Is music getting faster?

Question 1

streaming

Answer 1

describes the activity of listening or watching music, radio or videos directly from the internet as a continuous stream.

I like anything and I prefer streaming my music actually. No old-fashioned CDs to buy and load up – it’s easier to play and you can play it anywhere!
Did you know that some people believe that streaming music online is actually changing the songs people write? And it might be leading to songs getting faster.

Question 2

commercial success

Answer 2

something that is popular and makes lots of money – like a new computer game or pop song.

the aim of many pop songs is to be enjoyed by many – to be popular - but they also need to be a commercial success – they need to make money.
a music producer and professor of music technology can explain what he thinks influences the songs.

Question 3

catchy

Answer 3

something that attracts attention and is easy to remember.

Do you have any favourite catchy songs? Oh, I do, I do. It’s got to be Happy by Pharrell Williams. A very catchy song.
So a song needs to hook the listener in quickly – in other words it needs to attract their attention and be easy to remember – another word for this is catchy.

Question 4

playlist

Answer 4

list of songs that a radio station plans to play or list of songs you compile yourself on a streaming service.

I think that, you know, one of the things that’s driving this, there are a number of things. They’re all radio, they’re all singles designed for radio playlists. Radio playlists are extremely important factors in judging the success of a track and obviously do feed into the kind of commercial success of a track.

Question 5

driving

Answer 5

(here) having a strong influence.

I think that, you know, one of the things that’s driving this, there are a number of things. They’re all radio, they’re all singles designed for radio playlists. Radio playlists are extremely important factors in judging the success of a track and obviously do feed into the kind of commercial success of a track.

Question 6

register

Answer 6

record, count or measure something – like the download of a file.

But then there’s the influence of streaming services like Spotify, where if a track isn’t played for at least 30 seconds then it doesn’t register a play and Spotify … .

the verb to register. If you register something you record, count or measure it. Like every download of this programme is registered.