Are hit song melodies getting simpler? Science says it looks like it.
Over the last year or so, there’s been a lot of analytic chatter about how popular music is getting sadder, lyrics are getting dumber, and songs are getting shorter. The latest bit of analysis suggests that melodies employed by hit songs are getting simpler.
Research conducted at Queen Mary University of London involved songs that reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end charts between 1950 and 2022. Tracks included “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley, The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” “Vogue” by Madonna, Gaga’s “Poker Face,” and “Irreplaceable by Beyoncé.”
Particular attention was paid to eight features relating to the pitch and rhythmic structure of the melodies. The result? The average complexity of melodies had dropped with the biggest drops coming in 1975 and 2000. There was a smaller drop in 1996.
Okay, so what does this mean? Is this another “popular music is getting dumber” conclusion? Not necessarily. It probably has more to do with the rise of new genres than anything else.
The fall in 1975 could corellate to the rise of disco, dance music where the emphasis was on the beat and the groove at the expense of sophisticated topline melodies which may in fact distract from the danceability of the song.
What happened in 2000? We can probably point to the rise of hip-hop where lyrics and flow often take presdence over melody. As for the 1996. that was the year the pop cycle blew up again with simple happy singalong tracks from acts like The Spice Girls.
Read more about the study here.
