Inherited restrictions.
Frameworks that are arbitrary restrictions.
The average song length is around three minutes. Which seems arbitrary to me, I was recently informed (by Maddie Callander) that it was because of data storage restrictions that this framework was created:
“Around the 1920s shellac records replaced the phonograph cylinder as the technology of choice for recorded music. These 10 inch ‘singles’ stored just over three minutes of music. It wasn’t rocket science – exactly how much music they could store depended on how closely you spaced the grooves on the record. Closer together and you could store more music, but too close together and the sound quality would begin to suffer.
If you were an artist in the 60s or 70s and you wanted your song played on the radio or a jukebox, that song had to be on a single. It was that simple. If it couldn’t fit, it wouldn’t be played, and you’d lose out on your chance for it to become a hit.” - ClassicFM.com
Today, storage for a song isn’t a problem. We don’t have limits there, but we are still living in this “Pop songs are 3 minutes long” era out of habit and business model.
What other frameworks are ridiculous and held prisoner from rules that are not gating factors anymore? If so, what are they?
By Adam Draper
I ponder as a VC.
It's a quick one minute read to make you think, smile, or laugh.
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