Music streaming is having a profound impact on songwriting and song structure
Songwriters who want to get more plays on Spotify and other streaming platforms need to rethink their approach to songwriting and song structure to meet the needs of streaming audiences. Spoiled-for-choice streaming listeners are increasingly likely to ‘click and skip’ to the next track if a song doesn’t grab them in the first 20 seconds.
These are two of the key messages from a new book titled: Writing Songs in the Streaming Age – 40 Mistakes to Avoid If You Want to Get More Streams. The book aims to help new songwriters to create more streaming-friendly songs.
“Streaming has not only revolutionised the way people consume music, it is also transforming the way songs are being written and recorded,” says the book’s author Brian Oliver, an experienced music publisher. “Streaming is changing the whole methodology of songwriting. Successful streaming now requires a different type of song.”
Writing Songs in the Streaming Age takes a close look at how the global dominance of music streaming is having a far-reaching impact on songwriting and the structure of songs. It reveals how songs that connect in the streaming world are no longer the same as songs that work on traditional media, such as radio.
“Songwriters are facing a period of great change,” Oliver warns. “To succeed in the highly competitive streaming marketplace, creators need to adapt to the new songwriting conventions that are emerging in this algorithm-driven musical environment.”
Oliver says song structures that have been at the heart of hit songs for over 60 years are now being replaced by a song form that has one overriding objective: Keep streaming audiences listening for at least the first 30 seconds—otherwise a play won’t count as a stream…. the song may be downgraded on the streaming service’s database….and nobody gets paid.
With more songs now being designed to please the streaming companies’ algorithms, Writing Songs in the Streaming Age aims to help provide a better understanding of the changing building blocks of song structure in the streaming age. It’s an era in which the verse has gained a new importance because ‘click and skip’ streaming listeners don’t always stick around for the chorus.
The book examines the essential elements that are consistently found in the construction, melodies and lyrics of the biggest streaming hits. Crucially, it highlights the most common errors made when these key components are built into a song. In doing so, it aims to help new and aspiring songwriters avoid such mistakes in their own songs.
The book provides 40 insightful tips, including:
– treat a verse more like a chorus
– don’t make a song too long for streaming
– choose the right tempo for streaming listeners
There’s also a comprehensive Checklist designed to help new songwriters overcome the most frequent mistakes that are made when trying to write streaming-friendly songs.
Writing Songs in the Streaming Age – 40 Mistakes to Avoid If You Want to Get More Streams is now available from Amazon as a paperback and eBook in all territories, and also from leading eBook retailers such as Apple Books, Kobo and Barnes & Noble.
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Sh-Boom! Magazine 