nice gimmick study, it found out the most pivotal years in pop music (based on US chart hits) have been 1964, 1983 and foremost 1991. it also says that 1986 sucked most, but I disagree on this

however, also from my personal point of view I have to agree on Rap, I grew up on Funk & Soul, but Hip Hop was certainly the gamechanger for me. though 1991 is way too late of course, but the study only indicates when Hip Hop hit the mainstream big time.



Scientific study of pop music: Beatles, Stones eclipsed by emergence of hip-hop in 1991


The impact of hip-hop’s arrival on the pop music scene eclipsed that of the Beatles-led British invasion of 1964, a computer analysis of 17,000 songs has found.
The unusual study found three revolutions on the charts: the 1991 emergence of rap and hip-hop on mainstream charts; the synth-led new wave movement of 1983, and the advent of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who and other British rockers in the early 1960s.
Although the Beatles — paced by the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney — enjoy perhaps the highest place in critics’ esteem, the researchers found the hip-hop movement — from pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa to megastars like Jay-Z — more profound.
They wrote that the rise of rap and related genres represents “the single most important event that has shaped the musical structure of the American charts in the period we studied.”
By contrast, the British bands — heavily influenced by U.S. stars like Chuck Berry and Little Richard — were found to have followed existing trends.
That finding may trouble Beatles fans who think rock ‘n’ roll was invented with “Please Please Me” and “She Loves You.” And it does not address why the Rolling Stones can still sell out arenas more than 50 years after they set the London club scene on fire with a British take on Chicago blues.
The study, released on Wednesday, was conducted by the University of London and Imperial College.
The researchers analyzed 30-second snippets of roughly 17,000 songs from the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts from 1960 to 2010.
Computer programs were used to categorize each song based on musical properties, instrumentation used, chord patterns and other elements.
Lead author Matthias Mauch said some may disagree with this scientific approach to a very personal subject but asserted the study breaks new ground.
“For the first time we can measure musical properties in recordings on a large scale,” he said. “We can actually go beyond what music experts tell us, or what we know ourselves about them, by looking directly into the songs, measuring their make-up, and understanding how they have changed.”
The authors claim the study provides “the basis for the scientific study of musical change” and could be used to provide useful analysis of music from other countries as well.
The study is not likely to be popular with aging musicians who peaked in the mid-1980s, which the researchers found to be the most static period in the study.
The authors also rejected the assertion that today’s pop music is increasingly homogenized.

http://www.news1130.com/2015/05/06/scientific-study-of-pop-music-beatles-stones-eclipsed-by-emergence-of-hip-hop-in-1991/

----------------

Study of 17,000 hit pop songs identifies the years to remember – and the ones best forgotten

It was the year that Madonna begged Papa Don’t Preach and Peter Gabriel dropped his Sledgehammer. Now a scientific study of pop music’s evolution has concluded that 1986 was the most repetitive year on record.
Whilst the hits of 1986 morphed into one repetitive thud, 1991 was the most revolutionary year in popular music, as rap broadened the vocabulary of pop, researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London found.
With help from music website Last.fm and using the US Billboard Hot 100 as its source material, the scientists employed cutting edge methods including signal processing and text-mining to analyse the musical properties of songs.
Their system automatically grouped 17,000 hit songs by patterns of chord changes and tone allowing researchers to statistically identify trends with what they believe is an unprecedented degree of consistency.
The study found that 1986 was the least diverse year for the charts, a fact the researchers attribute to the sudden popularisation of drum machines and sampling technology.
Harmonic and rhythmic diversity declined as the metronomic, club-inspired beats of the Pet Shop Boys’s West End Girls, the rigid synthesised percussion of Janet Jackson’s biggest hits and the dance production trio of Stock, Aitken & Waterman took over the charts.
In rock music too, stadium rock, defined by huge snare drums, wailing guitar solos and crunching power chords drove out the relative melodic sophistication of previous bands. The authors single out “the gated reverb effect famously used by Phil Collins on In The Air tonight, 1981” as an example of the thunderous drum sound copied by every rock band.
The homogenisation of pop began with the 70s rise of genres such as new wave, disco and hard rock, the researchers say, and peaked in 1986.
From then on, the emergence of hip-hop, credited to the popularity of the MTV series Yo! MTV Raps, broadens the frequencies of music with its focus on variable speech patterns, a revival of classic 70s funk breaks and an absence of overdriven guitars.
“The greatest musical revolution in US pop history was not 1964, but 1991 when hip-hop arrived in the charts,” the researcher say after finding that, contrary to popular belief, the so-called “British Invasion” of US pop music by groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, did not start a rock revolution, but only followed existing trends.
The scientists identified “three revolutions: a major one around 1991 and two smaller ones around 1964 and 1983” - the year America embraced synth-based pop.
Many music experts believe that the current day singles chart, dominated by a single dance-pop genre and lacking the diverse genres of previous decades, has never been more repetitive.
But the study, which followed the countdown up to 2010, claims that “contrary to current theories of musical evolution we find no evidence for the progressive homogenisation of music in the charts.”
Matthias Mauch, of the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at QMUL, lead author of the paper, said: “For the first time we can measure musical properties in recordings on a large scale. We can actually go beyond what music experts tell us, or what we know ourselves about them, by looking directly into the songs, measuring their makeup, and understanding how they have changed.
“No doubt some will disagree with our scientific approach and think it’s too limited for such an emotional subject but I think we can add to the wonder of music by learning more about it. We want to analyse more music from more periods in more countries and build a comprehensive picture of how music evolves.”

