A song can be three minutes or nine. What matters is whether you earned every second.

Length is not a quality in itself, in either direction. A nine-minute piece is justified if every section is doing something, and a three-minute one is too long if a verse is coasting. The question is never how long, it is whether the listener is still being given a reason to stay. Padding is what makes something feel long, not duration.

Listen to your own piece with a finger on the skip button and notice where you want to use it. Those moments are where you have not earned the time. Cut them or make them do something, rather than deciding the whole thing should be shorter.