The Guardian: Is Tik Tok Killing Off The Pop Music Bridge?

[LeavinExhaleByYearEnd]

“It’s a trend that’s been spotted by everyone from Sting to social media users: the bit of a song between the verse and chorus is disappearing. Are short attention times to blame, or is this simply another evolution in songwriting?“

What’s your thoughts?

Full article here: The Guardian

[i sometimes sing live]

Yes, and it's really annoying. A good bridge can often be the best part of a song.

[SwiftSpears92]

Yes gen z can’t handle a song longer than 2 minutes. It’s disgusting and comprises art. 

[Bo da toe]

It’s less about parts of songs missing and more about all songs following the same structure.

Lana and Taylor are still writing masterful bridges.

[Blackout2006]

I'm Gen Z and as much as I appreciate Tik Tok for bringing many wonderful indie artists into the forefront, I wholeheartedly detest this trend of eliminating the bridges to make a song shorter than 3 minutes

However, it's not that we can't listen to songs longer than 3 minutes. Lana Del Rey has a huge gen z fanbase and some of her most adored songs are over 4 minutes (and even 6 minutes, 9 minutes). Truth is that many artists have to put more effort into their songs being interesting enough to extend till the point of a bridge. However, why do that when you can easily get millions of streams and go viral for a 15-second snippet of the song?  It's more about artistic integrity getting tangled with label pressure and Tik Tok virality, rather than gen z being these bimbos with the attention span of a fly according to many ppl 

[blackingouthenegativity]

Social media is killing attention spans. It's been getting worse with every generation for years and Gen Z is the latest culmination. 

[BrittonJeanSpears]

The bridge isn't anywhere near the verses?  The bridge is almost always after the second chorus, and is followed by a repeat of the chorus.

But yeah, Tik Tok is wreaking havoc on the music industry's standards of the past few decades. We have to remember though, things are cyclical. Back in the 40's, songs were also less than 3 minutes, much like they are today. Back in the 70's and 80's, songs were like 7-8 minutes long! And then we went back down to between 3 and 4 minutes. So we'll get longer songs at some point again.

[2K16NEY]

The bridge is always the best part of the song. New artists just want to go viral and make a hit for tiktok. It doesn't need a bridge it just needs a cute 30 second hook. 

Artists... I'm sorry, REAL artists are the ones who know the art of songwriting and put effort into their music. It's not about the numbers, it's about the SOUND and the EMOTION it evokes. 

[Cancer]

The pop format is simplistic enough as it is...can you imagine what would happen to some of these idiots if they were forced to listen to Beethoven? Their brains would probably explode from the cognitive overload.

[stanLOONA]

4 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

this gif KILLS me  so funny lol

[MIKE_INT]

Social media kills not only music but creativity in general.

Songs have no longevity or DNA, its all about streams ...

Everybody is doing same style, same photos, same filters, same stupid challenges, same outfits, one copy of another up

 

 

 

 

[MIKE_INT]

On 12/9/2022 at 4:25 PM, BrittonJeanSpears said:

The bridge isn't anywhere near the verses?  The bridge is almost always after the second chorus, and is followed by a repeat of the chorus.

But yeah, Tik Tok is wreaking havoc on the music industry's standards of the past few decades. We have to remember though, things are cyclical. Back in the 40's, songs were also less than 3 minutes, much like they are today. Back in the 70's and 80's, songs were like 7-8 minutes long! And then we went back down to between 3 and 4 minutes. So we'll get longer songs at some point again.

The length of the songs in the periods you mentioned were because of the size of vinyls.

Songs got longer at the end of 70s because of Disco era, they started to release single songs on 12 inch vinyls instead of 7inch, so the Djs didnt have to switch vinyls that often and the song had more time to get caught the audience. Thats why songs before were usually 3 minutes or shorter cause they were on smaller vinyl with higher speed of 78rpm

 

So back then problem was physical capacity of the vinyl, now the problem is mental capacity of Gen Z  lol

[i sometimes sing live]

I do think the conversation is a tad overexaggerated, though. Different types of music can serve different purposes. I can put on a cheesy TikTok hit and shake my azz, but I can also put on some Björk and have my mind blown. The problem is record labels expecting every artist to be a TikTok influencer and make TikTok-friendly songs. The music industry is still run by out of touch senior citizens and it shows.

[mhally]

Bridges are the best though

[Blackout2006]

51 minutes ago, MIKE_INT said:

now the problem is mental capacity of Gen Z  lol

 

Quote

However, it's not that we can't listen to songs longer than 3 minutes. Lana Del Rey has a huge gen z fanbase and some of her most adored songs are over 4 minutes (and even 6 minutes, 9 minutes). Truth is that many artists have to put more effort into their songs being interesting enough to extend till the point of a bridge. However, why do that when you can easily get millions of streams and go viral for a 15-second snippet of the song?  It's more about artistic integrity getting tangled with label pressure and Tik Tok virality, rather than gen z being these bimbos with the attention span of a fly according to many ppl 

What I said earlier 

[jordeezy river red]

Bridges AND climaxes.