An earworm for your thoughts 👂🏾🪱💭

I enjoy a lot of music. A lot.

I always wonder why I like the music I listen to and why I can't ever get some songs out of my head.

That's an earworm.

Let explore.

Like many people, music is a deeply personal experience for me. It's a part of my history. It taught me about people, culture, life -- and all its experiences. 

I also have a high aptitude for collecting good energy. 

That energy comes in waves when I find a new jam. Some beats just hit me differently.

Any runner knows what it feels like to hit "the wall."

I've seen athletes who were gasping-for-air tired. But when their walkout song comes on, they get a second wind.

That's the energy you can't get in any other form of entertainment. That's thrilling.

Think about the music you hear at the movies or while shopping at Publix: They usually play an upbeat or sad song from the soundtrack while rolling credits to make you feel like you had a great time or to make you feel emotional.

Even ASCAP talks about it: Music, Money, Success & the Movies: Part One (ascap.com)

Supermarkets usually pump out nothing but hits over their store intercom to help you enjoy shopping and spending money. (I've also heard of stores sending their vent system through the bakery to fill the store with smells to tempt you. But that's another blog.)

What's a battlefield without its war song, a dance floor without its disco? Ever seen a party move when a particular song comes on? The whole atmosphere changes. The dance floor quakes with bodies shaking.

So, aside from a catchy groove, why does music move us?

Music is powerful, with the capacity to reach us physically, emotionally, and mentally.

NPR even said so:

The science behind why music evokes wonder and awe: Shots - Health News: NPR (NPR.com)

I've been a music fan ever since I could press the play to artists like Jeezy, Usher, TLC, Queen Bey, and Eminem on my sisters' Walkman and CD players (without them knowing).

Around the time I turned 13, I got my pop's vinyl collection full of Prince, Luther V, Donna Summers, MJ and The Gap Band.

Growing up, we didn't have cable TV, so shows like TLC and MTV were in short supply.

Later on when we got dialup, I found Limewire ... and quickly "got got" ... IYKYK. Sorry 'bout the computer, mom. 😬

Like most southern Millennials, I grew up on a steady diet of hip-hop, R&B and underground rap artists. Re: #AltantaInfluencesEverything

We had the radio. And ATL's market was up! It put the morning zoo format shows to shame.

As I grew and matured, so did my tastes in music. I had artists on repeat like Luke Combs, Luke Bryant and Zach Bryan; songwriters like Jack Attonoff and Lorde; producers like the late/great Quincy Jones, Pharrell (N.E.R.D) and their contemporaries.

In my vinyl collection, I made room for artists, composers, lyricists/vocalists, DJs and sound engineers like Bon Iver, Ye, Hit-Boy, Metro, Nitti and Outcast.

They influenced the game and changed how it's played.

I just learned about how we got Fresh Prince in the 90s. That music and style quintessentially made many of us 80s and 90s babies the standup individuals we are today.

Well, it wouldn't have been if not for Mr. Q. Jones.

See: Will Smith Remembers Late 'Mentor' and Fresh Prince Producer Quincy Jones

I'll preface this by saying that I don't subscribe to idolization or the idealization of "celebrities." (Again, another blog)

But the imprint these artists have pressed on the world is extraordinary. These are generational artists. Once-in-a-lifetime. They are the staples that hold up the thin fabric between popularity and obscurity.

Some artists' impact can shift the cultures across genres/industries.

No one releases their album on the same day as Bey or Swift. They can shrink a Billboard-worthy Rock album to a whisper. Ye and Jordan didn't start in fashion, but their name brands have made Nike and Adidas rethink their global sales strategy.

Y'all like pop queen Brittney Spears?

Or boy bands like the Backstreet Boys?

What about *NSYNC?

Justin Bieber?

Tons of hits between them. Singles. LPs.

But I still didn't get it. Why did songs like "Sorry" linger so long?

"Commercially, [Justin's song "Sorry"] topped the charts of thirteen countries. It spent seven weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100 and three weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100; "Sorry" was replaced by third single "Love Yourself" on the chart dated February 13, 2016, making Bieber the 12th act in the Hot 100's history to succeed himself at number one."

...

