Many people believe that modern music has become too simple and stupid. Therefore, instead of fashionable artists from the charts, millions of men and women prefer to listen to songs from the 2000s or even the second half of the 20th century. One would think that they are nitpicking and there is nothing wrong with modern music – many people enjoy it, and that’s the main thing. But scientists recently studied thousands of English-language songs released over the past 50 years. As it turned out, old music is really much better than the current one, at least in terms of its semantic component. The deterioration of modern music can be considered a scientifically proven fact, but it is certainly not a disaster.
Over the last 50 years, music has become simpler, now proven by science. Image: ultimate-guitar.com
The most popular genres of music
The results of the study were shared by the authors of The Guardian with reference to the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
There are hundreds of music genres in the world, and sometimes people invent new ones. Image: fonstola.ru
As part of their scientific work, scientists analyzed 350 thousand songs in English. They were most interested in compositions written between 1970 and 2020. They focused on five popular genres: pop, rock, rap, R&B and country.
R&B, also known as rhythm and blues is a music genre that combines elements of soul, funk, gospel and pop. Songs in this genre are characterized by rhythmic melodies, expressive vocals and a focus on feelings. Usually the lyrics speak about passionate feelings and life experiences.
What kind of music do people listen to
The study found that over the past 50 years, popular songs have become much easier to understand. In particular, the lyrics have much less meaning, vocabulary and complex rhymes. Modern musicians also greatly simplify the structure of songs – many phrases are repeated many times, and sometimes songs consist of alternating the same verses and choruses.
Some people think that modern music is very primitive – it seems they are right. Image: medialeaks.ru
Over five decades, the mood of the songs has also changed. If earlier songs conveyed a wide range of emotions from joy to sadness, today the compositions are mostly angry. Through them, performers express more negative emotions and most often talk about something personal. In many texts the words “I”, “mine”, “me” and so on predominate.
Scientists also came to the conclusion that rock fans still adore the lyrics of old songs. But country fans, for some unknown reason, love new lyrics most of all.
Article on the topic:What is lack of hearing for music and how does it manifest itself?
Why do people don't like modern music
Music is becoming simpler, and scientists see at least several reasons for this trend.
First of all, the lyrics could become simpler, because modern people most often listen to music with headphones in the background. Today it is rare to see a person who purposefully sits and delves into the essence of the compositions – most often we do not even pay attention to the underlying meaning.
Secondly, music may become simpler in response to the accelerating pace of life and an abundance of information. Every day we pass through a bunch of different data, and often we no longer want to listen to complex music. And performers of popular songs usually follow the wishes of their listeners – it is important for them to reach as large an audience as possible and get a lot of plays. The main goal of modern tracks is to quickly evoke vivid emotions. Composers also try to make songs memorable, and for this they need to be simplified.
Many people listen to music in the background without paying attention to its meaning. Image: involta.media
However, one should not assume that the music industry is deteriorating, and this is a big disaster. The study only looked at popular music, and there are many artists in the world who are still making complex music with a deep message. There are fewer and fewer fans of such creativity, but the performers are well aware that they are composing for a narrow circle of listeners.
Each of us hears music every day. It plays in public places and also on our headphones. It helps us pass the time and even concentrate on work or cope with pain – quiet music has an analgesic effect. This was recently proven in a scientific study.
Be sure to subscribe to our Zen and Telegram channels. This way you will always be aware of new scientific discoveries!
However, scientists consider headphones to be almost a “time bomb.” In their opinion, many people listen to music too loudly, and it harms our hearing organs. According to forecasts, 1.3 billion people may lose their hearing in the future due to the love of music played on headphones.