not sure if its fits here, but why are so many edm tracks 2:30?

[jonathan c]

With attention spans diverging into ultra short or long forms, will it be either 45 seconds or 45 mins in the future?

But in the meantime, in Warholian fashion “everyone will have their 2:30 minutes of fame” …

 

[bigshot]

Maybe eventually songs will become thirty second jingles like in TV commercials!

 

[Ghoostknight]

btw the same as the op`s question can be said about movies i think, there are very rarely new 2:30-3:00 hours movies, most newer stuff is 1:30-2:00h i think

i also think that there are studys about degrading attention span of the population
maybe statistics show that short stuff is generally more popular, maybe thats why we see a trend here

personally i like longer movies, but they have to be good or you are going to sleep
my music collection (also much older stuff) is probably around 3-7minutes probably averaging at 4-5minutes
personally i didnt come across much stuff under 3mins, some are 2-2,5mins but very rarely

 

[bigshot]

The movies over 2 hours were exceptions even in the past.

 

[Davesrose]

btw the same as the op`s question can be said about movies i think, there are very rarely new 2:30-3:00 hours movies, most newer stuff is 1:30-2:00h i think

I'd say that it's new action movies that now can get to 2:30-3:00 (Peter Jackson, or Marvel Universe). Hearing from older directors of Hollywood blockbusters, you had to fight the studio for a runtime over 2:00. Dramas intended for movie palaces were probably the main exception of having long runtimes. The classics that still have an intermission segment in the home video release.

 

[bigshot]

Running time is related to theater turns. If a movie is over two hours, it makes it impossible to run it three times in a night. A theater owner makes a third less every night.

 

[Davesrose]

That doesn't seem to be the current theater market: which is cineplexes setting higher ticket prices based on premium screen format. Dolby Cinema or IMAX being the highest priced screens, showing the newest release with less showtimes.

 

[castleofargh]

i also think that there are studys about degrading attention span of the population

I remember long ago, smart people asking for complete reform of the education system after it had been strongly suggested that the average time someone can fully focus on something was around 15mn(In France, teachers went on the street to refuse any change, like always, and nothing happened).
It’s not new and what changed for the internet generations isn’t attention span but that they often don’t bother trying(because they know there is an unlimited amount of other stuff available that can do as well or better than the slightly boring event in front of them). IMO it’s about availability instead of people themselves being radically different. I grew up for a few years with hardly 2 TV stations somewhat watchable(still super noisy due to poor reception). I sure didn’t behave like I do with netflix and however many TV channels(most of which are crap, but they exist at least). Same with music, I had exactly what my parents had at home. Now there’s .... everything! Sticking to a ”meh” choice isn’t the smart thing to do anymore.

About movie length, I feel like we’re actually getting more of the longer ones. But my guess is that it’s a trick to balance out the scandalous price of a ticket. It’s longer so you get more for your money... IDK




Now, a few generations surrounded with lead, teflon, your favorite herbicide, and kids having to grow up on more junk food than ever, surely didn’t help create the smartest, healthiest brains possible. So there is that.

 

[bigshot]

Theaters make money on how many times they can turn the house. It's business. Each seat is a potential ticket. If a movie runs three hours and the first screening is at 5, the second would start at 8:30 and end at 11:30. That is only two turns of the house. If a movie runs two hours and the first screening is at 5, the second would start at 7:30 and the late show would start at 10 and be over at midnight.

It's the same for dinner service at restaurants. They need to get people in early and turn the house as many times as they can before closing time to make money.

 

[gregorio]

btw the same as the op`s question can be said about movies i think, there are very rarely new 2:30-3:00 hours movies, most newer stuff is 1:30-2:00h i think

Not really, if anything the opposite is the case. During the “silent era” the vast majority of films were around 15 minutes. The 1913 Quo Vadis was 2 hours long and set the benchmark for the “Superspectacle”, a precursor to the “blockbuster” but was exceedingly rare. During the “golden age of cinema”, the 1930’s, most films were 1:00 - 1:15 long. The high budget films tended to be 1:15 - 1:30 and exceptionally up to around 1:40. Longer than that was almost unheard of, until 1939 and “Gone with the Wind”, which was nearly 4:00 and largely defined the modern blockbuster.

Big commercial films/blockbusters over 2:30 were still vary rare in the 1950’s, less rare in the 1960’s but still only around 1 or 2 a year on average. The average length of more typical films increased somewhat from the 1930’s, 1:00 - 1:15 becoming very uncommon, 1:30 - 1:40 becoming typical and around 2:00 far more common. This all remained more or less static until around the 2000’s, when there was an increase in the number of blockbusters around 2:30 or longer, with the advent of the blockbuster fantasy franchises, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Transformers, etc., in addition to the one off’s (like Avatar, Armageddon, etc.). This increase was sustained, largely due to the Marvel universe, as already mentioned. There are probably at least as many, if not more 2:30 or longer blockbusters being made these days as at any time in film history, although the pandemic seriously skewed the figures.

