Scientists Conclude: Yes, All Pop Music Sounds the Same

About time those damned whippersnappers owned up to it. Yes, turns out that when all those old people say that all of today’s music sounds the same—unlike back in their day, when diversity reigned supreme and derivative-ness was punishable by death—they’re not totally off base. The crack team at the Spanish National Reseach Council analyzed something called the Million Song Dataset, which according to the Reuters story on the subject, “breaks down audio and lyrical content into data that can be crunched, to study pop songs from 1955 to 2010.” Their findings?

“We found evidence of a progressive homogenization of the musical discourse,” Serra told Reuters. “In particular, we obtained numerical indicators that the diversity of transitions between note combinations – roughly speaking chords plus melodies – has consistently diminished in the last 50 years.”

Yup. Sorry, kids–turns out, music really was better back in your parents’ day, or at the very least, less monotonous and purposefully bland. Potentially damaging news for the likes of Dr. Luke, Max Martin and other contemporary crafters of the pop landscape, but probably good news for Rolling Stone’s next 21st-century-disregarding Best Albums of All-Time list.

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