How long should figure skating music be? Cutting a song to the program time.

ISU program times

These are the times in the ISU Sports Rules for Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance, as of 12 June 2026 (Rule 502). They apply to ISU events and to the many national competitions that adopt ISU rules for their junior and senior events. Each program may finish within 10 seconds plus or minus the required time.

Rule 343 adds three things that matter when you make the music: the exact running time of the music (not the skating time) is declared at registration and certified by the skater, coach or team leader; each program must be recorded on a separate track; and a back-up must be provided, in the format the competition announcement names. The singles and pairs rules also say that vocal music with lyrics is permitted (Rules 611, 612, 620 and 621); the ice dance rules say the music may be vocal and must be suitable for ice dance as a sport discipline (Rules 709 and 710).

Time limits change. Check your current rulebook or competition announcement.

U.S. Figure Skating Excel free skate times

U.S. Figure Skating’s Excel track is where most club skaters compete. Its requirement sheets set the free skate time for each level, and the rule changes on 1 January 2027: the 2026 sheet gives a target with 10 seconds either way, the 2027 sheet gives a plain maximum 10 seconds longer, with no minimum. Pre-Preliminary already had a maximum and keeps it.

What this means for a program skated across the change: music cut inside the 2026 window, the target plus or minus 10 seconds, is fine in both years. A shorter program that leans on the 2027 no-minimum rule would be under time in 2026. And although 2027 allows up to 2:40 at Juvenile, the practical advice is unchanged: cut to the length the choreography needs, and leave a second or two under the maximum rather than landing on it.

The requirement sheets give the times only. When the clock starts and what an over-time or under-time program costs are in the U.S. Figure Skating rulebook, which is sold to members, so for those check your current rulebook. Other U.S. Figure Skating tracks (the well-balanced program, adult, solo dance and pairs) have their own requirement sheets on the competition program requirements page.

Time limits change. Check your current rulebook or competition announcement.

The 10 seconds: an allowance, not a target

The ISU rule says the skater “is allowed to finish … within 10 seconds plus or minus the required time”. That is a tolerance for the things nobody controls exactly: how long the skater takes to start moving after the music begins, whether the final pose is held a moment after the last note, and small differences between sound systems. It is not permission to make a 4:10 free skate.

Using the window as the target costs you the safety margin. A program cut to 4:09 that starts half a second late and holds the ending is over the range, and the price is steep: a deduction of 1.0 for up to every 5 seconds lacking or in excess (Rule 353, paragraph 1.n), and any element started after the required time plus the 10 seconds is not identified by the technical panel and has no value. Thirty seconds or more under the range, and no marks are awarded at all. Cut the music to the required time itself. SongShrink’s skating presets work the same way: the target is the required time and the window is shown as the window.

There is a second reason to be exact. In single skating only, the base value of a jump element started in the second half of the program is multiplied by 1.1, but only for the last jump element in the short program and the last three jump elements in the free skating (Rule 353, paragraph 1.h.iii); pairs get no such factor. The rule says the second half commences in the middle of the required time without taking the 10 second allowance into account. A coach who places those jumps just after the halfway mark is counting on the music being the required length.

What exactly is timed?

Under ISU Rule 502 the time is reckoned from the moment the skater (either skater in pairs and ice dance) begins to move or to skate until arriving at a complete stop at the end of the program. So the music is not timed directly, but it sets the length: the skater moves with the first note and stops with the last.

• A short lead-in is fine. If the music has a second of quiet before the first beat and the skater holds the opening pose until then, the skated time is a touch shorter than the track. That is what the window is for.
• The ending counts until the stop. A pose held after the music finishes adds to the skated time. Finish the music where the choreography finishes.
• The declared running time is the track’s. Rule 343 asks for the exact running time of the music, so read the exported file’s length and write that on the form.

How to cut a song to the program time

You can do all of this in a free editor such as Audacity on a computer, in GarageBand on a Mac, iPhone or iPad, or in SongShrink. The steps are the same.

