become big. I want to be able to make a living from it and my goal is to reach a lot of people. Even if that's only in 10 years.



Can you please give me some food for thought? Do you also produce long songs? The only disadvantage is that a long song means that fewer songs can be streamed in the same time, you always pay after 30 seconds of playing time or does that have further disadvantages for fewer recommendations on streaming services? Thank you!

 

[Chrispy]

I prefer longer tracks myself but just a listener. As long as they can use the time well, I'm happy. I don't use any services where I can't hear the whole track, tho.

Good luck on your efforts in any case!

 

[sweetchaos]

I asked CharGPT, about the typical song track for progressive house and trance:

In progressive house and trance genres, song track lengths often range from 6 to 8 minutes. These genres commonly embrace longer durations to allow for gradual build-ups, intricate arrangements, and extended mixes on the dance floor.

Also, for normal music:

The typical song track length varies, but it often falls between 3 to 4 minutes. However, there's a lot of flexibility, and it depends on the genre and artist preferences.

 

[producer12999]

I asked CharGPT, about the typical song track for progressive house and trance:



Also, for normal music:

Yes, all the mainstream artists are only doing 3-minute songs. If there are long songs in the playlists, they're usually old classics. It's a typical problem these days. Well, I'll see where the journey takes me. Thanks for your answer!

 

[producer12999]

I prefer longer tracks myself but just a listener. As long as they can use the time well, I'm happy. I don't use any services where I can't hear the whole track, tho.

Good luck on your efforts in any case!

All right, thanks for your answer mate!

 

[Chrispy]

Yes, all the mainstream artists are only doing 3-minute songs. If there are long songs in the playlists, they're usually old classics. It's a typical problem these days. Well, I'll see where the journey takes me. Thanks for your answer!

Is there still a regular industry for the shorter tracks? I know when I was a lot younger, that was the thing, even a long track would have a radio release that was far shorter. With radio and their revenue streams not being particularly the norm now, just wonder.....

 

[producer12999]

Is there still a regular industry for the shorter tracks? I know when I was a lot younger, that was the thing, even a long track would have a radio release that was far shorter. With radio and their revenue streams not being particularly the norm now, just wonder.....

Yes of course, there are tracks these days that last 1:30 minutes.
But on average a song (in any genre!) lasts about 2:40 min to 3:30 min)
Streaming is changing the industry, nowadays you tease the main melody in the first few seconds and then go into the first verse. So if you go with the flow...

 

[producer12999]

Is there still a regular industry for the shorter tracks? I know when I was a lot younger, that was the thing, even a long track would have a radio release that was far shorter. With radio and their revenue streams not being particularly the norm now, just wonder.....

It is important that the listener listens for 30 seconds for the stream to count. And the shorter the song lasts, the more it can be listened to. The longer the listener listens to the song, the more positively the streaming services rate the songs. If a listener listens to a 2-minute song in its entirety, this means 100%. If a listener listens to a 10-minute song for 2 minutes, this means 20%. That's really bad and you'll never build an audience... That's the big problem for me and the industry, because I want to compose stories...

 

[Chrispy]

It is important that the listener listens for 30 seconds for the stream to count. And the shorter the song lasts, the more it can be listened to. The longer the listener listens to the song, the more positively the streaming services rate the songs. If a listener listens to a 2-minute song in its entirety, this means 100%. If a listener listens to a 10-minute song for 2 minutes, this means 20%. That's really bad and you'll never build an audience... That's the big problem for me and the industry, because I want to compose stories...

Ah, gotcha....the short attention span of consumers these days is a big problem in so many ways.....

 

[producer12999]

Ah, gotcha....the short attention span of consumers these days is a big problem in so many ways.....

That's right, by the way, it's 4:43 am here and Christmas was yesterday. You live in North America, right? It's evening where you live and you're celebrating Christmas tomorrow? Funny, I have to go to bed right away.

 

[Chrispy]

That's right, by the way, it's 4:43 am here and Christmas was yesterday. You live in North America, right? It's evening where you live and you're celebrating Christmas tomorrow? Funny, I have to go to bed right away.

I don't celebrate xmas myself, just a weird pagan thing transformed by commercial christianity....loved it as a kid but think its kind of crappy these days generally.....but if concentrating on doing fun things with family and food that works. Yes, it's 7:45pm here now but only xmas eve (24th), so a bit different. In any case, enjoy your holidazes!

