I can see a graph and an explanation of the information on the graph. I noticed that the colored lines on the graph change shape. I wonder what shapes the colored lines will make in the future. I am curious if music in the future will make similar shapes to music in the past. I think this graph measures and compares the different types of sounds each song uses. My catchy headline is “Music sounds similar.” I noticed that most of the shapes are pretty close to circles, therefore they sound similar.
I noticed that the in the late '80s, the songs were quite loud but towards the early 90's they started to quiet down and then got back up to be pretty loud in the 2010s.
I wonder why music was louder back then compared to now.
The Musical Fingerprint, Then and Now.
@Atticus
I've noticed the same thing! Great Observation! I think that in the 80s that it was more popular for musicians to be louder, and then in the '90s I think it was more the style and was more popular in that era to be a little quieter. I think everything comes and goes so once one thing goes out of style it definitely will come back.
1. I notice that the acousticness was at a very high level in 1990-1991 but then decreased in recent years. Also, as time went on the most popular hits became similar to each other.
2. I wonder what the statistics were for the years in between 1991 and 2015, because there is such a large gap, and maybe there is a point when the hits that were different drastically changed into the hits that are the same. I wonder why the popularity of pop music took over, and maybe it's because artists started listening and being inspired by other people's songs rather than listening to themselves and their own taste in music.
3. Title - The Evolution of Music and Its Popularity?
1
I notice that the more music conforms the less variability it has. I also notice that while these may be "hits" they are from different genre of music and it is hard to measure change due to great variability.
I wonder why the people who created this graph chose overall hits versus genre hits to measure the change.
What might have happened in this graph is the artist attempt to conform more to current musical standards in an attempt to gain fan base while not "putting themselves out there".
Title: The fall of music intellectualism and the rise of conformity.
I noticed that 1990-1991 drop of loudness, valence and danceability
I noticed..
That in 2015 the song doesn’t have a vast amount of valence but has all the others, 2016 missing acousticness has others, 2017 had all of the points, 2018 didn’t have a big grouping of acousticness but has others
I wonder..
why 1990 and 1991 had such a drastic change in song preferences, why the genre changed vastly, why from the 19’s why the songs are different while the 2000’s songs are more basic and similar
What might be happening on this graph?
Title: how music has changed between the 1990’s to the 2010’s
Story: Looking at the graph given the genre of music which was most favored in the summer has a very different genre from the 1990’s to the 2010’s. The genre is all over in the 1990’s while in the 2010’s all of the songs are pop unless you count Drake as rap.
@Mimi and Sebastian
Hello Mimi,
You bring up some very good points and I think you understand this graph very well. I noticed similar things to you, but you explained them much more in-depth. Your analysis is very erudite.
this graph makes my head spin, not unlike my ability, tusk, which allows me to spin around my fingernails and shoot them out like bullets.
We can observe on this graph the several hits of music over the past years. I can notice that in the years 1988 up to 1991; singers used to have more creative ideas from the years 2015 up to 2018. I feel like singers now days do not have the same creativity or as much ideas to put into a song. I have always thought that old music is better rather than the new generation music. Furthermore, mostly all the music we listen to now talks about the same things or use the same words.
I wonder how it would be if the singers from before where still alive today. I wonder how the music industry would work. Therefore, I wonder how the singers would impact the music industry in modern days.
I wondered what single factor would be the most consistent from 1988 to now. Looks like danceability to me. Super cool graph. Keep it up, New York Times and staff!
Displayed in the graph are eight sonic “fingerprints” of the Top 10 summer hits for 1998-2018. The shape of the sonic fingerprint is determined by how cheerful the song sounds, likelihood the song uses acoustic instruments, how fast and noisey the song sounds, and the strength and regularity of the song’s beat. I notice that for each year displayed, there are several thin shapes, with a thick outlined circle on top. I infer that these several thinner circles refer to other hits of that particular summer, or perhaps even year. I see how for the somewhat circle-shaped “fingerprints,” those colored hot pink have several thin circles underneath them moving in several different directions, while those colored blue have several thin circles underneath them that tend to overlap and resemble each other. This pattern makes sense, because hot pink indicates the hits of that year or summer are different, and thus have different acoustics, danceability, energy, and/or valence. Likewise, this trend make sense also for the blue circles, as blue indicates the hits are similar, and thus the shape of the thin blue circles are generally the same. Among each fingerprint, I notice that danceability is a consistently prominent factor in determining whether or not a song becomes a top hit. I wonder, has this always been the case? Why or why not? This graph is very creative and unlike any graph I’ve seen before, so I wonder who created it and how he/she thought of the idea?
