POP MUSIC

THE SHORT OF IT: As the average length of albums grows, works that hold to the old standards are starting to look mighty skimpy.

For example: Heartland rocker Bryan Adams’ latest runs more than 74 minutes, for the same price as heartland rocker John Mellencamp’s 39-minute new one.

Here are some of the skimpiest bestsellers these days:

* Garth Brooks’ “Ropin’ the Wind” (36:47).

* Randy Travis’ “High Lonesome” (32:00).

* Reba McEntire’s “For My Broken Heart” (37:00).

* Travis Tritt’s “It’s All About to Change” (33:55).

Notice a pattern? Most of the short albums are by country artists. It’s a genre that’s still oriented to the three-minute radio song, with none of the extended dance tracks that many pop artists include these days, nor the ambitious opuses that rockers offer. And most major country labels put nine- or 10-song limits on their albums to keep the recording and royalty payments down.

Still, isn’t a 33-minute CD a bit, well, slight?

“We’ve never had an artist want to put 50 or 60 minutes on an album,” says Dave Wheeler, head of marketing for RCA Nashville, which has a nine-song limit on country albums, with an occasional CD bonus track.

He also defended the practice by saying that the saving is passed along to the consumer: Most RCA country CDs list for $12.98, a dollar less than most of its rock CDs. (Music Plus in Hollywood, however, says it’s selling country’s Clint Black and rap’s D.J. Jazzy Jeff--both RCA acts--for $13.98.)

“We don’t have the kind of fan base that a Guns N’ Roses has,” Wheeler says. “We have to go out there and get going on each project, so more money goes into promotion. It costs as much to advertise and promote a Clint Black as it does to advertise a Guns N’ Roses. Guns N’ Roses is going to sell twice as much, but the advertising costs the same.”