Songs in a Lifetime Calculator

How it works

songs per day = hours × 60 ÷ song length; lifetime = per day × 365.25 × listening years (from age 5)

Two hours of music a day at three and a half minutes a song is 34 songs — over 12,000 a year and close to a million in a lifetime. A streaming catalogue holds 100 million tracks, so even a devoted listener meets under 1% of what exists; most of us replay a few thousand favourites. The per-song subscription cost is usually a fraction of a cent — the price of a single download bought roughly 130 plays.

Worked example

2 hours a day of 3.5-minute songs from age 5 to 82: 34 songs a day, 12,500 a year, about 960,000 in a lifetime — 78,000 albums’ worth, at under $0.01 a play on a $10.99 plan.

Frequently asked questions