Deadlines, schedules, expectations - either your own or your perception of what others may have on you. The ability to create a custom image in under 45 seconds by simply typing in a quick descriptive phrase into a text box. Need a better garlic press? A couple clicks will have one delivered to your home tomorrow. Wanna watch a movie? Pick a genre and scroll through a catalogue spanning 80-years of Hollywood flicks and have a Oscar winning movie cued up on your home screen within a matter of minutes.

I last released music over a year ago. I have dozens of melodies, story ideas, catchy phrases cued up on my phone and in Logic ready to be manipulated into a three minute tune. 3 minutes, thats the average time of a song on the radio now. In the last decade over a minute has been shaved off the average length of a radio hit.

1970s: 3 minutes and 55 seconds

1980s: 4 minutes and 8 seconds

1990s: 4 minutes and 14 seconds

2000s: 4 minutes and 10 seconds

2010s: 4 minutes and 26 seconds

2020s: 3 minutes and 15 seconds

So how long does it take to write a song? Well, an average of 4.5 writers and 2.4 producers create a Top 100 hit these days, while 5

writers and 2.5 producers produce a Top 40 hit. On Beyonce's hit "Heated" in 2023 it took 18 songwriters. But how long does it take to write that 3 minute song? There are amazing stories of hits written in mere moments, like Beastie Boys "You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party: - written in 15 minutes. Lady Gaga "Just Dance" in 10 minutes. Ray Charles "What'd I Say" improvised on stage, Lorde "Royals - 30 minutes.

But thats not typical.

When I first started writing, though, thats how I thought hits were made. They were inspiration, they were raw, they had to be created in the moment or else there was some sort of illegitimacy about them. Well that was dumb. Sure I got some good ones, but most were weak. They may have a good foundation or structure, but the build, the tone, the lyrics were probably lacking.

So instead of trying to develop all of those nuggets as quick as possible and push out another 10 ten songs in a matter of months, Im taking my time. I have 5 songs in the late stages of development now. 4 of them have pretty much kept true to their start, but have seen changes in tone and tempo, lyrics and instrumentation. While 1 is a completely different song than when it started. The tempo is up, the lyrics are 100% rewritten, its a different story now. The mood is 180 degrees away from where it started, the song structure is unrecognizable from the first draft. And its a much better song.

IM just waiting now on some final instrumentation which will probably another 4 months for me to get because Im waiting on the schedule of others. But thats ok. Its worth the wait. No on is knocking on my door asking for these songs. I'm doing this for me. Yes, of course I'll put them out there, and if they catch, then great. but what I want to make sure of, is that they are good. That I dont have to explain anything away, or wish I had done something different.

Ive learned, that to do things right, sometimes it takes time, and thats ok. Because I finally do release the songs, I'll be happy to have you hear them.