1. Write down the rule, not just the number. Is it a required time with a window (ISU, Excel in 2026) or a maximum (Excel in 2027, Pre-Preliminary)? For a window, your target is the required time. For a maximum, decide your cushion now; a second or two under is usual.
2. Plan the program before the music. Most free skates have three parts: an opening, a slower middle, and a fast finish, with the jumps and spins placed through them. Decide how long each part needs, and which moment is the big one. In a medley, that is where the song changes.
3. Map the song. Listen once with a pen: introduction, verse, chorus, bridge, ending, with the time each starts. Mark the musical peaks. Film or orchestral pieces may not have a steady beat, so mark the phrase ends by ear.
4. Drop whole sections, not random seconds. Most music is built from phrases of 4 or 8 bars. Removing a whole verse or a repeated chorus keeps the music making sense; trimming an odd 7 seconds out of the middle of a phrase does not.
5. Cut on the bar line. Count 1-2-3-4 along with the song and place each cut just before a “1” on both sides of the join, so the beat carries straight on. A cut on another beat is the next best choice. Zoom in and put the cut at the very start of the drum hit, not after it. Join like with like: a chorus into a chorus, the same key, the same instruments.
6. Crossfade the join. A crossfade of a few tens of milliseconds hides the click where the two pieces meet. Too long a crossfade smears the beat and you hear two rhythms at once. Between two different songs in a medley, a longer crossfade or a short fade-out and fade-in usually sounds better than a hard cut.
7. Decide the ending. Keep the song’s real ending if it lands on your time, fade out over the last few seconds, or stop on a beat where the final pose lands. A sudden stop in the middle of a phrase sounds like a mistake, and the judges hear it.
8. Level and export. Make the pieces the same loudness, keep the peaks under the clipping point so arena speakers don’t distort, and export in the format the competition announcement asks for. One program per track, and make the back-up copy the rules require.
9. Check it like a timekeeper. Play the exported file from start to finish and read its length in the player. Then time the program on the ice with a stopwatch from first movement to complete stop. The track should be the required time; the skated time should sit inside the window with room to spare.

Two things to avoid: cutting a song from a streaming service (the download is copy-protected and no editor can open it; buy the song as a file instead), and changing the speed of the music to hit the time. SongShrink’s own thresholds are a fair guide: it says nothing up to 8%, notes that a change of 8 to 15% may start to sound odd, warns that above 15% most music sounds unnatural, and stops at 50% either way. A program choreographed to the original tempo will no longer fit anyway.

Where SongShrink helps

SongShrink is an app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android that does the steps above for a song you own. You pick the time from a built-in list that names the rulebook and season on each one: the ISU short program, free skating, rhythm dance and free dance times with their 10 second windows, and the U.S. Figure Skating Excel levels for 2026. From 1 January 2027 the Excel presets switch to the 2027 maximums. Or type your own time and save it.

The app finds the beats, bars, phrases and sections of the song on your device and suggests up to four finished edits: keep the ending, most energy, smoothest joins, or fade at the time. Each suggested cut prefers a nearby bar line or beat between phrases, and joins are crossfaded by default. If the song is too short it can suggest repeating a section instead. For the ISU presets and the 2026 Excel presets the target is the required time and the 10 second window is shown with it. The Pre-Preliminary preset and, from 1 January 2027, the other Excel presets are maximum-only: the maximum is the target and there is no minimum. Turn on Land exactly on the target and, when the music is long enough, SongShrink trims and fades the end so the music is exactly your time; shorter music stays short unless you repeat a section. You can tap sections to keep or drop them, nudge any cut by a beat or a bar, reorder or repeat pieces, build a medley from several songs with the tempos matched, and undo everything. The length is shown to the tenth of a second, which is the number you declare at registration.

Export evens out the loudness with peaks kept safe for arena sound systems, and writes MP3 at 192, 256 or 320 kbps, M4A or WAV, named with the event, the skater and the length. Songs, projects and exports stay on the device; nothing is uploaded. SongShrink is free to download and try; exporting is a one-time unlock, and the store shows the price in your currency.

