#same with maybe and nega dola i could have sworn they were all longer and that means theyre perfect length!!

[sanstropfremir]

Since you mentioned Woozi’s Ruby being too short (which I 100% agree with - I have vibed with plenty of songs with weird song structures, but if it’s too short to even appreciate the song I have a hard time getting over that particular flaw), what are your thoughts on K-pop’s latest trend toward shorter songs?

I’ve noticed a lot of songs lately under 3 minutes that are missing huge chunks of normal song structure (like a bridge, three choruses, etc) without replacing it with anything interesting. Songs that come to mind are Bambam’s Slow Mo, Enhypens Blessed-Cursed, Somi’s Dumb Dumb, etc. Some of them are better than others, and I do think you can do a good short song if done right, but they all leave me unsatisfied at the end of the day so far. The only short song I’ve loved recently was Charli XCX’s Good One’s, which obviously isn’t even kpop. I know Tik Tok and the streaming model are partially to blame, but I’m hoping the trend doesn’t continue because I just don’t think most song writers/composers/producers are able to pull it off in a satisfying way.

i hate it, bring back the five to seven minute epic, no more of this pathetic streaming optimized bullshit

ok but actually i do agree with you, my main problem with songs being under three minutes is that they usually aren't able to pull off the satisfaction that comes with a traditional song structure. i did actually go through my spotify liked songs from the last year and make a playlist to see if there were any patterns in terms of date songs were released or artist or whatever and honestly there aren't really any in the 30ish kpop songs i dumped in there. so obviously there are a fair few that i really like, notably:

changmin - chocolate (2:52)

boa - nega dola (2:56)

boa - woman (2:50)

skz - god's menu (2:48)

luna - madonna (2:51)

shinee - superstar (2:55)

shinee - closer (2:43)

nct 127 - baby don't like it (2:39)

nct 127 - sun and moon (2:39)

the rose - candy (2:45)

the rose - red (2:56)

woosung - hangover (2:27)

chungha - killing me (2:44)

kangta - maybe (2:46)

onlyoneof - gaslighting (2:49)

monsta x - one day (2:26)

monsta x - someone's someone (2:21)

kang daniel - waves (2:45)

woodz - sun or suck (2:50)

to name a few. some of these frankly it's a CRIME that they're so short (sun or suck, baby don't like it, sun and moon, candy, one day, woman, killing me), and some of them are the perfect length (waves, maybe, chocolate, closer, superstar). but even with most of these i still feel like they're too short. i often like to luxuriate in songs so i will play stuff on repeat regardless of length, but my favourite songs tend to be those in the upper three minute to four minutes long, because there's just more time for it to be. if done well obviously a short song can get there (i agree about good ones, that's a great song), but a lot of them either feel like they're rushing or like they're just empty all together. i'm not really being very sophisticated or official about my terminology here but i like a lot of space in my music? at least the stuff i listen to on a daily basis. tvxq's before u go (4:33) is probably one of my favourite songs of all time and most of my top listened of 2021 were between 3:45 and 4:30ish, with a couple five-six minute outliers.

it isn't really that hot of a take but i do think streaming has fucked up the music industry significantly. aside from the abysmally low royalties issue, the whole obsession with numbers and charts and whatever is just so so toxic and unindicative of the actual appeal of a song, especially within the kpop sphere. i also think tiktok is a fucking blight and is giving people brainrot and it's also really fucked with the whole streaming thing. i too am very much hoping the trend doesn't continue, but it could very well be an extended turn back to song lengths to pre-1970. for most of the first couple decades of recorded sound songs have been under three minutes; i distinctly remember a lot of 50s jazz standards and motown songs being two-three minutes. however, these are all still following standardized song structures and honestly, i don't have the same faith in producers nowadays as i do in jazz and motown musicians.