1
(cont'd)
Also, what is the exact criteria for a song to become a “top hit”? What if there are two songs that are both immensely popular? And why does the timeline proceed from 1991-2015? What about the 14 years in between?
Headline: Fingerprints Manifesting The Top Tunes of Summer Times
This graph is very interesting to me because it's not the kind of graph I'm accustomed to looking at! I notice that these graphs trace the trends of popular songs of the summer since 1988, and the differences and similarities between the styles, genres, and tempos of the music. I wonder if societal and cultural changes since 1988 have altered how people view and consume music, and it's interesting to look at the large discrepancies between the styles of music over the years. A title for this graph might be "Moving Through Music"
Thanks to all students who responded. Love the catchy headlines that capture the main ideas of the graph: "21st Century: Hit with the same old" by Mia of New Jersey and “From unique to clone” by Gabrian of Hopkinton, NH.
You can continue to post responses. Please check back tomorrow -- Thursday afternoon, April 11 to see The Reveal with a link to the original New York Times article, some questions about the graphs, and some Stat Nuggets.
The next graph will be released tomorrow -- THURSDAY, APRIL 11, with moderation on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17. You may respond before, during, or after the live moderation by going to “What's Going On In This Graph?” (tinyurl.com/NYTGraphs)
Also, you can view the March 20 webinar about teaching with graphs from The New York Times. Go to: tinyurl.com/NYTGraphsWebinar.
Signing off – Sharon Hessney in Boston, who learned a lot about summer pop from this graph, Heather Overstreet, who is reaching for her Def Leppard cassette to put in her walkman.
i noticed that a lot of the songs have a strong beat, and all of them have a cheerful sound in them. they wonder way they don't use the top 5 songs to show a larger range. i would put the similar ones by each other to spot them easier, and see if there is a trend every so offend.
HI, @kadyn --
Take a look at today's Reveal. There you will see 20 years of fingerprints and a trend.
Also, the article gives you videos of a dozen hits with their fingerprint. See how the fingerprinted songs sound.
I love this graph! I consider myself to be a music enthusiast, I am always listening to top hits as well as other genres as well. It is interesting to see how music has evolved and the trends have changed through the ages. Now, top hits are not as cheerful and are more "beat-heavy" rather than instruments or focus on the artists voice. I wonder what music will look like in 20 years from now. Will the trends go back to those of the 80's, or will a new trend evolve? I would title this graph "The Circle of Music."
@Ava D. Do you think that this graph shows the differences between musical styles and leaves out possible similarities is other popular summer songs?
when looking at the graph i saw that they share in conman they have a strong beat and have a cheerful sound. i wonder why they don't use the top 5 to see if there is similarly or if there is a trend.
first looking at the graph i saw the different colors and shapes. i think that the colors are showing similarities between songs and the shapes are the frequencies of the song. "on our own" by Bobby Brown is similar to "despacito" by Luis and Daddy Yankee.
@ryan rohrbacker
Hi @ryan rohrbacker,
This type of graph is a radar graph (or web, or star, or spider..). It rates the hits based on five characteristics, Danceability, Loudness, Acousticness, Energy, and Valence (the happiness factor). The key identifies how the hits from the summer of that particular year compare based on those qualities, with pink meaning the hits are different with respect to these 5 categories to blue meaning the hits are similar with respect to these 5 categories. What would this show you about the hits from 1988-1991 vs 2015-2018?
When first looking at this graph I see it has some interesting shapes. I notice the music is spanning from 1988 to 2018. As well as shown on the bar up top going from the pink shows the hits are different to blue where hits are similar. I wonder if these songs that became so popular have anything similar that made them become so popular. For example something such as a common beat or catchy lyrics. I think a catchy headline for this graph is "beat bubbles" representing the music with a beat and the general bubble shape of each year.
1
@Tina R
Hi @Tina,
That is a good observation about what makes a song popular. What did you notice concerning the similarity of songs in the 80's/90's vs. 2010's and what would that mean for the hits back then vs now?
@Tina R
I has a similar observation, I also wonder what is what exactly made these songs so popular? I believe it could possibly be the danceability and/or the valence because that is what really creates a mood with the listener. By the way I love your title!
