Today's pop music louder, blander say scientists

by Kim Hughes Jul 27, 2012

Anyone who has tuned into terrestrial radio lately probably didn’t need a team of eggheads in lab coats to confirm this but it’s always nice to have backup when you’re tossing off weird theories at a cocktail mixer. Spanish scientists have concluded that pop music has steadily become louder and blander over the last 50-odd years.

Thanks for that guys. And I suppose French fries with gravy are fattening and excessive speed kills?

Anyway, according to England’s NME (citing Reuters), a Spanish research team analyzed pop songs recorded between 1955 and 2010 by delving into an extensive archive called the Million Song Dataset.

After applying algorithms to the music in the archive, they found that pop songs have become "intrinsically louder" and less varied in terms of chords and melodies.

Explaining his team's findings, Joan Serra of the Spanish National Research Council told Reuters: "We found evidence of a progressive homogenization of the musical discourse. In particular, we obtained numerical indicators that the diversity of transitions between note combinations – roughly speaking chords plus melodies – has consistently diminished in the last 50 years."

All of which raises the question: exactly which incredibly varied pop music were the scientists listening to? And really, the Beatles and the Stones and ABBA and Blur and U2 and Lady Gaga and the Beach Boys are bland?

Maybe pop music in the last 10 years has become more repetitive owing to the law of diminishing returns but the last 50? I mean, Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney were good but not that good.

Anyway, scientist Serra's team also wrote in their study – published in the Scientific Reports journal - that pop music's "timbre palette" has become less extensive, meaning that songs are featuring fewer and fewer different sounds.

However, Serra's team found that pop music has advanced in one area over the last 50 years: so-called "intrinsic loudness." This term refers to the intensity at which a song is recorded, so a song played at the same volume as another can seem noisier if its "intrinsic loudness" value is greater.

And with that, the world rolled over and went back to sleep.

Weee! Blog!

: 9:20 AM in Beatles, Controversy, Current Affairs, Music, News, News of the weird, Rock, Rolling Stones, Science, U2

3 Comments

Yikes - how much money did it cost for THAT study! Certainly agree with Beatles, Stones, Lady Gaga & Beach boys NOT being bland (how ridiculous) but gotta say imo? ABBA bland to the core (lol)

Posted by: Pirjo | 07/28/2012 at 11:32 AM

WTF? Lady Caca NOT bland? There's a reason for that - he dresses like a freak (oh and Caca's a dude!)

Posted by: The Ripper | 07/28/2012 at 12:58 PM

@Pirjo, open your mouth and in with both feet, again. ABBA was formed by four artists talented with their own individual (Swedish) folk/pop style and were well-known in their own country before becoming ABBA and winning the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Waterloo'. After the amazing success as ABBA, (ABBA being credited with being the first band ever to not tour but rely on TV shoots - early video to you) each returned to her/his own musical roots. They also have an amazing repertoire of music if you bother to take it beyond the half-dozen very commercial songs of theirs that are played mostly.

As for the "scientists" - ask anyone who has listened to music through the 60s/70s/80s and they will tell you about the demise of inspiring, original, musical melodies and lyrics - no scientists are needed for THAT one. 99% of what's pushed out now is semi-plagiarized, worthless and repetitive.

Rarely do artists come 'through the ranks' now. Pliable 'babes in arms' with extremely mediocre, limited talent are now packaged and sold as talent to hormone-laden teens who know no better - speaking of Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, etc. If you want talent read up and listen to Ian Gillan, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, etc. ... Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, CCR ... too many to name from then. Now there's a vast vacuum where there use to be popular music. Reminds me of the message from the movie "Never Ending Story" and the 'imagination' ... if you don't use it you lose it.

Posted by: Jo | 08/06/2012 at 12:30 AM

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