‘Blinding Lights’ and how playlist culture is changing modern songwriting

It seems as though strategy in being interjected into music creation today in a way that may be hindering artistic authenticity. And it seems like playlist culture is the first culprit.

by Carla Malrowe of Bandzoogle

The modern-day playlist calls for a different type of song. The most streamed song of all time on Spotify right now is “Blinding Lights” by the four-time Grammy Award winner, The Weeknd. It is no coincidence that this song fits the playlist mould perfectly: it very clearly belongs to the pop genre, it is catchy yet simple, it is short, and it is monotonous and mellow. It’s digestible. 

These are some of the new characteristics that make for a successful “streamable” song at the current moment. Let’s explore the new “rules” and discuss what they mean for the art of songwriting…Do we need to adapt to survive? Is our creative freedom being hindered by the playlist format? First things first: let’s start by dissecting playlist culture…

What do we mean by playlist culture?

Streaming is the most popular form of music consumption. According to the 2022 IFPI report, music streaming services showed a 10.3% growth in the last year. Spotify alone has over 80 million songs live on its platform at this moment (which has grown to 50 million over the last 3 years). So, we’re all streaming… and we’re all streaming playlists. 

Streaming services like Spotify and YouTube promote playlist consumption by making it easy for listeners to build and share them, and of course, by building them automatically based on sophisticated algorithms. Even if you play an album from start to finish on Spotify, it dissolves into a playlist of recommendations at the end. There’s no escaping them.

Listeners LOVE algorithmic playlists because they offer variety: they hold a wealth of music bunched together under a common genre. They hold promise: “Here you go, here are 126 “Best in Pop” songs for you on this lovely Sunday morning!” These listeners like what is predictable and each song on the playlist is at the mercy of the skip button. They want something that is catchy but by no means complicated, moody but mellow. Most importantly, they want to know if they’re going to like the song in a matter of seconds. There is no time to waste.

So what is happening to music, exactly?

The “mellowpiece” replaces the masterpiece in pop music. Let’s look at “Blinding Lights” again. 

The song is pop and it doesn’t try to be anything more. The melodic hook is introduced in the song intro. It is only played once, a 27-second intro, and then we hear The Weeknd’s familiar voice. The hook repeats without straying off into something different. The chorus isn’t wildly contrasting to the rest of the song. Nothing shocks and nothing overstimulates. It is only 3.20 minutes long. It is catchy, concise and monotonous…Digestible. 

This is what is happening to pop music… it is becoming more digestible.

Songs are becoming shorter and more concise. Song intros especially become shorter, choruses fewer, songs progress in fewer minutes and less diverse elements create faster-resolving progressions. With a shorter intro, the vocals come in earlier, and the chorus hits earlier, everything is coming at you faster, but not stronger. Choruses are actually becoming less obvious and more mellow, this is clear when comparing “Blinding Lights” and “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran to “It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette or “I Would Do Anything for Love” by Meatloaf. The “mellowpiece” triumphs in 2023.  Different does not equal better. There’s literally no time for it. Popular music in 2023 is chilled out, simple and concise, trimmed, with no frills and no fuss. 

Songwriting for a format

“The medium is the message” is a famous line by Marshall McLuhan. This is an extremist way of expressing just how much the product is influenced by the format in which it is delivered and consumed. This is what’s happening with music in 2023. The music is changing because we are fitting it to a new medium. When asked about writing songs to suit the playlist format in a CBC interview, musician Sarah McLachlan expressed “If people are writing music for that particular format, then I find that sad.” 

It is sad in a sense. To write a genreless piece of music that abandons laws of structure and forgets the constraint of time might be beautiful and interesting, but is it likely to find a spot on a Spotify playlist, or survive the skip if it does? Probably not.

However, throughout history, it has been very hard to escape the constraints of format and songwriters have adjusted themselves accordingly over time. For example, when vinyl was the most popular music format, song progression and album stories were very important to the songwriting process because “skipping” wasn’t fashionable. The B-side welcomed the tracks that were less catchy or less suited to the album theme. 

When the CD format was the most popular, it meant that you needed up to 20 songs, fast, at which stage fillers were born to get albums out quicker. Today, there is no place for a filler or a B-side. Radio has also taught us to not swear in our lyrics and to keep songs concise and catchy for decades now. The truth is, that we have been bending our art to suit the format, various formats, since forever.

So, is it really so sad? Is our artistic freedom really so threatened?

The high competition embedded within playlist culture might actually be challenging us songwriters to step up our game. With less time to work with, aren’t we actually being inspired to produce more powerful pieces? And when it comes to being “mellow”, is creating waves with whispers not the goal after all? I say, let’s welcome the challenge. Let’s, once again, adapt to survive.

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Carla Malrowe is an alternative songwriter, musician and producer from South Africa, currently residing in The Netherlands. Malrowe’s music is a juxtaposition of electronic and analogue sounds with lyrics that are unapologetically macabre and melancholic. Listen to her new electropop single, ‘Dear Host’.