G

 

[Ryokan]

Movie	Year	Running time (TV) (hours and minutes)	Running time (TV) (minutes)	Running time (EV) (hours and minutes)	Running time (EV) (minutes)
The Fellowship of the Ring	2001	2 hours and 58 minutes	178	3 hours and 28 minutes	208
The Two Towers	2002	2 hours and 59 minutes	179	2 hours and 46 minutes	226
The Return of the King	2003	3 hours and 21 minutes	201	4 hours and 12 minutes	252
An Unexpected Journey	2012	2 hours and 49 minutes	169	3 hours and 2 minutes	182
The Desolation of Smaug	2013	2 hours and 41 minutes	161	2 hours and 6 minutes	186
The Battle of the Five Armies	2014	2 hours and 24 minutes	144	2 hours and 44 minutes	164

(Fiction Horizon)

* EV for D of Smaug should be 3hrs 6mins.

 

[71 dB]

The movies over 2 hours were exceptions even in the past.

Length of the movies is also dependent of the genre with high correlation. 2.5 hours long historical epics aren't rare at all, but horror movies and comedies want to occupy the 1.5-2 hours range. Big budget movies tend to be longer: Of recent movies Indiana Jones 5 is 154 minutes and Mission: Impossible 7 is 164 minutes.

 

[gregorio]

Big budget movies tend to be longer: Of recent movies Indiana Jones 5 is 154 minutes and Mission: Impossible 7 is 164 minutes.

Taking those two franchises as an example:

Indiana Jones 1 was 115mins, the next was 118mins, then 128 and #4 was 122 mins.
Mission Impossible -1 was 110mins, MI-2 was 123mins, then 126mins, 132, 131 and MI-6 was 147mins.

So it’s not so much just big budgets, the earlier Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible films were also big budget films but slightly under or around 2 hours. There is a general trend at least in these two examples towards longer duration blockbusters.

G

 

[71 dB]

I grew up for a few years with hardly 2 TV stations somewhat watchable(still super noisy due to poor reception). I sure didn’t behave like I do with netflix and however many TV channels(most of which are crap, but they exist at least). Same with music, I had exactly what my parents had at home. Now there’s .... everything! Sticking to a ”meh” choice isn’t the smart thing to do anymore.

Same here. Back in the 70's and most part of 80's we had two channels, YLE 1 and YLE 2 in Finland. The third TV channel started operating in the end of 1986! I was about 5 years old when we got colour TV set to replace B&W tube. Nowadays I have about 20 free TV channels on cable. Ironically it feels there is less to watch than back in the days of 2-3 channel, because most of the programming is dirt cheap crap that I have zero interest into ( gardening, decoration, renovation, weight loss, endless re-runs of Simpsons and Friends, soap operas etc.) These crappy programs just didn't exist in the past and that's why they were able to squeeze more watchable stuff on just a few channels. Nowadays I find stuff that interests me on Youtube, because there's tons of stuff for everyone, even for excentric weirdos like myself! I can watch Dan Bell explore abandoned slaughterhouses of Baltimore or math videos about the Basel problem ( ∑ 1/n² = 𝜋²/6 ) or Gio "the Eddie Murphy of Lapland" Bozz finally visiting Helsinki or The Librarian exploring GMOD maps in VR etc.

In the past I had to wait for years to see Jaws on TV at 4:3 aspect ratio and SD resolution, but nowadays people can just log in to a streaming service and start watching almost anything in HD or even buy a 4K disc restored to perfection. It has been wild to watch the World change with time. The World I was born into will be TOTALLY different from the World when I will die. Such change makes one appreciate traditions and nostalgia. I like to watch movies from the 70's and 80's these days. Some things were better in the past. Change doesn't mean increased happiness. It just means tomorrow will be different.

 

[71 dB]

Taking those two franchises as an example:

Indiana Jones 1 was 115mins, the next was 118mins, then 128 and #4 was 122 mins.
Mission Impossible -1 was 110mins, MI-2 was 123mins, then 126mins, 132, 131 and MI-6 was 147mins.

So it’s not so much just big budgets, the earlier Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible films were also big budget films but slightly under or around 2 hours. There is a general trend at least in these two examples towards longer duration blockbusters.

G

It seems the length gap between lower and higher budget movies has widened. Nowadays it is normal that high budget movies are an hour or so longer than small budget movies.