When it comes to music, they just don’t make it like they used to, according to new research. A study looks at how music has changed over the last few decades and finds song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive.

Researchers analyzed more than 12-thousand English-language rap, country, pop, R&B and rock songs released since 1970.

• They studied how long and complex the words used by songwriters were, as well as how frequently phrases are repeated and whether they represent happy, sad, positive or negative emotions.
• Study authors found that the number of different words used in songs has gone down in the last 40 years, especially in rap and rock songs.
• They note that with the exception of Taylor Swift – known for her complex, poetic lyrics – “modern music tends to be rather dumbed-down.”
• The number of “angry” words in songs has gone up since 1980, as has the number of long words with three or more syllables.
• On streaming services, a song has to be played for at least 30 seconds to be considered “consumed.” Researchers think this has led to lyrics that are simpler so they can be identified as soon as a song starts.
• The study also reveals that fans of different music genres prefer lyrics from different eras, including rock listeners who prefer lyrics from older songs, while country fans prefer new ones.

“There’s more rhyming lines and also more chorus,” explains senior author Eva Zangerle, a computer scientist at Austria’s University of Innsbruck. “We basically found that lyrics [have gotten] easier to comprehend.”

(Video courtesy of Tedx Talks)