Karl's post about the Justin Bieber cover reminded me of something that happened years ago with my daughter Madeline that has since fascinated me. As someone who rarely listens to popular radio, and considers her tastes to be fairly non-mainstream, I was surprised to hear my 18-month-old, mostly pre-verbal daughter clearly singing the song "Baby" by Justin Bieber. My mother actually recognized it, and looked up the music video on YouTube, which she then played for Madeline, who immediately began dancing and singing along. For at least a year after that Madeline would ask to watch "BeeBee" (a hybrid of "baby" and "Beiber-- I know, she's a genius) on at least daily basis. What struck me then was the sheer power of a pop song to get stuck in your head, no matter your age. I realize that "Baby" probably being blared out of car and shop speakers wherever we went up until that point, so it would have been nearly impossible to avoid it. But there were songs that I had played over and over again within our own home that have never resonated with Madeline, and what is it about that particular type of song that makes it stick around?
Clearly there is some sort of formula that must work, since the music industry continues to pump out and profit from these types of songs, and Owen Pallet penned a great essay about the musical theory behind Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" in 2014. There are even failed attempts at manufacturing them, like Rebecca Black's infamous "Friday", although at 91 million views and change, maybe that example is not such a "fail" after all.
But what I am interested in studying is whether or not certain songs can have a universal appeal, regardless of taste or age. In other words, is taste simply learned? Ideally there would be some kind of neurological component to this experiment to see how the brain would react, in case it differed from what the subjects would report. The independent variable in this study would be the song choice, and the dependent variable could be that we could play a cover of the 1st song by an alternative, less mainstream band to see the difference. So basically, what I want to find out is: does everyone secretly love Justin Bieber?
"does everyone secretly love Justin Bieber?"
ReplyDeleteThe easy answer is .... no. But do people secretly find his songs catchy? That's another question all together. :)
Stephanie A.
P.S. 'BeeBee' is very clever indeed.
This topic is so interesting! As someone with a pretty eclectic taste in music, I've always wondered what makes one genre more appealing to me at times than others. How do people decide what type of music they love, and what if they've never explored different genres? Also, you're right about the power of pop songs getting stuck in your head - I mean, the top 40 is the top 40 for a reason right? The idea that there might be a formula reminded me of this wicked video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I
ReplyDeleteLindsay, I look forward to when you tell us stories about your daughter! I've always wondered this myself. I listen to my own music often (while commuting, while cleaning my house, etc). However, my music rarely "stays" in my head. On the rare occasion I find myself at my nearest GoodLife, they blare the latest pop music. I can have those songs in my head for WEEKS! With how expensive the concert tickets are, I'm sure there is a very complicated algorithm that goes into making these songs as catchy as they are (put your foil hats on, people)!
ReplyDeleteFoil hats! It's all a conspiracy! Have you ever seen the movie "Josie and the Pussycats"?
DeleteThe music industry sells everyone these pussycat ear shaped headphones (Fun fact: I was an extra this movie, and got to keep the headphones) that they used to pump subliminal messages through and brainwash people into liking the music, LOL.