Long Songs Out, Short Songs In, 1959–2025
Topic: Culture & Entertainment
In this chart: The year's top 20 hits, Second Layer
About this chart
The gold line is the share of the year's top 20 hits that run longer than four minutes; the blue line is the share shorter than three minutes. Each point averages that year with the two before it. The readout gives the year, both shares and the typical length of that year's hits; the gold line's peak is marked. Point at any year, or tap it, to read its numbers. The animation draws the years from 1959 to 2025 over fifty-six seconds, holds on the last year for three seconds, and loops. The scrubber under the chart marks each year and pauses on any of them.
Method
The songs are the top 20 of Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for every year from 1959 to 2025, 1,340 songs, as the chart is reproduced on Wikipedia's “Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles” pages; a year-end chart covers Billboard's chart year, which does not match the calendar year exactly. The details of each song were compiled for DataSlapper from Wikipedia's song and artist pages, SongBPM and other song pages, with a cited page for every value, and checked by DataSlapper: every year's top 20 against Wikipedia's page, and a random sample of 112 songs against the pages cited. A value no source gave is left out, not guessed; a double-sided single that holds one chart position counts as one song.
A song's length is the length of its original single where the sources give one, and otherwise the album version. “Over four minutes” means longer than 4:00 and “under three minutes” shorter than 3:00. Each point pools a year's top 20 with the two years before it, so that one or two songs do not swing the line; 1959 stands alone and 1960 pools two years. The readout's typical length is the median length of that year's top 20 alone. Songs with no known length, 52 of the 1,340 and never more than four in a year, are left out.
Data sources
- Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles, 1959–2025, the top 20 of each year, as reproduced by Wikipedia
- Song lengths: Wikipedia's song and artist pages and other cited song pages, compiled for DataSlapper
Data table
Every year's top 20 hits from 1959 to 2025: how many have a known length, how many run over four minutes and under three, the typical length, and the three-year shares the chart draws. Compiled by DataSlapper.
Show all 67 rows
| Year | Songs with a length | Over 4:00 | Under 3:00 | Typical length | Share over 4:00, three years | Share under 3:00, three years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 20 | 0 | 19 | 2:25.5 | 0.0% | 95.0% |
| 1960 | 20 | 1 | 18 | 2:30 | 2.5% | 92.5% |
| 1961 | 20 | 0 | 19 | 2:32.5 | 1.7% | 93.3% |
| 1962 | 20 | 0 | 19 | 2:30.5 | 1.7% | 93.3% |
| 1963 | 20 | 0 | 17 | 2:28.5 | 0.0% | 91.7% |
| 1964 | 20 | 0 | 19 | 2:30 | 0.0% | 91.7% |
| 1965 | 20 | 0 | 15 | 2:45.5 | 0.0% | 85.0% |
| 1966 | 20 | 0 | 15 | 2:43 | 0.0% | 81.7% |
| 1967 | 20 | 1 | 18 | 2:37 | 1.7% | 80.0% |
| 1968 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 3:02 | 5.0% | 68.3% |
| 1969 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 2:55 | 10.2% | 61.0% |
| 1970 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 3:15 | 13.6% | 39.0% |
| 1971 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 3:11 | 14.3% | 39.3% |
| 1972 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 3:16 | 10.9% | 30.9% |
| 1973 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 3:26 | 13.0% | 27.8% |
| 1974 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 3:27 | 14.3% | 19.6% |
| 1975 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 3:26.5 | 17.2% | 17.2% |
| 1976 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 3:33 | 16.9% | 13.6% |
| 1977 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 3:37 | 18.3% | 11.7% |
| 1978 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3:35 | 15.3% | 8.5% |
| 1979 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 3:41.5 | 15.3% | 8.5% |
| 1980 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 3:50 | 19.0% | 8.6% |
| 1981 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 3:48 | 23.7% | 6.8% |
| 1982 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 3:42 | 20.3% | 10.2% |
| 1983 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 4:07 | 28.8% | 6.8% |
| 1984 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 3:59 | 36.8% | 5.3% |
| 1985 | 18 | 12 | 0 | 4:10 | 56.4% | 0.0% |
| 1986 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 4:14.5 | 66.1% | 0.0% |
| 1987 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 4:02.5 | 69.0% | 1.7% |
| 1988 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 4:18 | 66.1% | 1.7% |
| 1989 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 4:04.5 | 55.9% | 1.7% |
| 1990 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 4:29 | 62.1% | 0.0% |
| 1991 | 20 | 15 | 0 | 4:13.5 | 67.8% | 0.0% |
| 1992 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 4:13 | 67.9% | 1.8% |
| 1993 | 19 | 11 | 1 | 4:04 | 62.5% | 3.6% |
| 1994 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 4:10.5 | 57.4% | 3.7% |
| 1995 | 19 | 15 | 0 | 4:18 | 66.1% | 1.8% |
| 1996 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 4:30 | 69.8% | 0.0% |
| 1997 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 4:06.5 | 66.7% | 2.0% |
| 1998 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 4:11 | 60.0% | 2.0% |
| 1999 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 3:50.5 | 51.9% | 3.7% |
| 2000 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 4:17 | 59.6% | 1.8% |
| 2001 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 3:51.5 | 52.5% | 1.7% |
| 2002 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 4:05 | 55.9% | 1.7% |
| 2003 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 4:04 | 49.1% | 1.8% |
| 2004 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 3:55 | 48.2% | 1.8% |
| 2005 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 3:34 | 36.4% | 0.0% |
| 2006 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 3:52 | 29.8% | 1.8% |
| 2007 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 3:50 | 32.1% | 1.8% |
| 2008 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 4:09 | 44.6% | 1.8% |
| 2009 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 3:56.5 | 49.1% | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 3:45 | 43.9% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 3:47.5 | 32.1% | 0.0% |
| 2012 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 3:41 | 26.3% | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 3:52 | 28.1% | 1.8% |
| 2014 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 3:34.5 | 28.8% | 5.1% |
| 2015 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 3:46 | 31.7% | 6.7% |
| 2016 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 3:40.5 | 28.3% | 6.7% |
| 2017 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 3:42.5 | 28.3% | 6.7% |
| 2018 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 3:37 | 20.0% | 8.3% |
| 2019 | 19 | 1 | 7 | 3:10 | 13.6% | 18.6% |
| 2020 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 3:22 | 8.6% | 20.7% |
| 2021 | 20 | 2 | 9 | 3:14.5 | 8.6% | 32.8% |
| 2022 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 3:04 | 6.8% | 37.3% |
| 2023 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 3:12 | 5.0% | 46.7% |
| 2024 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 3:06 | 6.8% | 44.1% |
| 2025 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 2:59.5 | 13.6% | 44.1% |
Updated 2025
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