It was written by Bieber, Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, Skrillex and BloodPop; produced by the latter two. (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorry_(Justin_Bieber_song))"

But these are the same artists behind other songs I like. 🤔

Looking at how these songs were engineered and the producers who made them, I still couldn't get why some had staying power (with weeks spent ranking on Billboard's Top 100) and others flopped without a mark on the charts.

Sure, you can dance to it on TikTok, but what made it viral in the first place?

It wasn't just the cultural influence or the artist's significance, not just the physiological/psychological side-effects that music gives us.

There was something more, like a throughline from song to song, artist to artist.

It finally occurred to me while listening to TSwizel and Katy Perry back to back.

And you've probably noticed it, too… If you're like me and read liner notes, anyway.

Many of their songs sound the same, sure.

But I mean, they really sound the same, so much so that they have the same signature.

It wasn't necessarily the beats or lyrics, but the underlying melodies matched.

Here's what I mean: 

"The findings are somewhat intuitive. Of course, a genre will sell more once it forms an established sound that listeners can identify with. But the science is only proving the now-dominant truth of pop music: Record companies are only comfortable promoting things they already know will sell. And they know that now better than ever." (Mic.com: https://www.mic.com/articles/107896/scientists-finally-prove-why-pop-music-all-sounds-the-same)

It's subtle, but it's there. No, it's not the case for every song. And yes, some of these artists are creatives who write and compose their songs on their own. Some collaborate. Others are performers who just sing.

When their songs don't hit well, they're stuffed on the B side or otherwise go unnoticed.

Those are typically the songs by your favorite artists. They make hits; they just aren't popular, and they sound like they're "missing something."

And they were.

Max Martin.

Ever heard him?

He's a Swedish gentleman who writes for most of your favorite major musical artists.

Literally.

He's behind a lot of the 90s music we love. 

He's composed No. 1 hits for nearly every artist I mentioned above — including other heavyweights like Celine Dion to Katy Perry and The Weekend.

And that's not even the end of the first page of his catalog of credits.

But he's much more than his ubiquity. He has tailored a blueprint for a hit song, and he bakes it into almost every Top Billboard 100 song he's featured on.

Elle.com told me about it: The Man Behind Every Great '90s Earworm Just Won His First Grammy Ever (Elle.com)

Many more producers like Max, like DJ Frank E, have worked for artists like Three 6 Mafia, Justin B, Pitbull, Madonna, and more A-listers.

These are the singles and LPs that just won't leave the charts.

Yes, we like the music we like not only because it resonates but also because its fundamental beats and rhythms are copied and pasted into instrumental nuances that trigger our brains.

It works like a key in an ignition.

Now, I don't read sheet music, and I can't play an instrument. But I listen to these songs intently and subjectively.

I listen to music on different levels, across various media and mediums, in a variety of formats and fidelities.

I stream over different music apps and across multiple genres — from DatPiff to SoundCloud to Tidal, K-pop to punk to poetry.

In my listening, it's mainly Pop music that carries that redundancy.

Like, I'm a TSwift fan. Been rocking with her since "Teardrops on My Guitar."Her "reputation" album is 🔥 — a couple of those songs are on repeat in my headphones right now, which triggered this blog.

From who she features to how she flows.

It's incredible to witness what artists like her and the Queen B-Hive have accomplished in music. Let alone the industry. The international economy. They can make seismic waves with a Tweet. These are worldwide artists — household names.

Grammys aside, their flowers are well-earned.

But they are facsimiles.

As an outsider, the music industry looks rife with strife and frustration. Artists don't get paid for streams. They are fighting with labels for rights, royalties and masters. Their contracts are insanely long, lifetime sentences.

It's so bad it put Snoop in the dog house:

Snoop Dogg Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over Alleged Unlicensed Track Usage (Vibe.com)

Sometimes, it's hard to separate the music from the artist or even understand why we like a song altogether.

Regardless of its influence, music persists, and so does its impact on us, our culture and the world we live in.

It's just interesting what resonates with us. Music. Film. Literature. We often forget how much the arts play a part in our daily lives.

We're oblivious to it. But it makes such a difference.

Just something to think about next time you "press play."