Why You Like Listening to The Same Song Over And Over Again,\u201d<\/a> Pittman introduces us to the director of the music therapy program at NYU, Kenneth Aigen.<\/p>\nAnd with the help a team of music analysts and experts, Aigen and Pittman list seven attributes of music that makes songs pleasantly repetitive.<\/p>\n
If you’re in radio, you know all these things.\u00a0 But thinking about them all together and in context, they explain why hearing hit songs again and again isn’t a negative \u2013 it’s part of what we live for.<\/p>\n
The key point here is illuminating:<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic is the way we create our personal identity.\u00a0 Some people say you are what you eat.\u00a0 In a lot of ways, you are what you play or what you listen to.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nYes, music research and other data points about songs are important, but their popularity and timelessness are more easily explained when we consider the amazing power of music.<\/p>\n
Here’s the list:<\/p>\n
1. Hearing a favourite song \u2013 again \u2013 reminds us of our identity.\u00a0<\/strong> \u201cEach time we re-experience our favourite music, we’re sort of reinforcing our sense of who we are, where we belong, what we value.\u201d\u00a0 Music isn’t just wallpaper.\u00a0 It defines us.\u00a0 When someone truly connects with a song, they can’t hear it enough.<\/p>\n2. Music has strong seasonal appeal, especially during summertime.\u00a0<\/strong> Aigen mentions how\u00a0Billboard<\/em>\u2018s \u201csong of summer\u201d designation (which should make Sean Ross happy) resonates with many of us.\u00a0 I would argue that Christmas music has that same impact, another reason why these songs provide so much happiness, warmth, and good memories for so many every December (and November).<\/p>\n 3. Songs provide a sense of time and place.\u00a0<\/strong> We know this from our studies of Classic Rock, the indelible ties so many people have with songs, events, and locations.\u00a0 \u201cWhenever you listen to a song you used to listen to when you were 15, the feeling of that period in your life comes back intact.\u201d\u00a0 That’s why \u201cBrown Eyed Girl,\u201d \u201cHotel California,\u201d \u201cRespect,\u201d \u201cRolling in the Deep,\u201d and so many others are more than a collection of notes and melodies.\u00a0 They are markers, points in time of our lives that plot where we were and what we were doing.<\/p>\n 4. Big hits are often designed and engineered that way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Pittman quotes Laura Taylor, a composer and sound designer, who creates radio spots, as well as music for video games and slot machines (yes, we’re talking repetition).\u00a0 Taylor notes the chorus (the hook) is often highly produced to create a fuller, louder sound.\u00a0 That’s part of what helps those songs stay in your head.<\/p>\n 5. Songs can have huge cultural impact.<\/strong> Clinical psychologist Isaura Gonz\u00e1lez believes certain music can create \u201ca communal experience for friends and family.\u201d She mentions \u201cDespacito,\u201d a great example.\u00a0 Others include Dylan’s \u201cBlowin’ in the Wind,\u201d Lou Reed’s \u201cWalk on the Wild Side,\u201d John Lennon’s \u201cImagine,\u201d and Nirvana’s \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 They were more than music, instead symbolizing something cultural or even historical.<\/p>\n 6. And sometimes songs are just plain hooky.\u00a0<\/strong> Aigen mentions the \u201cMacarena.\u201d\u00a0 I think of Norman Greenbaum’s \u201cSpirit in the Sky.\u201d And just a year or so ago, it was the return of \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d (and \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d) that got in our heads.\u00a0 Whether it’s Bobby McFerrin, Pharrell Williams, or Timon and Pumbaa telling us to not worry and just be happy, these songs simply endure.<\/p>\n 7. Some songs are timeless.\u00a0<\/strong> This quality is what made the Oldies format successful, and the torch was passed to Classic Rock.\u00a0 Aigen talks about the phenomenon of how certain songs and even bands have gone on to become multi-generational hits.\u00a0 From Motown to the Beatles to AC\/DC, there’s \u201ca timeless quality that’s helped music rise to the level of art.\u201d<\/p>\nAigen concludes by noting that music repetition helps us recover certain feelings \u2013 whether nostalgic, happy, or sad.\u00a0 As he notes, \u201cWe are constantly trying to go back to some kind of lost paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big songs with burn?<\/p>\n
Throw ’em into power.<\/p>\n
Play the hits.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Article first published on Jacobs Media<\/em>. Read original here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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