“Waiting for Bono” – why charities need to think about shortening attention spans

I bought my first CD as a teenager in the late 1980s. I didn't actually own a CD player, but my big brother convinced me that the technology was here to stay, so it represented good investment of my pocket money. What album was it? I'm relatively proud to say it was U2's The Joshua Tree. And the first song is the haunting Where the Streets Have No Name. You can listen to it here. My question is this: what happens after 106 seconds of this track? That's right. Bono doesn't begin to sing for nearly two minutes! Good things come to those who wait, right? I remember relishing the gradual crescendo of the organ's chord progressions, followed by The Edge's pulsating guitar, and it felt like his voice came in at just the right point. And nearly six passionate minutes later, he finishes with the lyrics: Oh when I go there I go there with you It's all I can do Now compare it with this song, the biggest selling track of 2016. Yes, the vocals begin in under 10 seconds. I know, I know. I'm sounding like an old man. Don't get me wrong. I actually quite like Rockabye. But it was different in my day. I can tell you that for a fact, because research from earlier this year confirms it. A study from Ohio State University has found that musical introductions are now four times shorter these days. As the study's author, Hubert Léveillé Gauvin, says: It’s survival-of-the-fittest: Songs that manage to grab and sustain listeners’ attention g