Rat-Like Attention Spans

After watching an online video for a full minute, 44.1 percent of viewers will have clicked away, according to Visible Measures. But an outsize slice of that loss occurs in the first 10 seconds, during which 19.4 percent of a video’s audience defects. This phenomenon, known as “viewer abandonment,” is of intense interest to those who make online videos or advertise alongside them. It’s no news that music videos have begun to have more and more of a story to them in the recent years. And it’s no news that American’s attention spans have decreased significantly over the years. The connection between the two, has become seemingly obvious, looking deeper into the matter. The days of watching a straightforward video with just a band singing to a song in some fog are no more. That’s too boring of a concept for viewers to watch. We need more to a video in this day and age. Music video creators are conceptualizing harder and harder to create videos that contain a story or some sort. Whether it’s a dramatic or sad story, or the weirdest, wildest one imaginable, creators have to create content that can hold viewers for the entirety of a video. If they can’t, they essentially lose view, which in turn brings in less money. Although our attention spans are because of this, it doesn’t necessarily mean this is a bad thing. For one thing, it has forced creators to have more of a story behind a song, which allows viewers to connect better with both the song and the video. These new forms of music videos have allowed us to connect with music and their counterpart videos on a more, deeper level, which allows us to have a more respect and appreciation for a piece of work.