Songs became simpler and more repetitive in the last 40 years, according to study

Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the past four decades, according to a study published this Thursday.

The content of the songs has also become more angry and self-centered in the last 40 years, adds the study, prepared by a team of European researchers who analyzed the lyrics of more than 12,000 songs in English from various genres such as rap, country, pop , R&B and rock, from 1990 to 2020.

GThe study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, recalls that the great icon of the 1960s, the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, went on to win a Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

Eva Zangerle, lead author of the study and an expert in music recommendation systems at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, emphasized that lyrics can be a “mirror of society” that reflects how a person’s values, emotions and concerns change over time. culture.

“What we have been witnessing over the last 40 years is a drastic change in the music landscape, from how music is sold to how it is produced,” Zangerle told AFP.

The internet and streaming caused major disruption to the music industry compared to the 1980s when music was consumed in the form of vinyl and cassettes.

The researchers examined the emotions expressed in the lyrics, how many different and complicated words were used and how often they were repeated, and then looked for trends within and between genres.

“What we found is that across genres, lyrics had a tendency to become simpler and more repetitive,” Zangerle said.

It also confirmed previous research that has shown a decrease in positive and happy content.

Singers are increasingly using words like “I” or “mine.”

Rap stands out for several reasons, since lyrics usually play an essential role in that style of music.

The number of lines that are repeated is more present in rap, Zangerle said.

“Rap music has become more angry than other genres,” Zangerle said.

Rap was brand new in 1980, but it soon came to dominate the charts.

Rock, which had its peak in that same decade, began its decline.

An analysis of lyrics crawling on the website Genius showed that rock fans searched for lyrics from old songs more often than new ones.

On the other hand, country fans are more likely to look for lyrics from new songs.

Zangerle said one way music has changed in the streaming era is that “the first 10-15 seconds are decisive in deciding whether we skip the song or not.”

There is no longer time for songs to have long and elaborate introductions.

Now they need to engage listeners immediately to avoid getting lost in the limitless, algorithmic flow of streaming.

In short, songs with more choruses that repeat basic lyrics seem to be more popular.

“Letters should stick more easily nowadays, simply because they are easier to memorize,” Zangerle said.