Also on the Mac App Store Get it on Google Play

More answers are on the SongShrink support page: which songs work, getting a song in, how exact the length is, and which format to use. The gymnastics, cheer and dance limits are in how long can floor music be? and dance and cheer music length.

Questions

How long is a figure skating program?

Under the ISU Sports Rules (Rule 502) the short program is 2 minutes 40 seconds for women, men and pairs at junior and senior level; senior free skating is 4 minutes and junior free skating is 3 minutes 30 seconds; the rhythm dance is 2 minutes 50 seconds for junior and senior unless the Ice Dance Technical Committee announces otherwise; the senior free dance is 4 minutes and the junior free dance 3 minutes 30 seconds. Each may finish within 10 seconds plus or minus the required time. U.S. Figure Skating Excel free skates run from 1:40 maximum at Pre-Preliminary to 4:00 plus or minus 10 seconds at Senior in 2026, and from 1 January 2027 the levels above Pre-Preliminary change to a maximum 10 seconds longer with no minimum. Time limits change, so check your current rulebook.

Does plus or minus 10 seconds mean I can cut the music to 4:10?

No. The ISU rule says the skater is allowed to finish within 10 seconds plus or minus the required time. It is an allowance for the difference between the music and the skated time, not a longer target. A program finishing outside the range is deducted 1.0 for up to every 5 seconds lacking or in excess, and any element started after the required time plus the 10 seconds has no value. Cut the music to the required time itself, so that a slow start or a sound system that runs a little differently still lands you inside the range.

What exactly do the judges time?

Under ISU Rule 502 the time is reckoned from the moment the skater, or either skater in pairs and ice dance, begins to move or to skate until arriving at a complete stop at the end of the program. The music itself is not what is timed, but the skater normally moves with the first note and stops with the last, so the music’s length sets the program’s length. The competition also asks for the exact running time of the music at registration.

What happens if the program is too long or too short?

Under the ISU rules a program that finishes outside the allowed range is deducted 1.0 for up to every 5 seconds lacking or in excess (Rule 353, paragraph 1.n). Any element started after the required time plus the 10 seconds allowed is not identified by the technical panel and has no value. If the program is 30 seconds or more under the required time range, no marks are awarded. U.S. Figure Skating’s Excel requirement sheets give only the times; the deductions are in the U.S. Figure Skating rulebook, so check your current rulebook.

Can skating music have lyrics, and can I use more than one song?

The ISU Sports Rules say that vocal music with lyrics is permitted in the singles and pairs short program and free skating (Rules 611, 612, 620 and 621); for the rhythm dance and free dance they say the music may be vocal and must be suitable for ice dance as a sport discipline (Rules 709 and 710). Nothing in the rules limits the number of pieces, and many programs are medleys of two or three songs. Under ISU Rule 343 each program must be recorded on a separate track, with a back-up provided, and the exact running time of the music is declared at registration. Check your own competition’s announcement for the music format it wants.

Can I cut a song from Spotify or Apple Music?

No. Songs from streaming services are copy-protected, even when downloaded for offline listening, so no editing app can open them. Use a song file you own: an MP3 you bought, an iTunes Store purchase, or a file from your coach or a competition music service.

Sources

Every time above was read in the governing body’s own document on 27 October 2026.

• ISU, Sports Rules, Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance, as of 12 June 2026 (Rule 502 duration of skating, Rule 353 paragraph 1.n deductions and the second-half factor, Rule 343 music, and the music requirements of each discipline).
• U.S. Figure Skating, 2026 Excel Program Requirements (last updated 24 March 2026, effective 1 January to 31 December 2026) and 2027 Excel Program Requirements (effective 1 January to 31 December 2027), both linked from the competition program requirements page.

This is general information for skaters, parents and coaches, not legal advice. Rules change; your current rulebook and competition announcement take precedence over anything here.