Does listening to FM radio make you feel glum? Well it might not be the shitty, shock-jock banter but more so the music getting you down, with a new study showing that pop music is now sadder than ever. Devo.
This new report, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, was undertaken by researchers at the University California at Irvine who looked at 500,000 songs released in the UK between 1985 and 2015, and categorised them depending on mood. As it turns out, it’s getting sadder by the year, but also dance-ier?
According to co-author Natalia L. Komarova who spoke with The Associated Press, “’Happiness’ is going down, ‘brightness’ is going down, ‘sadness’ is going up, and at the same time, the songs are becoming more ‘danceable’ and more ‘party-like'”.
So, the fun-loving, colourful pop gems from 80s have been replaced with down-tempo, moody ballads, it seems. Komarova added that “The public seems to prefer happier songs, even though more and more unhappy songs are being released each year,” and that dance tracks are becoming increasingly popular with rock decreasing in popularity. Yay for dance music!
What do you think? Are you listening to sadder songs these days?