A new song is being released every 1.3 seconds!

Like a constant river flowing 100,000 to 120,000 m3/d OR the equivalent in “streams”, MUSIC creation, production, recording and listening has become ubiquitous and EVERYONE is a 3-minute rock start nowadays.

The other day when I was listening to a new music Friday playlist on Apple Music, I started wondering just how many songs are being released in a day? I wanted to compare it to back in the 1990’s when CD’s were the main music medium and an HMV music store was the main place to purchase music.

From a few different sources on the internet I found that the current daily new songs being uploaded to streaming music services range from 100,000 to 120,000 songs per day and with each year it is only growing. That is the equivalent of 40.2 million new songs per year and if one assumes on average 10 songs per album that would be approximately 4 million new albums per year…but how many artists actually even release an album nowadays?

For comparison I time travelled back to my local HMV store (or what I could remember of it) in 1998 and made a best estimate of what I thought would be the current songs and albums in inventory at one time and throughout the year in 1998.

My local HMV store in a Calgary, Alberta, Canada shopping mall in 1998:

• Assumed each CD is 5.5 inches square by 0.25 inches thick

• Assumed a bin of CD’s was 30 inches (2.5 feet) deep by 25 feet long. A bin being the long row of CD’s where a person would go through and find the CD they were looking for.

• As a result, each row of CD’s within the bin could hold at a max (30” divided by 0.25”) or 120 CD’s BUT multiply that by 0.8 as each row was never maxed out and a person needed space to select/find their CD.

• Within the bin that is 25 feet long there would be ~ 54 rows of CD’s as each CD was 5.5 inches wide. (25 feet divided by 5.5 inches)

• 54 rows of CD’s x 96 CD’s per row = 5,184 CD’s in a bin.

• I assumed in a store there was 8 large bins of CD’s in inventory.

• 8 x 5,184 CD’s = 41, 472 CD’s in a HMV store.

• 10 songs/CD = 414,720 songs in a HMV store at any one point.

• Of course, there was duplicates of CD’s, front shelves where they would have 20-40 of the same CD for the most popular artists etc. but I just wanted to get a high-level estimate for comparison

• It is very tough to estimate how often the inventory in a HMV store would turn over but most artists back then only released a new album every 1-3 years so I will assume 25% of the inventory would be replaced in an HMV store every 3 months, which I think is a reasonable assumption. I am assuming the inventory on Jan 1st of any given year was 414,720 songs and every 3 months 25% of those songs and associated CD's would be replaced.

• As a result, the accessible estimated new songs that would be released or on HMV shelves back in 1998 for a listener would be approximately 414,720 songs. (in an HMV store they could not keep an endless supply of music and only had space for maybe an artist’s latest 2-3 albums)

With a final estimate of 414,720 songs per year, that would equate to 1,136 new songs per day back in 1998. Comparing this to the current blended average of 110,000 new songs per day we are currently seeing an extra ~ 109,000 songs per day or 97 times more new music each day in the current year of 2024.

No wonder we feel overwhelmed and so much “stuff” gets lost in the music stratosphere!! Or that every song is now shorter in length?

Of course I support music and for the ability of everyone to make it but is there a utility and almost a necessity of having a gatekeeper such as a record company and its music distribution system. This quality assurance and control would keep the stream of new music at a level and frequency where we humans can consume, appreciate and follow it at a fair and reasonable rate?

Simply put the technology within all of music’s aspects has evolved so much over the past 15 years but how we as humans emotionally connect and listen to music HAS NOT. As a a result, this has produced a vast margin in our inability to consume and absorb all that is being created.

So once again, this validates my reason for songwriting is “I do it because I love creating music and nothing more”. Because at the end of the day, most likely, no one will ever hear my little 3-minute soundbites when there is 109,999 other ones to choose from?

Don’t let these numbers discourage you, rather let it be some healthy perspective and remember to always create music for the right reasons.

Cheers and stay in tune, and in touch,

Kent