Why 60s songs short?

[marmaduke]

Why are songs from the 50s and 60s often quite short (mostly under three minutes) compared to today's efforts?

[myron21]

Was it due to the fact that you could only fit a few minutes onto a 7in vinyl disk?  I dont know when the 12' was introduced, but I am guessing it was not until the 70's.  I think I prefer a shorter song anyway.

[lookslikemik]

The optimal time without sacrificing sound quality on a 7" was found to be 2 minutes 59 seconds at some stage.  Another reason for songs being short was to suit early radio formatters, who wanted songs to be kept short in order to stop people changing station!  The Righteous Brothers' "Loving Feeling" was way over the limit, but the label on the record had it down as three minutes.  Not very subtle, but it worked.