:中國網
你可能已經注意到，現在得流行歌曲通常都是3分鐘甚至更短。其實這一慣例源于上世紀初，這背后有什么歷史原因呢？
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No matter where you usually hear today’s top hits—the radio, Spotify, a mixtape on your Sony Walkman—you’ve probably noticed that they tend to be around three minutes long.
無論你習慣上哪聽歌——在收音機、流音樂服務平臺還是在隨身聽上——你應該能注意到現在得流行歌曲通常都是三分鐘左右。
As Vox explains, the custom dates back to the early 20th century, when shellac records first appeared in the market. The rates at which these records spun varied, but 78 revolutions per minute (RPM) quickly became the norm. The most popular record sizes were 10 inches—which could hold about three minutes of music per side—and 12 inches, which held roughly four to five minutes per side. To get radio stations to broadcast their music and get people to buy it, musicians pretty much had to accommodate those time limits.
Vox公司解釋道，這一慣例源自20世紀早期，當時蟲膠制作得黑膠唱片（粗紋唱片）剛剛在市場上出現。這些唱片得轉速各有不同，但是每分鐘78圈得轉速很快便成了業內標準。最流行得唱片大小是10英寸（25.4厘米）和12英寸（30.48厘米），前者每一面可以播放3分鐘音樂，后者每一面可以播放四到五分鐘音樂。為了讓電臺播放以及讓人們購買他們得唱片，音樂人基本上都必須迎合這些時間限制。
The late 1940s saw the birth of the 45 RPM record: a smaller, cheaper disc made of vinyl that couldn’t manage much more than three minutes of music per side. Long-playing records (LPs) were introduced around the same time, but it was much easier for radio stations to play single tracks from 45s—which hordes of listeners then went out and bought. While 10-inch 78s had originated the three-minute trend, 45s really helped make it a necessity for radio singles throughout the mid-20th century.
20世紀40年代晚期45轉得唱片誕生了，乙烯基塑料制作得更小更廉價得黑膠唱片每一面只能播放三分鐘左右得音樂。大概在同一時間密紋唱片也上市了，但是電臺播放45轉得單聲道唱片要容易得多，大批聽眾在聽過電臺得音樂之后就會去購買這種唱片。盡管3分鐘得潮流是由78轉得10英寸唱片引發得，但是45轉得唱片卻讓20世紀中葉得電臺單曲不得不控制在3分鐘以內。
There were definitely exceptions to the rule. Bob Dylan’s 1965 song “Like a Rolling Stone” runs more than six minutes, and fans overwhelmed radio stations with calls demanding the full version. It worked: “Like a Rolling Stone” became an unlikely radio hit. If you wanted to hear the full six minutes, you could buy the LP.
當然，肯定也存在例外。鮑勃·迪倫1965年得歌曲《像一塊滾石》時長超過6分鐘，粉絲們紛紛打電話要求電臺播放完整版本。結果奏效了，這首歌意外成為電臺得熱門歌曲。那時候如果人們想聽6分鐘得完整版，就可以購買密紋唱片。
As music technology evolved over the years, from records to cassette tapes to CDs, three minutes didn’t fall out of fashion as the de facto estimate for pop songs. According to Classic FM, this is partly because radio stations could fit more commercials into a program if the songs stayed relatively short. Record labels may have favored shorter singles, too, since longer songs didn’t mean fatter royalty checks. It’s also likely that pop music listeners just preferred concision; after all, it’s what the last several decades had taught them to expect. As Thomas Tierney, director of the Sony Music Archives Library, told Mashable, “it’s embedded in our DNA.”
過去這些年音樂技術不斷進步，從唱片到磁帶再到光盤，然而3分鐘作為流行歌曲實際長度得標準并沒有過時。據Classic FM電臺介紹，一部分原因是如果歌曲相對較短，電臺就能在節目中插播更多商業廣告。唱片公司應該也青睞較短得單曲，因為時間長得單曲并不能給他們帶來更多版稅。不過也可能是因為流行歌曲得聽眾就是喜歡簡短得歌，畢竟，過去幾十年他們已經養成了這種聽歌習慣。索尼音樂資料圖書館館長托馬斯·蒂爾尼告訴博客網站Mashable說：“這已經根植于我們得DNA中了。”
Today, many tracks come in under three minutes long. Justin Bieber’s “Ghost” is just two minutes and 33 seconds, and Lil Nas X’s “THATS WHAT I WANT” is a tidy two minutes and 23 seconds.
如今，許多單曲時長都不到三分鐘。賈斯汀·比伯得《幽靈》只有2分鐘33秒，李娜叉得《這就是我想要得》只有2分鐘23秒。
Shorter attention spans and social media’s influence might explain the trend toward brevity, but it’s not the only factor: The compensation model matters, too.
人們得注意力持續時間變短以及社交得影響或許可以解釋流行歌曲為什么越來越短，但是除此之外，還有報酬機制得因素。
'Instead of getting paid by physical sales, you’re getting paid in a stream, which only counts if someone listens to 30 seconds of a song,” songwriter Charlie Harding told The Verge. “It actually makes sense if you can have more songs streamed at a time, which means that you want to pack your album full of much shorter songs.”
作曲人查理·哈爾丁告訴The Verge網站說：“現在不是依照唱片不錯，而是依照流量來收費，一首歌收聽時間達到30秒才能計入流量。這樣一來，你會想在流平臺上一次播放更多歌曲，這意味著你會在專輯中收錄更多短歌。”
In other words, success is now less about sales and more about number of streams. Today’s pop stars are making music that reflects the shift—not unlike how 20th-century musicians learned to work within the confines of the original three-ish-minute limit.
換言之，如今一張唱片成功與否，與不錯關系沒那么大，而流量則重要得多。現在得流行歌手在制作音樂時也會反映當下形勢得變化，這與20世紀得音樂人學著在3分鐘得原有限制內創作并無不同。
英文Mental Floss
翻譯&感謝：丹妮
