Speed of sound – how Spotify killed the long intro

With the rise of streaming, artists are frontloading their songs to get listeners past 30 seconds – the point where they get paid. So how would some classic intros sound today?

We’ve killed the intro. And we’re all guilty. This decade’s songwriters have long believed that, with the world’s music at their fingertips, fickle consumers are skipping anything not instantly boiling-magma hot. Now, research from Ohio State University backs them up: the average intro is down from 20 seconds in the 1980s to just five seconds today. The fight to get to the crucial 30 seconds of play mark (after which Spotify pays out) means that many have resorted to using the intro to create a sort of potted highlights reel of the song yet to come.

So what would some of history’s greatest intros sound like if their authors had been subject to modern market pressures?