Hall of fame: The years to remember
1964
The Singing Nun and Bobby Vinton are replaced by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. But the report says the groups’ musical style merely “exaggerated existing trends... towards increased use of major chords and decreased use of ‘bright’ speech and increased guitar-driven aggression and decreased use of mellow vocals”.
1983
Michael Jackson, The Police, Eurythmics and even Dexys Midnight Runners top the US charts in music’s second revolutionary epoch. Synthpop, soul and doo-wop (Billy Joel) rub shoulders with Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long”, which incorporates Caribbean influences alongside funk.
1991
A breakthrough year due to “the rise of hip-hop, rap and related genres, as exemplified by the music of Busta Rhymes, Nas, and Snoop Dogg, who all use chords particularly rarely”. However, the academics neglect to explain why “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” by Bryan Adams is the year’s top-seller.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/scientific-study-of-17000-hit-pop-songs-has-identified-the-years-to-remember--and-the-ones-best-forgotten-10226620.html

No mention of Prince?

[Edited 5/7/15 7:21am]

Graycap23 said:

No mention of Prince?

Well, 1984 is not mentioned. That's really the only year he could have been considered really huge mainstream wise. He didn't have any #1s on the pop chart in 1983.

The part about "1986 was the most repetitive year on record" is 100% pure bullshit. I take it they never bother to study music after 1993 when most songs (especially hip-hop/r&b) were sticking to the tempo of 95 BPM for almost two decades long.

I've found a source to prove that 1986 was a very good year in music:
http://tsort.info/music/yr1986.htm

Graycap23 said:

TonyVanDam said:

The part about "1986 was the most repetitive year on record" is 100% pure bullshit. I take it they never bother to study music after 1993 when most songs (especially hip-hop/r&b) were sticking to the tempo of 95 BPM for almost two decades long.

I've found a source to prove that 1986 was a very good year in music:
http://tsort.info/music/yr1986.htm

I agree 100% with you. Music went down hill in the mid to late 90's.

MotownSubdivision said:

NorthC said:

Or James Brown and George Clinton. After all, without them, no hiphop.

Since early hip hop records had little if any James & George in it and tended to have disco era songs replayed by a band or scratched by a DJ, it would have existed anyway. Before rap was recorded, it was partly based on Jamaican dancehall & toasting & reggae dub mixes.

MickyDolenz said:

NorthC said:

Okay, that's true. So let's say, without all those influences there would be no hiphop, which does show a flaw in the article: hiphop didn't come falling from the sky in 1991. The rappers had their influences and forerunners as well.

Maybe the person who wrote the article also started this thread.

NorthC said:

Graycap23 said:

No mention of Prince?

[Edited 5/7/15 7:21am]

Or James Brown and George Clinton. After all, without them, no hiphop.

Yep.

Since this article seems to be about popularity on the pop charts (aka mainstream USA), George Clinton wouldn't apply, he didn't really crossover. James Brown had a lot of songs chart on the Top 100, but not that many hit the Top 10, or the Top 40 for that matter. Influencing something has not much to do with the success of the acts themselves. Elvis was much more successful than the gospel, blues, & country acts who influenced him. The 5th Dimension had more success recording Laura Nyro songs, than Laura did with her own records.