Because while the average movie takes 2 hours and 23 minutes to watch, boring, and the average YouTube video takes about 11 minutes and 42 seconds to watch, kinda boring.

因為電影平均需要 2 小時 23 分鐘才能看完，很無聊；而 YouTube 視頻平均需要 11 分 42 秒才能看完，也有點無聊。

3 minutes and 30 seconds.

3 分 30 秒

Is all it will take you on average.

這就是你平均需要的一切。

To listen to hit song on the Billboard Hot 100.

收聽公告牌熱門 100 歌曲。

Yeah, songs.

是的，歌曲。

They're a cool new thing I found.

它們是我發現的一個很酷的新東西。

All of these charts seem to claim that if you gather enough hit songs, they will always average out to this magic number.

所有這些排行榜似乎都聲稱，如果你收集了足夠多的熱門歌曲，它們的平均值總會達到這個神奇的數字。

So let's figure out if that's actually true.

讓我們來看看這是不是真的。

Let's take a popular artist.

讓我們以一位受歡迎的藝術家為例。

Let's take a popular artist.

讓我們以一位受歡迎的藝術家為例。

And find the average length of their 10 biggest songs.

並找出他們最受歡迎的 10 首歌曲的平均長度。

And sure enough, you get a number pretty close to 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

果然，你得到的數字非常接近 3 分 30 秒。

Well, almost.

差不多吧

There's some really short songs and some really long songs out there, but on average, the most famous ones will tend to be about this long.

有些歌曲很短，有些歌曲很長，但平均而言，最著名的歌曲往往都有這麼長。

And here's why.

原因就在這裡。

For most of the last two centuries, recorded music was on physical flat discs that we know as records.

在過去兩個世紀的大部分時間裡，錄製的音樂都保存在實體的平面光盤上，我們稱之為唱片。

You play the record by putting it in a record player, which spins it under a needle, and as it spins, the needle gets closer and closer to the center.

將唱片放入唱機播放，唱機會將唱片放在唱針下旋轉，隨著唱片的旋轉，唱針會越來越靠近唱片中心。

Eventually, it runs out of room and the song ends.

最後，空間耗盡，歌曲結束。

So how much music could a record hold before it ran out of space?

那麼，一張唱片在空間耗盡之前能容納多少音樂呢？

In the beginning, most records spun pretty quickly at 78 revolutions per minute, so it turned out you could fit just about 3 minutes of song on a disc before you ran out of space.

起初，大多數唱片都以每分鐘 78 轉的速度快速旋轉，是以在空間耗盡之前，一張光盤只能容納大約 3 分鐘的歌曲。

Not terrible.

還不錯。

But then how did we ever end up with songs like Stairway to Heaven that were somehow 8 minutes or longer?

但是，我們怎麼會有像 "天國的階梯"（Stairway to Heaven）這樣長達 8 分鐘或更長的歌曲呢？

For that, you could thank long play vinyl records, otherwise known as LPs.

這要感謝長打黑膠唱片，也就是所謂的 LP。

Which, aside from being bigger and making you look cooler, could spin at a super slow 33 and 1/3 RPM.

除了體積更大、看起來更酷之外，它還能以超慢的 33/1/3 RPM 轉速旋轉。

In theory, this allowed songs to be up to 20 minutes.

理論上，這允許歌曲長達 20 分鐘。

But for some weird reason, songs only got a little bit longer.

但出於某種奇怪的原因，歌曲只是變得更長了一些。

Even when music became digital, the average song length still didn't exceed 3:30.

即使在音樂數字化之後，歌曲的平均長度仍然不超過 3:30。

How come?

怎麼會這樣？

Well, radio stations started popping up, and they needed to make money with ads and commercials.

廣播電臺開始出現，它們需要通過廣告和商業廣告賺錢。

So unless you're singing the McDonald's jingle in your song, you better end it quickly so they can slap a commercial after it.

所以，除非你在歌裡唱麥當勞的廣告歌，否則最好快點結束，好讓他們在歌后插播廣告。

And in general, people like shorter songs.

一般來說，人們喜歡短一點的歌曲。

But why 3:30?

但為什麼是 3:30？

Is this some kind of magic number?

這是某種神奇的數字嗎？

Is there some kind of formula that tells you how long your song should be to get the most sales and the most plays?

是否有某種公式可以告訴你，歌曲應該多長才能獲得最多的銷量和播放次數？

Of course not, music is an art, you can't reduce it down to a formula.

當然不是，音樂是一門藝術，你不能把它簡化成一個公式。

That would be silly.

那就太傻了。

But there is a famous optimal readymade uniform lyrical arrangement that you can follow.

但有一個著名的最佳現成統一抒情安排，您可以遵循。

To mathematically give your song the highest chance of being catchy and memorable and the lowest chance of being boring.

從數學角度看，讓你的歌曲朗朗上口、令人難忘的機率最大，而乏味的機率最小。

It's measured in bars.

它的組織、部門是條。

You can usually think of a bar as four beats.

通常可以把一小節看作四拍。

It's going to have a short intro, a long first verse with a block of lyrics, a short pre-chorus, and finally, the chorus, the main catchy part of the song.

這首歌會有一段簡短的前奏、一段較長的第一節歌詞、一段簡短的前副歌，最後是副歌，也就是整首歌朗朗上口的主要部分。

Then you just repeat.

然後再重複一遍。

Verse, pre-chorus, chorus.

歌詞、前副歌、副歌。

Then a fun new part, so no one gets bored.

然後是有趣的新部分，這樣大家就不會感到無聊了。

And just in case people forgot it, here's that chorus again.

為了以防人們忘記，這裡又出現了那段合唱。

Then outro, and you're done.

然後是結尾，就大功告成了。

It's going to have 110 bars in total.

它總共將有 110 個酒吧。

Which multiply that by four is 440 beats.

再乘以 4，就是 440 個節拍。

Now, fun fact, most people prefer songs around 120 to 130 beats per minute.

現在，有趣的事實是，大多數人更喜歡每分鐘 120 至 130 拍左右的歌曲。

Which is actually the same tempo you walk at in steps per minute.

實際上，這與你以每分鐘步數行走的節奏相同。

So let's make our song right in the middle, say 125 BPM.

是以，讓我們的歌曲處於中間位置，比如 125 BPM。

That's 440 beats and 125 beats per minute, giving you a song that's exactly, well, almost exactly, 3 and 1/2 minutes long.

440 拍，每分鐘 125 拍，這樣一首歌的長度正好是 3 分半鐘。

Not all songs are like this.

並不是所有的歌曲都是這樣的。

Some take out the pre-chorus and they're done in 2 minutes.

有些人把前副歌去掉，2 分鐘就完成了。

Some follow the formula, but they have a slow BPM, which makes them 5 minutes.

有些遵循公式，但它們的節拍較慢，是以需要 5 分鐘。

But on average, songs will tend to follow this magic number.

但平均而言，歌曲往往會遵循這個神奇的數字。

I also tried to follow it.

我也試著關注它。

And it looks like we're running out of time.

看來我們的時間不多了。

So before the video ends, could you do me a favor and hit that subscribe button?

在視頻結束之前，請幫我按下訂閱按鈕。