Has pop music got less melodic? I’ve immersed myself in 70 years of hits – this is what I’ve found | Tom Breihan

A new study claims that songs have become less complex. But the magic of these short, sharp tunes can't be so easily distilled

• Tom Breihan is senior editor at the Stereogum website and the author of The Number Ones

Pop music is simple. That's the idea, anyway. Since the advent of recorded music, the most widely heard music in the world tends to be sharp, catchy and direct. Typically, pop songs are three-minute bursts of heartbreak or excitement or bravado, and they're ferociously obvious enough to get stuck in your head for hours at a time. But according to a recent scientific study, pop music is actually growing more melodically simple over time.

In a study published in July, researchers from London's Queen Mary University algorithmically studied the melodies of decades' worth of US Billboard chart hits, and came to the conclusion that the melodies driving those songs have grown less complex over the years. The researchers stress that this isn't a qualitative judgment, and they've taken pains in the discussion to compensate for the popularity of rap music, a genre where melody can often be incidental. Still, the existence of this kind of study can serve to bolster certain bar-room conversations. If you're convinced, for instance, that the music of your own youth is superior to whatever's being made these days, then you can now cite a scientific paper to claim that today's hits are just dumbed-down slop.

Tom Breihan is senior editor at the music website Stereogum and author of The Number Ones