Music Popular songs have increasingly simple melodies and rhythms

Popular songs have become increasingly simple over the past 70 years. This applies to both the rhythms and the melodies, reports a research duo in the journal "Scientific Reports".

Madeline Hamilton and Marcus Pearce from Queen Mary University of London analyzed the most distinctive melodies of songs that were the top five songs of the respective year in the Billboard year-end singles charts between 1950 and 2022. In total, more than 350 songs were included.

According to the statistical analysis, the complexity of the rhythms and pitch arrangements decreased over the years, while the average number of notes played per second increased. The scientists recorded two jumps in 1975 and 2000 and a smaller one in 1996, which were characterized by a significant reduction in complexity.

The researchers link the decrease to the emergence of new genres such as disco, new wave and later hip-hop.

SDA