 

[Duke]

... I want to compose stories...

I get it.

I love really good long songs because they have the time to take the listener on an epic journey or paint a "scene" in memorable depth. Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Stairway to Heaven (Led Zep), In My Dying Time (Led Zep), Kashmir (Led Zep), The Prophet's Song (Queen), Astronomy (Blue Oyster Cult), Mother Russia (Renaissance), Ashes are Burning (Renaissance), Xanadu (Rush), Camera Eye (Rush), and so forth. Imo the greatest of these is Camera Eye. As you can probably tell, my formative listening years were in the 70's and early 80's. I can listen to any of these over and over.

 

[Middle Earth]

I spend a lot of time on Band Camp and songs 10, 20, 30 minutes or more are there in my collection. Punk might be a minute or two. Atmospheric Metal and Prog long songs.

 

[somebodyelse]

I don't produce music but I do listen to long songs, although probably not of your style. They're fairly common in prog rock and some styles of metal, along with albums with songs that transition from one to the next with no gap. I don;t know how it would affect payment on streaming platforms. The only research I have seen on their recommendation engines showed that they didn't work well for tastes and styles outside the mainstream, but the researchers didn't have access to the workings of the engines to find out why. Maybe you could experiment with the same thing released as both a single track and a 2 or 3 track album, and see which performs better.

 

[JSmith]

Hello, I produce a mixture of progressive house and trance. I like to build epic 16 (sometimes even 32) bar chords and make it very plucky with quite modern drums and basses. I'm in the process of finishing mixing my first song, having been producing for 1.5 years now and testing pretty much every genre. I'm moving out soon and then I'll have a nice room for producing and semi-professional mastering, then it's time to really get going!

After this long introduction, let's get to the point: my first release will be 7 minutes long. Do you think that's still possible today? I probably won't release songs under 5-8 minutes, because I love art but at the same time I want to be big. I want to be able to make a living from it and my goal is to reach a lot of people. Even if that won't be the case for another 10 years.

Can you please give me some food for thought? Do you also produce long songs? You actually only have the disadvantage that a long song allows you to stream fewer songs in the same time, you always pay after 30 seconds of playing time or does that have further disadvantages for fewer recommendations on streaming services? Thank you very much!

Great.

If it's a "song" (i.e. someone singing to music/sounds) then sure, not too long. But a trance/house track being mostly music with some sampling, length isn't an issue. It used to be due to records and CD's, but not so much now. One DJ may use the first part, another the middle, another the end or just at different times mixed with another track.

If the audio journey you are trying to create within that track requires length, then do so. Just don't make it long for the sake of it with extra long repetition. My 2c anyway.


JSmith

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I love Yes' Tales Fom Topographic Oceans. 4 x 20+ minute songs (one per side).

I find it sad that the payment algorithm favours pithy over profound.

 

[JSmith]

Duplicate threads... maybe needs a merge @AdamG;

Songs longer than 5 Minutes

Hello, I produce a mix of progressive house and trance. I like to build epic 16 (sometimes even 32) bar chords and make it very plucky with fairly modern drums and basses. I'm just about to finish mixing my first song after producing for 1.5 years now and testing pretty much every genre. I'm...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[polmuaddib]

Since your music is not mainstream, length of the songs is the least of your problems. Creating something unique and meaningful is.
Wish you the best!

 

[pavuol]

"long songs":
Eurovision / incompatible
mainstream FM station / incompatible
"fast food instant fun" people / incompatible
dedicated music fans / compatible
prog folks / 120% compatible

For myself, I'd say as long as you manage to maintain attention, length doesn't matter, go for it!
To put it in a more serious manner, I'm afraid your thread touches the everlasting issue in this industry - "profitability or artistry - just one pick allowed"..

 

[producer12999]

Duplicate threads... maybe needs a merge @AdamG;

Songs longer than 5 Minutes

Hello, I produce a mix of progressive house and trance. I like to build epic 16 (sometimes even 32) bar chords and make it very plucky with fairly modern drums and basses. I'm just about to finish mixing my first song after producing for 1.5 years now and testing pretty much every genre. I'm...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

Hey mate, at first I thought this was just a German forum. Yesterday it was already half past four in the morning in Germany and then I saw that you can also ask in English. I did this in the hope that I would get an answer sooner due to different time zones. @AdamG

Unfortunately you can't delete threads, otherwise only this English one would have remained.