I'm giving a behind the screen look at my process. But hey.... We're all friends here.... Well, most of us anyway....so....

I believe you have to grab the listener within the first 15 seconds or you risk losing them. Then if you manage to keep them at this point, you have to deliver the goods before the one minute point. So long intros lose your audience before you ever sing the first word. Then if your chorus is not started by the one minute mark and you decide to go with two verses, you lose more and if the chorus is not the climax of the song.... Well you're in danger of losing the rest.

People don't have long attention spans. Grab them quick and deliver the goods quickly.

Now.... How I listen. And I'll never tell you what I do with any given song unless I really like it and mention specifically that I listened to it all or multiple times.... My normal procedure is I'll give it 10 seconds to 20 seconds. From that I have determined if I want to hear the rest. I'll often listen through the first vocal line to decide either continue to listen or click close on the song. If you haven't started the vocal at 20ish seconds, I'm generally out. I might jump ahead into the middle to see if the vocals have started.

Then..... The only question is should I stay or should I go?

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.