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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

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More or Less: Why Albums are Getting Longer

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Why albums are getting longer

11/11/2017 GMT

Why Albums are Getting Longer

BBC World Service - More or Less, Why Albums are Getting Longer

More or less finds out the numbers that are changing modern music.

The pop album is expanding, and there’s a numerical reason why. More or less finds out the numbers that are changing modern music.

Chris Brown’s latest album is stuffed with so many songs it runs at a sprawling two hours and twenty minutes. It’s only the latest in a string of lengthy album releases that includes artists like Drake, The Weeknd and Lil B. More or Less speaks to Hugh McIntyre, a music journalist who has found out that a numerical change in the way the album charts are measured is tempting artists into making longer albums.

We also talk to Marc Hogan, a senior writer at Pitchfork, about a number that is changing the sound of pop music. You can find more of Marc Hogan's writing on pitchfork.com.


Presenter: Jordan Dunbar    Producer: Xavier Zapata

(Image: Chris Brown performs onstage at 2017 BET Awards. Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)

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