“Music isn’t what it used to be” is a common complaint from the many people who feel that songs have become more superficial and repetitive. They’re right because recent research agrees with these seemingly crotchety individuals.
Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive, according to a Scientific Reports study led by senior author Eva Zangerle, a computer scientist who develops music recommendation algorithms at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
In addition to reviewing other relatively recent findings, the authors used machine learning models to analyze over 350,000 English song lyrics across the past 50 years, revealing a trend toward increased simplicity, repetitiveness, negativity, and even egotism.
Exploring the Simplification of Modern Music
The most recent and comprehensive study examined a database of 353,320 English song lyrics spanning half a century, from 1970 to 2020. It includes the five most popular genres: rap, country, pop, R&B, and rock. In addition to popularity and changes over time, the research focuses on multiple aspects of popular songs, such as “lyrical complexity, structure, emotion, and popularity.”
Scientific music studies have been popular these past few years. A study released in 2019 ascertained that R&B music has the most repetitive lyrics, while heavy metal has the most diverse linguistic variety. In terms of “readability,” rap music proved to be the hardest to comprehend, while blues and punk were the easiest. And while romantic music is as beloved as ever, it has become more sexualized, echoing a trend in all of popular culture.
An Era of Lyrical Decline?
The general results show that music has become less complex, one might say. Lyrics have become simpler, vocabulary richness has decreased, and repetition has increased. Overall, modern music has more repeated lines and a greater ratio of choruses compared to other song sections (i.e., non-chorus sections).
Studies also support the idea that songs have become more personal and anti-social, favoring statements centered around pronouns like “I”, “me” and “mine.” According to an earlier study, the simplification is not limited to lyrics, but ideas: music has also become more “concrete,” meaning it’s less likely to focus on abstract concepts.
Newer Music is also more Negative and Egotistic–and that’s how Many Listeners like it
In addition to song simplification, researchers cite similar findings from other decades-long studies to highlight that lyrics have become more negative. Newer songs are substituting positive sentiments like “joy” and “confidence” with darker themes like “anger, disgust, or sadness.” This downbeat downturn may be partially due to commercial success, as negative songs appear to perform better on the charts.
As simpler, darker music becomes more commonly popular, other artists follow suit to create catchy, easy-to-enjoy tunes and achieve their chart-topping success. Accordingly, the shift toward simpler songs may also be due to the abundance of modern musical choices. Innumerable artists are creating more music than ever, while the proliferation of streaming apps makes this content more accessible than at any point in history.
Some findings are genre-specific, however. The study detected differences in listeners’ preferences for older versus newer music: rock aficionados favor lyrics from older songs, while country music enjoyers show more interest in newer lyrical trends.
Why Listeners May Prefer Simpler Songs
Michael Varnum, a cultural psychologist at Arizona State University who published a previous article on lyrical complexity, says that listeners may be overwhelmed by this excess of options. As a result, some may prefer simpler songs. Plus, simple songs are often catchy and likelier to get firmly stuck in one’s mind (and playlist).
Other listeners may play music as background noise or while performing tasks requiring various levels of concentration. In these cases, the preference is for more straightforward tunes that don’t distract from the activity at hand.
Beyond Music
This research has the potential to transcend music. It can highlight the cultural and societal shifts that are inevitable with time. Such shifts are at least partially defined by their artistic trends, which spring from technological evolutions and mindsets influenced by the proliferation of popular media.
Possible future projects include identifying emotional language use and preference among different groups based on age, gender, location, educational and economic backgrounds, and other factors.
While these possibilities may sound more attractive to scientists than laypeople, music listeners also benefit. For example, the exploration of lyrics, emotions, and listener preferences leads to better systems for recommending music, helping you find songs to suit your tastes, including that acoustic gem (or “slapper”) that you simply can’t stop playing on repeat.
The authors remind us, “Just as literature can be considered a portrayal of society, lyrics also provide a reflection of a society’s shifting norms, emotions, and values over time.” It’s also essential to note that simpler doesn’t necessarily mean worse, especially in the arena of arts. As with visual arts, literature, and other creative forms, simpler is sometimes better. So, most importantly, it’s what you get out of it that matters.
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