The catchiest pop song of the last 25 years, according to science
In 2024, it was estimated that around 120,000 songs were released every single day. Most of these tracks were Western pop songs, which means the same 12 notes are being stretched pretty thinly. So, what is it that renders one song an insatiable hit, and another a pop flop? Why is it that the same four chords and studied structure can send one offering soaring, and leave another sore?
Of course, there are factors such as exposure and marketing to consider, but the secret to deciphering the mystic nuance behind pop’s triumphs and trumps is in our own strange minds. As Carl Jung once said, “Music should be an essential part of every analysis.” Part of the reason for this profound outlook is that there are few stimuli that our brain reacts to more vividly.
As Dr Concetta Tomaino, the executive director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, explained during one of my own Jungian investigations into why certain tracks could get logged in my head for years at a time: “You know how the images in dreams are really metaphors for something else? These songs that come to mind spontaneously usually pop up because there is either an emotional or some other significance to them.“
She continued: “They don’t just pop up for nothing. Something in your brain in the back of your mind is processing something, and it goes, ‘Boom, there’s an association with that song’. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have a reason for popping up.” In essence, the beauty of pop is that it quickly drives this sense of instant engagement. Whether it annoys you or makes you move your feet, within seconds of a certain pop song blaring out of a stereo, you’re going to react in some way.
Personally, ‘Just Dance’ by Lady Gaga would have me moving my feet to the beat, swiftly towards the safety of silence, but that doesn’t stop it from being catchy. In fact, according to a recent scientific study by the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), it is the catchiest song of the 21st century. In an age of musical congestion, catchiness is more important than ever, and it is in this department where Lady Gaga is thriving.
But what makes a song catchy?
Well, endless studies into music have found that a combination of familiarity and surprise is vital. A standard melody with a shocking hook tends to grab our attention. Simply put, you give us something we’ve heard before, so we’re pleasantly placated, and then you tweak it with a dynamic touch of the unfamiliar to surprise and excite us. That way, we’re stimulated and satisfied. Our brain can log it easily, but it also thinks it is novel enough to be worthwhile to remember.
‘Just Dance’ is in a common C♯ Minor key, it consists of four typical chords, and it is tirelessly – relentless, even – verse-chorus in structure, but the staccato rhythm is far from ordinary in pop. The glitchy nature of the track, therefore, shakes up and unsettles what is otherwise familiar and homely. There is a stuttering nature to the delivery of track that constantly keeps our brains guessing, and therefore, engaged.
This means that the MOSI study found that participants were able to identify the track within 2.66 seconds, and it remained ringing in their brains thereafter. They were instantly able to recognise it, and then it stuck in their head long enough for them to recall the melody in due course, too. This proved that it was unforgettable in every sense—and that is the key to catchiness.