I see many different shapes and inbetween those shape I see different years and a name of a song. I dont really understand how this graph works because of the key. My title is Find out what the top summer songs are throughout the years.
@Joahan
Hi @Joahan,
This type of graph is a radar graph (or web, or star, or spider..). It rates the hits based on five characteristics, Danceability, Loudness, Acousticness, Energy, and Valence (the happiness factor). The key identifies how the hits from the summer of that particular year compare based on those qualities, with pink meaning the hits are different with respect to these 5 categories to blue meaning the hits are similar with respect to these 5 categories. Using this information, what do you notice between the hits for 1988-1991 vs the hits for 2015-2018?
I am loving this unique graph. It is so interesting to take a look back in time at something that seems so fleeting but is in fact quite constant- music. There is always a "summer hit" and it is interesting seeing the different aspects that contribute to said hit. I wonder why some of these songs got so popular and if it has to do with their fingerprint. For example, why is the hit song in 2015 ("Bad Blood") drastically less cheerful? Were Americans having a rough time in the summer of 2015? I also notice the more similar shapes of recent hits in contrast to the variety of 80s/90s fingerprints. I also wonder what the shapes looked like in between.
A good title for this graph may be "jammin' through the decades"
@Ellie G
I agree that looking back into time and finding out what the best songs were back then also I find the shapes very interesting.
The graph displays the top 10 summer hits from 1988-201 displayed through fingerprints. The characteristics of the fingerprints determine the loudness,valance, energy, acoustics, and danceability of a hit song. The color scale on the top determines which hits are similar to each other. I notices that most hit songs have a similar shape (yet not the same as each song is different), except for the hit song "Vision of Love” by Mariah Cary from 1990. “Vision of Love” is much more accoustic than the other songs. I wonder if having one characteristic over another would make a top hit more successful? or are characteristics of songs different due to the time period in which they are released? A title for the graph could be “Fingerprints or Songs?"
1
Good morning, @Grace B --
You may want to listen to Mariah Carey's “Vision of Love" or Elton John's “Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and decide if the one very different characteristic makes the song a hit. Let us know what you discover.
The Fingerprints Of Music
I noticed a lot of things. The first is that “Despacito” is really well balanced. I wonder if balance makes a song more popular. For example, would a song that is a perfect circle be more popular than a song that is really lumpy and uneven. I also noticed that the songs in 1990 and 1991 have less average volume than the others. Another thing I noticed was that the older songs are more different than the newer songs. The final thing I noticed was that the songs “Vision Of Love”, “Bad Blood”, and “Can’t Stop The Feeling” go inwards in some categories. I wonder what the littler circles are. I thought that they might be other hits but I am not sure. I also wonder why it skips over so many years from 1991-2015. We’re the hits not different enough or too different?
1
Good morning, @Nathaniel --
That is a really interesting wondering – Are “well-balanced” songs more popular? Can you think of exceptions – not well-balanced but very popular songs, to this conjecture?
There’s a quick reason why the fingerprints skip from 1991 to 2015. We could not fit all 20 on the release. But, please come back tomorrow for The Reveal which will share the link to the graph’s article with all 20 fingerprints. The article is a first for us -- you listen to it, rather than read it. It gives a few reasons for the homogeneity of summer hits. And, reasons for why this may be changing.
How about sharing with us a catchy headline the captures the main idea of the graphs?
@Nathaniel I also noticed the song was well balanced, and that some lacked in other categories, but were still hits, I wonder what other categories made up for the in balance.
Funky Fingerprints
I wonder why the songs from the 80’s and 90’s were so different compared to the almost cookie cutter shapes of the songs from 2015-2018, because I noticed that the older songs are pinker and the newer songs are more blue. The chart said that the more blue a fingerprint is more similar to the other summer hits
@Nate Decker
Hi @NateDecker,
You have made a very interesting observation. I love your comment about the "cookie cutter shape" of the songs from 2015-2018. Did you notice anything about how 2018's "Nice for What" by Drake compared to the other hits. Does this song follow the "cookie cutter" mold? What could that mean for the future trend on music?
This graph clearly represents how our society has adapted a new musical norm: energetic, fast-paced, loud and generally cheerful songs are taking the top spots on the charts. If one were to look at the hit songs from the late 80s-early 90s, the pink and purple colors indicate that the top song varied in style each year. While "On Our Own" was fast and loud, "Vision of Love" was slow and not very cheerful at all. However, when one looks at the top songs from 2015-2018, they all possess the same qualities. Is this because our generation simply likes a certain style? Or is it because our generation fears change and variety? A good title for this graph would be "21st Century: HIT with the same old".
