A fascinating blog called Music Machinery did an in-depth analysis of skip rates on Spotify in 2014, and although this study is 7 years old, the data has only become more relevant in 2021 as attention spans continue to shrink.
Here are a few statistics from the article:
→ Songs have a 24% chance of being skipped in the first 5 seconds
→ Songs have a 29% chance of being skipped in the first 10 seconds
→ Songs have a 35% chance of being skipped in the first 30 seconds
→ Songs have a 49% chance of being skipped before the song finishes
Here are some more interesting statistics:
→ The majority of song skips happen in the first 20 seconds
→ The skip rate on desktop is 40%, while the skip rate on mobile devices is 51%
→ Teenagers have the highest skip rate, which slowly drops off to a low skip rate for people in their mid-30s
→ People skip songs the most between 6:00 am and 8:00 am, and 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm
→ The highest skip rates happen between 8:00 pm and 11:00 pm
→ The skip rate is higher on weekends
How we can interpret these numbers
These numbers are quite high; 1 in 4 people skip a song in the first 5 seconds, and nearly half skip before the song even finishes. These are interesting statistics, but they aren’t totally surprising. For example, it makes sense that the highest skip rates happen in the mornings and evening. This is when people are commuting to and from work and relaxing at home, where they’re listening to their music more actively rather than passively. It also makes sense that teenagers have the highest skip rates, since a) they have lower attention spans on average than adults, and b) they have more free time on their hands to listen to music actively. Furthermore, teens tend to explore for new music, and so their skip rates may be higher to reflect all the skips they do as they’re browsing through playlists and checking out new songs.
The overarching situation though is that Spotify is throwing music at you from every angle, whether it’s their banner ads, their promoted playlists on their homepage, or the recommended songs at the bottom of your playlist. They have a vast catalogue of music that is extremely easy to browse and skip through, especially when compared to CDs and vinyl. As a result, we have a new generation of distracted listeners who have access to a virtually limitless selection of music.
How can we apply this to our songwriting?
Now that we understand the numbers behind the skipping behaviour on streaming platforms, it begs the question of how do we use this to our advantage as songwriters?
The biggest takeaway, which you may have already guessed, is to make our songs more interesting right from the get-go. More specifically, we want to make our songs interesting enough that our listeners don’t want to hit the skip button in the first 15-20 seconds, which is where most of the skipping happens. Below are some of the most popular strategies used in music to grab the listener right away.
1. Use a shorter intro (or no intro at all)
Most songs in the top 40 today have much shorter intros compared to 20 years ago. For example, the hit “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles doesn’t even have an intro. His voice is the first element to come in, and right away we’re in the first verse (minus the drums). We also see the same thing in “Dynamite” by the K-Pop band BTS, with a lead vocal pickup right into the chorus (again without drums). Interestingly, these are the most played songs by these artists. There are obviously more elements that led to the songs’ wild success, but jumping into the song right away undoubtedly leaves no time for the listener to become bored and hit the skip button.
2. Bring the vocal in sooner
Closely related to my previous point, bringing in the lead vocal sooner can prevent premature skipping, even if you have a 20+ second intro. This is because the lead vocal is usually the focal point of most popular music, and so many people would argue that the song doesn’t really “start” until the voice comes in. As humans, we’re also naturally drawn to the voice because it’s a sound we’ve been familiar with since we were in the womb. In addition, the voice is the only instrument that can sing lyrics, bringing a whole new dimension to the melody. If you not only start your song with the vocals, but you also have compelling lyrics, you’ll grab your audience’s attention immediately.
3. Use unique sounds
Try this experiment: find a top 40 playlist (or any playlist with the hottest songs in your genre of choice) and listen to just the first 20 seconds of at least 10 songs. If we’re only talking about instrument choice and timbral palette alone, which one caught your attention the most? Chances are, the song with the most unique and different sounds among that sample size piqued your interest.
The song “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd is a good example of this. If you listen to other songs sitting next to it in the current top 40 playlist, you’ll notice a stark contrast. Hip-hop and trap music is dominating the charts right now, the sound of sub bass and snappy hi-hats being the primary palette. Contrast this to “Blinding Lights”, which features an analogue synth and drum machine off the top, and we’re captured almost right away just by the sound palette alone. Considering the growing fascination among young people with ’80s and ‘90s culture, this was a well-timed release.
The choice of sounds off the top of the song usually aren’t thought about by many songwriters, but in a scenario when someone is rapidly clicking through songs in a playlist (or even your album) to find something unique and different, it’s everything.
4. Get to the groove right away
Earlier, I mentioned that for some people the song doesn’t “start” until the voice comes in. For others, it doesn’t start until the groove (eg. bass and drums) comes in. Even if we’re talking about genres such as folk or singer-songwriter, many songs still have a point at which the general groove or “pulse” gets going.
Think of the tune “Treasure” by Bruno Mars. Not only does it have a groove right off the top, but it starts with exciting, punchy, rhythmic shots in the rhythm section that practically demand your attention. Rather than the gradual buildup (even if it’s just a few seconds), they chose to “come in with a bang” and grab you right away.
Even if you don’t write dance or hip-hop music, choosing to come in with the groove sooner than later can help dramatically with getting your listener’s attention, regardless of genre. I’m guilty myself of scrubbing ahead in the song if I don’t hear a groove in the first 5 seconds, and I can guarantee you I’m not the only one who does this. The groove can be something as simple as having a shaker playing subdivisions, or the high-hat in the drum kit playing the backbeat in the intro. Whatever it is, you should introduce the pulse and rhythmic feel to your listener as soon as possible.
5. Use good market positioning
This last point is not so much about the actual songwriting, but more so how you can market your music. Although people will always want to listen to a great song, we are seeing a growing phenomenon now where people are listening less to albums, and more to mood-based playlists.
For example, we know that the lowest skip rates are when people are working, usually because they’re busy and simply want something playing in the background to fill the silence. If you make downtempo, easy listening music, this may be a good target for you. Think of all the Spotify playlists and YouTube live stream videos titled “music for working” or “music for studying” (think of the famed lo-fi hip hop radio stream on YouTube). If you get your music in these playlists, you may actually find that you have a lower skip-rate and get more 30+ second listens, which is the minimum threshold for when you earn royalties on a stream.
This may seem counterintuitive, since in my previous points I emphasized making your music sound unique and different from other songs in a playlist. This is still important, but when we’re specifically talking about getting your music into “mood” playlists, we actually want our songs to blend in to some extent. This is because in most situations, when someone puts on a mood playlist, they don’t want to have to keep changing songs. The expectation is that all the songs in that playlist will have a similar vibe to suit their musical preferences in that moment, and so they can carry on working, cleaning, or hanging out with their friends and not have to constantly get up to change songs.
In essence, if you want to see less skip rates in your music and more full listens that pay out royalties, consider finding a mood playlist—studying, cleaning, dinner, hanging out, partying—that your music will fit into seamlessly. When your music matches the songs around it, listeners are less likely to skip it for not being the right vibe in the moment.
Conclusion
We can see that people’s attention spans are shorter and more fragmented thanks to the vast catalogue of music offered by streaming platforms and the ease of skipping songs and jumping from playlist to playlist. We can view it as both a blessing and a curse; it’s easier now than ever to get discovered through streaming platforms thanks to their user-directed interface, as opposed to radio, where you could choose what station you listened to, but you couldn’t skip songs or curate your own playlists. On the flip side, this saturation of music has created a much more distracted generation of listeners who decide within seconds whether to skip a song or not.