track durations on promo material

There may have already been a thread on this topic. I've
often wondered why record labels often mis-timed the
length of a track on promotional 45, 12" and cd singles.
I'm not referring to one or one or two seconds off but
big timing errors. A random example would be a radio
edit track listed as 3:47 but the track was really 4:15.
Was this intentional or just really bad attention to
detail? Certain labels were more notorious than others.
Anyone have theories or inside info? I've spent
countless hours trying to track down certain edits only
to find out it they don't exist...
    

Edited by promojunkie

thecdguy wrote: I imagine a shorter running time would be more attractive to radio programmers because it would allow more time for advertising.

Let's put to rest the notion that radio played edits
(or pitched songs) to "fit in more commercials". They
didn't. Why? It would be just as easy to play one
less song.
Top 40 has always been a fast-paced formats, and long
songs can slow down the momentum. As far as mis-timed
records (and commercial copies were mis-timed as
well), I'm sure some of it was deliberate, other times
a mistake. Then there were the songs (Fakin' It-Simon
& Garfunkel immediately comes to mind) where the time
was listed in an odd manner...in that case listed time
was 2:74.

Pitching is a different story...it was done to
brighten up the sound, and make a given song sound
"draggy" elsewhere. Of course that didn't stop
stations (particularly in the 70s) from getting into
"pitch wars", resulting into an all Chipmunks all the
time scenario.

PopArchivist wrote: I also think back then if you said a single was 3:59 and it was 4:18 the DJ's might play it since it was under 4 minutes the theory goes. All I know is that I agree it makes it hard sometimes to know what the actual time is, unless you time the 45, cd single or source...

I think that's definitely true. As a 45 collector,
there were a LOT of singles released with a 3:59
printed timing during the '80s. I guess 4:00 was
still a bit of a barrier back then.

Interesting that songs were getting longer all through
the '70s and '80s, and they're getting shorter again
today. (Maybe "American Top 40" could go back to
three hours again! :) )

Most music directors at hit stations weren't fooled very
much by any label miss timing because when they added a
song and carted it up, if the timing was wrong and the
cart stopped before done recording, the reps would hear
about that next time they would drop by the station. And
most stations would time the song themselves before
adding it. It might have worked with Juke Boxes, but
usually not radio.
Still never figured out why some did that, because it
basically fooled no one.