Shadowing Practice: Is music getting faster? | 6 Minute English. - Learn English Speaking with Video
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This is a download from BBC Learning English.
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To find out more, visit our website.
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Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English.
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I'm Neil.
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And hello, I'm Rob.
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Today we're discussing music and the idea that songs are becoming faster.
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What music do you like, Rob?
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Oh, me.
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I like rock music.
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It has good vocals and it's loud.
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How about you, Neil?
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Well, I like anything and I prefer streaming my music actually.
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No old fashioned CDs to buy and load up.
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It's easier to play and you can play it anywhere.
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And streaming is where you listen or watch music or videos directly from the internet as a continuous stream.
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Did you know that some people believe
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that streaming music online is actually changing the songs people write and it might be leading to songs getting faster?
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Well, that's what we're discussing today.
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Let's hope it doesn't happen to this programme, otherwise we might become three-minute English.
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But before it does, let's get on with our question for everyone to answer.
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In 2017, Luis Fonzi's summer hit Despacito officially became the most streamed song of all time.
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Do you know approximately how many times it was streamed?
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Was it a 1.6 billion times, b 3.6 billion times, or c 4.6 billion times?
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I know the song was popular but 4.6 billion sounds too big so I'll go for A, 1.6 billion.
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OK, well we'll find out later in the programme.
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But now back to our discussion about how music producers are adapting their songs for modern technology.
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Researchers have found long instrumental introductions to pop songs have become almost extinct.
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Of course the aim of many pop songs is to be enjoyed by many, to be popular.
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But they also need to be a commercial success.
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They need to make money.
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Brendan Williams, a music producer and Professor of Music Technology, can explain what he thinks influences the songs.
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Here he is speaking on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme.
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I think that, you know, one of the things that's driving this, er, there are a number of things.
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They're all radio, er, they're all singles designed for radio playlists.
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Radio playlists are extremely important factors in judging the success of a track
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and obviously do feed into the kind of commercial success of a track.
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So, he mentions that radio playlists are important factors.
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A playlist is a list of songs that a radio station plans to play.
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And he says that radio playlists affect the commercial success of a song.
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By the way, he called a song a track – that's a recorded piece of music.
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And notice how he used the word driving, which means having a strong influence.
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So getting a song played on the radio is important
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and it has to be made in a way that will suit the radio station's playlist.
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Now, we know there are thousands of songs out there to listen to and plenty of ways to listen to them, so how can record companies get someone to listen to their particular song?
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Well, have a listen to Brendan Williams again to see what he thinks.
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But then there's the influence of streaming services like Spotify, where if a track isn't played for at least 30 seconds then it doesn't register a play. And Spotify...
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And if we don't hear the vocals then we might not carry on listening, is that the theory?
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Brendan Williams Absolutely yeah, that's the theory, is to get through, I guess to get into the meat of the song, to hear the lyrical content and get through to that first chorus.
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Well, it seems songs no longer have an intro, the instrumental piece of music that's played before the singing begins.
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In the old days, radio DJs, disc jockeys who played the records, loved to talk over that bit.
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Now we need to get to the lyrical content – that's the lyrics, or the words of the song, as soon as possible.
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So the theory, or idea, is to present listeners with vocals and a chorus more quickly as it will make them want to continue listening.
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That's because if a song isn't streamed for more than 30 seconds, it doesn't register a play.
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It doesn't get measured or recorded as a play.
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So it doesn't make money.
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So a song needs to hook the listener in quickly.
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In other words, it needs to attract their attention and be easy to remember.
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Another word for this is catchy.
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Do you have any favourite catchy songs, Rob?
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Oh, I do, I do.
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It's got to be Happy by Pharrell Williams.
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Very catchy song.
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Well, something that is always catchy in this programme is our quiz question.
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Earlier I mentioned that in 2017 Luis Fonzi's summer hit, Despacito, officially became the most streamed song of all time.
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Did you know approximately how many times it was streamed?
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Was it a 1.6 billion times, b 3.6 billion times, or c 4.6 billion times?
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And I went for a staggering 1.6 billion times.
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Well, it's not staggering enough, Rob.
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It was actually streamed 4.6 billion times.
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Amazing.
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That's a number that we can only dream of for this programme.
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Or is it?
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Well, Neil, shall we download to our memory some of the vocabulary we've learnt today?
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Streaming describes the activity of listening to or watching music, radio or videos directly from the internet as a continuous stream.
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Something that is a commercial success is popular and makes lots of money, like a new computer game or pop song.
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A good pop song, Rob.
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Not something annoying like Gangnam Style.
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Ah, well that was a huge commercial success because it was catchy, a word that describes something that attracts attention and is easy to remember.
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We also mentioned a playlist – that's a list of songs
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that a radio station plans to play –
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and we also used the same word – playlist – to
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describe a list of songs you compile yourself on a streaming service.
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We also heard the adjective driving, which in the context of our discussion means having a strong influence.
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And we mentioned the verb to register – if you register something, you record, count or measure it.
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Like every download of this programme is registered.
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But how do we download this programme, Rob?
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By going to our website at bbclearningenglish.com And we have an app too.
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Download it for free and stream all of our content.
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Bye for now.
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Bye.
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Why Are Songs Getting Faster? Let's Explore the Trend
Imagine tuning into a radio show where two hosts debate whether modern music is speeding up. That's the scenario in this engaging video, where Neil and Rob dive into how streaming services and radio playlists are changing song structures. They discuss why long instrumental intros are vanishing and how producers now focus on hooking listeners within 30 seconds—all while testing your knowledge of hit song streams. It's a real-world conversation that blends culture, technology, and language, making it perfect for practicing everyday English.
Useful Chunks & Collocations to Remember
- Streaming music: Listening to music directly from the internet, not downloading it. Example: "I prefer streaming music on my phone."
- Commercial success: When a product (like a song) makes a lot of money. Example: "Radio playlists often lead to commercial success for tracks."
- Meat of the song: The most important part, usually the chorus or lyrics. Example: "Producers now skip the intro to get to the meat of the song quickly."
- Register a play: To count as a listen on streaming platforms. Example: "A song must play for 30 seconds to register a play on Spotify."
- Drive the trend: To strongly influence a change. Example: "Streaming services are driving the trend of faster songs."
Your Shadowing Challenge
Ready to practice? Try the shadowing technique: Play a 30-second clip of the dialogue, pause, and repeat it aloud, matching the tone, speed, and rhythm. Focus on phrases like "get through to that first chorus" or "radio playlists are extremely important factors." For extra practice, use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare it to the original. This helps with fluency and pronunciation—key for sounding natural in English. Whether you call it shadowspeak or shadow speak, the goal is to mimic and learn. Give it a try—you might be surprised how much you improve!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was streamed · be enjoyed · be made |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have found · we've learnt |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might be · might become · might not carry |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most streamed |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.