You know that feeling. You're scrolling through a feed—maybe it's TikTok, maybe it's Reels—and a fifteen-second clip hits just right. It’s catchy. The bass is fuzzy in that specific way that makes your brain tingle. You think, i like a song, and you go to find the full version. But then, something weird happens. You listen to the whole three minutes and realize the part you liked was the only part worth liking.
It’s a specific kind of modern heartbreak.
Music used to be an investment of time. Now? It’s a momentary vibe check. When someone says "i like a song" in 2026, they aren't necessarily saying they've bought the vinyl or even followed the artist on Spotify. They're saying the algorithm did its job for exactly one minute. This shift has fundamentally changed how music is written, produced, and even titled.
The Algorithm is the New A&R
Labels used to have these people called A&R reps. Their whole job was to go to sweaty clubs, listen to bands, and find the "it" factor. Today, the "it" factor is a 10-second hook designed to be a background track for a "Get Ready With Me" video. Honestly, it’s kinda bleak.
If you look at the Billboard Hot 100 over the last few years, songs are getting shorter. Much shorter. In the 90s, the average radio hit was about four minutes long. Now, we’re seeing tracks clocking in at 2:15. Why? Because the "i like a song" moment needs to happen fast. If you don't hook the listener in the first five seconds, they skip. If they skip, the algorithm thinks the song is trash.
Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have basically trained us to have the attention spans of gnats. We don’t listen to albums; we listen to moods. "Lo-fi beats to study to" or "Sad girl autumn." The individual artist is becoming secondary to the playlist placement.
The "TikTok-ification" of the Hook
Take a look at how songs are being structured now. Producers are literally front-loading the most "clip-able" part of the track. Sometimes, the chorus happens twice in the first minute. It’s all about creating that instant recognition.
📖 Related: Why American Beauty by the Grateful Dead is Still the Gold Standard of Americana
When you say i like a song after hearing it on a social platform, you’re reacting to a micro-moment. Artists like Lil Nas X or PinkPantheress mastered this early on. They understood that a song doesn't need to be an epic odyssey; it just needs to be a perfect "snack."
But there’s a downside to this.
A lot of people feel like music is becoming "disposable." You like a song for a week, you use the audio in a post, and then you never want to hear it again. It’s the "fast fashion" of the ear.
Why We Still Crave Direct Connection
Despite the algorithmic noise, humans are still wired for narrative. We want to know the person behind the sound. That’s why when a song like "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan goes viral, it’s not just because of a catchy clip. It’s because once people said i like a song and went to find the rest, they found a real person with a real story.
Nuance matters.
The industry is currently in a tug-of-war. On one side, you have the data-driven "hit factories" that are trying to manufacture the next 15-second viral soundbite. On the other, you have artists trying to maintain the integrity of a full-length project.
👉 See also: Why October London Make Me Wanna Is the Soul Revival We Actually Needed
The Death of the "Slow Burn"
One of the biggest casualties of the "i like a song" culture is the slow burn. Think about a song like "Stairway to Heaven" or even something more modern like Frank Ocean’s "Pyramids." These tracks take time to build. They don't give you the payoff immediately. In today's landscape—wait, I hate that word—basically, in today's world, those songs would never get off the ground.
If a song doesn't "pop" in the first 30 seconds, it’s dead on arrival for the casual listener.
This creates a weird pressure for songwriters. They feel like they have to "hack" the listener's brain. Use specific frequencies. Use repetitive lyrics that work well for captions. It’s more like engineering than art sometimes.
How to Find Music You Actually Love (Without the Algorithm)
If you’re tired of the "fast food" music cycle, you have to work a little harder. You can't just wait for the feed to tell you what to listen to.
- Go to Bandcamp. Seriously. It’s one of the few places left where you can actually support artists directly. You can browse by tag, and the people there are usually making music because they have something to say, not because they want to go viral.
- Listen to local radio. Not the big corporate stations that play the same 40 tracks. Find the college stations or the independent community ones. These DJs are obsessive nerds who play things just because they’re good.
- Follow curators, not playlists. Find a real human being whose taste you trust. Maybe it's a YouTuber, a Substack writer, or that one friend who always has the best aux cord selections.
When you find something this way, saying i like a song feels different. It feels like a discovery, not an assignment from a machine.
The Paradox of Choice
We have access to every song ever recorded, yet we’re more bored than ever. It’s the paradox of choice. When you have 100 million tracks in your pocket, the value of a single song drops.
✨ Don't miss: How to Watch The Wolf and the Lion Without Getting Lost in the Wild
Back in the day, if you bought a CD and it only had two good songs on it, you still listened to the whole thing because you paid fifteen bucks for it. Often, those "filler" tracks became your favorites over time. They grew on you.
Today, we don't give music the chance to grow on us.
Moving Beyond the Like Button
If you want to deepen your relationship with music, you have to stop treating it as background noise.
Try this: Put on an album—a real, full-length album—and do nothing else. Don't scroll. Don't wash the dishes. Just sit there and listen. It’ll feel weird at first. Your brain will itch for a distraction. But by the time you get to the end, you’ll realize that saying i like a song is just the surface.
Liking a song is easy. Understanding it takes a second.
The next time you find yourself humming a melody you heard in a 10-second clip, do the artist a favor. Look up their discography. Read about where they’re from. See if they’re touring. Music is a conversation, and right now, we’re mostly just eavesdropping on the highlights.
Actionable Steps for the Modern Listener
- Check the "Fans Also Like" section. But go three levels deep. Click an artist you like, then click a related artist, then click a related artist of that artist. You’ll end up in a niche you never would have found otherwise.
- Support the merch. Since streaming pays fractions of a cent, buying a T-shirt or a physical record is the only way to ensure the artists you "like" can keep making music.
- Turn off "Autoplay." When your chosen album or playlist ends, let there be silence for a minute. It forces you to consciously decide what you want to hear next, rather than letting the algorithm dictate your mood.
- Keep a "Music Diary." It sounds dorky, but write down the name of one song every day that actually made you feel something. At the end of the month, you’ll have a map of your actual taste, not just a list of what was trending.