JUNE 1 POP MUSIC IS GETTING SADDER

JUNE 1  POP MUSIC IS GETTING SADDER

A recent study at the University of California, Irvine revealed what many Americans already knew: Pop music getting progressively sadder and angrier. Researchers found a "clear, downward trend" in bright, happy songs and an upward trend in melancholy tunes. Another study by the Royal Society for Open Science went even farther, analyzing 50,000 songs released between 1985 and 2015. They categorized the mood of each track and then assigned each a Happiness Index. Their results were the same as the UCI study.

We here at the DUNER BLOG conducted our own study to confirm the results of the previous two studies. We concur. A staffer feels the matter is best described by one song in particular. "Out of My Head" was a #5 hit in 1998 by the band Fastball. The chorus is "I never meant to do bad things to you." However, when it was remade by Camila Cabello in 2017, she changed key words. She croons: "I only want to do bad things to you." See? Camila knows the current pop climate is all about anger and revenge, not kindness and remorse.

Why the change from glad to sad? Researchers feel it's simple: Happy isn't 'cool' any more. Look no further than the 2016 Presidential election. Trump ran a campaign based on attacks and insults...a stark contrast to the traditional, uplifting and positive presidential runs of the past. Other mediums feel it too. A show like 'Happy Days' could never top the Neilsons these days. Nope, crime show CSI is #1 today. Likewise, violent movies out-earn romantic comedies at the box office.

Thankfully, not everything in the two studies was gloom and glum. Two very positive trends were also noted. First, the happy songs that do top the charts in this decade are extremely fun. Flo-Rida's 'My House' and...of course....Pharrell Williams' 'Happy' (duh) both scored 10's on the Index. Secondly, they found pop music is no longer the male-dominated realm of the past. In fact, three of the top five artists of the 2000's are women. Way to go Beyoncé, Rhianna and Adele!

Finally, one possible reason for the increase in somber songs is the fact the methodology Billboard employs to rank the pop charts has changed. Nowadays, things that didn't exist twenty years ago are added to the formula. YouTube hits and I-Tunes sales were added to the equation five years ago. Radio stations prefer upbeat and fun songs, but today they only account for 25%. At any rate, we here at the DUNER BLOG are hoping for a compromise. We don't want to return to the Partridge Family ordering us to 'C'mon, get happy!" But we've also had enough of Sam Smith. Cheer up, mate!