This is due to an emerging trend on social media, especially TikTok, for creators to change the tempo of popular songs by 25-30% to accompany short popular videos of dancing or other themes, the BBC reported.
These versions are even helping some artists climb the official singles charts. In November 2022, fan-created sped-up versions of RAYE's single Escapism helped the artist achieve her first number one in the UK's official singles chart, nearly three months after its initial release.
The phenomenon poses a very contemporary challenge - how do singers create the next hit tune when the one people actually listen to can sound so different?
Accelerated listening emerged in the early 2000s as "nightcore," launched by the Norwegian DJ duo of the same name, which accelerates the pitch and speed of a song.
It's now commonplace in our social media apps, where the speed of podcasts, voice memos, movies, etc. can be increased so we can consume them in less time.
Take Spotify, for example, where in 2023 more than a third of U.S. listeners are speeding up podcasts, and nearly two-thirds are playing songs at a faster pace.
The streaming service has confirmed that it is currently testing a new, more widespread feature that could potentially allow us to remix the tempo of songs and share them.
"Short video platforms like TikTok limit the ways we listen in snippets - but those limitations also allow you to experience a song in a new way. Short clips provide a quicker line to the dopamine rush that social media wants us to feel - so there's an element of addiction that we're pushed towards," said Dr. Mary Beth Ray, an author involved in digital music culture.
DJ Maia Beth of BBC Radio 1 believes that "it's already hard for established labels and musicians to ignore this trend because sometimes it can feel like if they don't release the fast-track version, someone else will."
Beth, who admits she can't imagine sitting and listening to an accelerated version of a song all the time, believes the trend shouldn't necessarily distract musicians.
"Accelerated versions of songs can help artists break through or get popular, although the initial success may not be long-lasting," the Radio 1 presenter said.
Unofficial sped-up or slowed-down tunes differ from professional remixes - they're much shorter and can easily be made by anyone, including on TikTok, Instagram Reels and other apps.
But some of our biggest popstars are adopting them.
In 2022. Summer Walker released the first fully sped-up album, a remixed version of her 2018 record Last Day of Summer that appeared after a dance trend on TikTok.
Billy Eilish also released official fast and slow versions of songs. Sabrina Carpenter's UK number one hits Please Please Please and Espresso received a similar treatment.
TikTok claims to be seeing an increase in the number of sped up and slowed down versions of songs from its catalogue being downloaded from the platform, then becoming officially released.
These official tempo-altered releases are now grouped together with the original song in the Official UK Singles Chart, along with remixes, acoustic versions and live versions, helping artists climb the chart.
However, not everyone is happy with this trend. The popularity of altered-speed versions can make it difficult to distinguish the original from the remix, while also disrupting the artist's intended tempo, mood and tone.
In March, speaking on the A Safe Place podcast, Lil Yachty said he was so embarrassed when additional versions of his song "A Cold Sunday" were released that he asked for them to be taken down.
In October 2022, after one of Steve Lacy's concerts on his Give You The World Tour, it was revealed that the audience was not singing much of his hit Bad Habit.
Some people shared videos of this on the internet and suggested that the popular sped-up version of the track was more recognisable to some of the people in the room.
While some performers like them and others less, it seems they are here to stay. | BGNES
