Audience engagement | 4 secrets from the music industry for irresistible communications

With so many distractions competing for people’s attention, does your content for internal communications or learning have what it takes to keep the spotlight firmly focused on it?

Over the past few years our behaviour online has become more skittish – we flick through posts on social media, or visit websites for only a few seconds before leaving. A recent study by researchers in Denmark bears this out, suggesting that digital media is narrowing our attention spans due to the sheer volume of information at our fingertips.

Similarly, streaming platforms have changed how we listen to music. We can flick between tracks until something holds our attention. “All the streaming data shows our attention spans are getting shorter”, says songwriter Helienne Lindvall.

And, fascinatingly, this is affecting the music itself. Songwriters now have to create music that keeps people listening – their livelihoods literally depend on it. Tom Grey, songwriter, producer and member of 90’s band Gomez, explains: “A stream counts after 30 seconds. So, the most important thing to a songwriter is to keep you in until you get to the 31st second, the moment at which they earn their tiny micropayment.”