You've probably heard the complaints before from the grumpy old men of the world. "Turn that music down! It's so loud!" "That junk all sounds the same to me!" "Matlock's not on the tv!"
Well, there's nothing we can do about that last bit, but scientists have decided to work on the first two. The researchers compiled a large collection of pop songs from 1955 to 2010, and then worked to analyze their contents. The results may just surprise you (or confirm your suspicions).
Reuters
So, if you hate the likes of Justin Bieber, this is great for you; you've got science on your side now.
Well, there's nothing we can do about that last bit, but scientists have decided to work on the first two. The researchers compiled a large collection of pop songs from 1955 to 2010, and then worked to analyze their contents. The results may just surprise you (or confirm your suspicions).
A team led by artificial intelligence specialist Joan Serra at the Spanish National Research Council ran music from the last 50 years through some complex algorithms and found that pop songs have become intrinsically louder and more bland in terms of the chords, melodies and types of sound used.
"We found evidence of a progressive homogenization of the musical discourse," Serra told Reuters. "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."
They also found the so-called timbre palette has become poorer. The same note played at the same volume on, say, a piano and a guitar is said to have a different timbre, so the researchers found modern pop has a more limited variety of sounds.
So, if you hate the likes of Justin Bieber, this is great for you; you've got science on your side now.