What is the longest song available on Spotify?
In many ways, Spotify is both a help and a hindrance to the music industry. On the one hand, it helps music to become more discoverable and provides a platform for anybody to upload their material. On the other hand, it reduces potential revenue and prevents some from benefitting from its comprehensive algorithm system. Its monumental popularity, however, makes it hard to imagine there was ever a world without it.
For the average listener, Spotify is nothing short of a godsend, particularly considering the extensiveness of some musicians’ catalogues. Instead of trawling through YouTube or record stores, Spotify has pretty much everything, making it easy to load up and stick to anything your heart desires. Spotify’s expansive library is impossible to comprehend, but if for nothing else, it makes their staggering monthly price a little bit more worth it.
When it comes to artistic freedom, Spotify is also a pretty liberal choice for musicians, making it easier to upload songs without the need to conform to the traditional criteria that would usually come with radio stations, labels, or distributors. In theory, artists could upload whatever they please and execute whichever vision they desire, releasing music on their own terms and, in the best-case scenario, instantly reaching global audiences.
As a result, song length is one of the aspects of musical creation Spotify has impacted, with some favouring shorter runtimes for a more accessible and instantly gratifying appeal, while others utilise this freedom to create something more long-form, whether for experimental or conceptual purposes. Although the rise of platforms like TikTok and the popularity of playlists have encouraged more artists to stick to the shorter time sweet spot, others have pushed back against the grain and opted for longer tracks, aware of the potential risk but steadfast in their commitment to their craft nonetheless.
So, what are the longest songs on Spotify?
Longer songs are increasing in popularity, but it’s unclear why exactly. There are a variety of avenues to explore when analysing the rising fixation with such songs, but generally, it’s easier to understand if you place these art pieces in a category similar to that of movies. By running for a longer amount of time than expected, many of these songs play out like full narratives, capturing a theme or emotion in all of its glorious complexity.
For a long while, Spotify obtained a cap on song length, but recent times have proven that artists can create songs that last hours, giving them more of an opportunity to explore comprehensive concepts or provide a dynamic listening experience. According to Guinness World Records, the longest song ever recorded is ‘Shri Ramcharitmanas’, running for a whopping 138 hours, 41 minutes and 20 seconds. However, on Spotify, it comes nowhere close, given its penchant for splitting up songs over a certain runtime.
Despite being subjected to the same fate and sitting on the platform in 25 parts, some sources claim the longest song currently on Spotify to be ‘Symphony of the Crown’ by Theranee, sitting at 48 hours, 39 minutes, and 43 seconds. In 2011, it also claimed the crown as the longest song ever officially released, surpassing PC III’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Bossanova’ and its lousy 13 hours, 23 minutes, and 32 seconds.
However, ‘The Rise and Fall of Bossanova Section IV’ is currently on Spotify running for four hours and 20 minutes, making it one of the most important contenders worthy of note. There’s also ‘Opus Clavicesmbalisticum’ by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji at four hours, but the real answer itself seems divided into sections. For the longest song ever recorded, there’s no competition—it’s ‘Shri Ramcharitmanas’. For the longest on Spotify cut up into parts, it’s ‘Symphony of the Crown’, and for the longest uninterrupted, it appears to be ‘The Rise and Fall of Bossanova Section IV’.
