Embedded Files
Throughout history, music has been a powerful reflection of society’s values and shifts. Amid significant social changes, it has captured the essence of evolving norms and aspirations. With advancements in technology and tools to record and analyze music, these innovations have made large-scale analysis possible, allowing researchers to use large datasets to uncover patterns and insights that were previously inaccessible. Popular music serves as a mirror to society, reflecting and reinforcing evolving social norms, such as gender diversity, and material values, like brand consciousness, as well as capturing prevalent cultural values/themes among various groups.
Curious about the dynamics between music and society, our group embarked on a multifaceted project exploring the trends and themes reflected in the rankings and lyrics of popular songs, focusing on those from the Billboard Hot 100 (see more on the About / Data Critique tabs). We have produced interesting findings in the following areas: representation of artists by gender/demography, topic analysis of lyrics by artist demography, and trends of specific vocabulary in lyrics. The timeline above is a preview of some events/findings relevant to our project (see the Narrative tab for details).
Page updated
Report abuse