1
@Mia D.
Hi @Mia D,
You certainly raise some good questions concerning the reasoning behind the differences between the two groups of hits. Do you think this trend will continue or do you feel music may return to the hits being different?
Hi! This week there were a few things that I noticed with this strange graph. One of them is that more recent songs are quite similar. Another thing is that the majority of the hits are energetic. I also noticed that with the most of the newer songs are well balanced. And finally, I noticed that "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (1988) and "Rush, Rush" (1991) were very different from the other hits from that year in one category.
Things that I was wondering are how the differential scale was created, and why these 8 years were chosen? It really boggles me why there would be such a large gap in the years that were chosen.
My title is:
Playing through the Footprints of Music History
Good morning, @Greg --
This “strange” graph is called a radar chart or star or web or spider or cobweb or polar chart. Come back tomorrow for The Reveal that explains radar graphs and when they are used. They are not only for pop music.
The differential scale is based on the Spotify algorithm that is used for choosing music. Search online to see if you can find out more about the algorithm.
There’s a quick reason why the fingerprints skip from 1991 to 2015. We could not fit all 20 on the release. But, please come back tomorrow for The Reveal which will share the link to the graph’s article with all 20 fingerprints. The article is a first for us -- you listen to it, rather than read it. It gives a few reasons for the homogeneity of summer hits. And, reasons for why this may be changing.
I noticed that the years that have song lines all over the place are more classified as hits are different but the years where all the songs are more rounded are classified as hits are similar.
I wondered why there was such a gap between 1991 and 2018.
I would title this graph "musical fingerprints."
@collin
Hi! I have the same question as you here: what compelled the creators of this unique graph to choose the years they did? Also regarding time and dates, I wonder how you think the thick circle would change its shape if the year were 1920, or perhaps 2070?
I noticed that as the year gets newer, the songs themselves become more closely related, but older songs have more variation in them. Along with that though, the songs that are more recent are also more balanced, like "Despacito" and "Can't Stop the Feeling!", and songs like "Vision of Love" and Rush, Rush" are more focused on one or two "areas" in the fingerprint.
I began to wonder what the bar at the top meant, where they are different colors, and it says "Hits are different - Hits are similar". I was wondering what it is helpful.
I thought about a title idea for this for a while, and decided that I think a title that could fit is "Music's Evolution and How We Hear the Songs"
1
HI, @Addie --
The bar is a key to the fingerprints. Especially when you examine the 20 fingerprints that are in the article (URL in today's Reveal), you'll see that they go from pink up until 1997 to purple, and then to blue -- from different to similar in sound. The colors are a quick way to see that hits' sounds are changing.
I noticed that the songs from 1988-1991 are more different than the ones from 2015-2018 seem to be more similar. And I also noticed that the songs from 2015-2018 seem to be more fast and noisy.
@Bridget
Hi! You mention increases and decreases in certain factors, like how certain songs are faster and more noisy, but I wonder if you observe any constants in the graph, and if so what are they and why do they exist?
I notice the newer songs seem to be the same kinda shape but the older songs are much more unique. Then the newer songs are very evenly balanced unlike the older songs where they all go in different directions. I wonder why over the years we've shifted from very unique songs to very cookie cutter shapes when it comes to the music we listen to.
Title- From unique to clone.
@Gabrian very good observations! Do you think this trend will continue?
Musicprints
I noticed that there is a large gap in between 1991 and 2015. The newer songs are more similar to each other and are more balanced. They are not very loud in 1990 and 1991. I wonder how they get this information? How do the measure it? Do people try to make their songs more round so they are popular? Why are songs similar more recently?
I notice that the older hits are different. The title would be "Hits With History."
As I look at this graph, I become increasingly disappointed. Graphs and data like this make it quite hard for me to justify the music played today as equatable to that of the 80's- music of their time. I notice that from 1988-1991, the music hits were different, according to the pink coloring and the scale. I then notice that from 2015-1028, the music hits were similar, according to the blue coloring and the scale. I can hear my dad saying, "They don't make any original compositions anymore," in the back of my head. I wonder why the energy aspect of the footprint increases as we go from 1990 to 2018. In other words, the fast and noisy song sounds that my dad refers to as bass is used a lot more today than it was in the past. This is furthered by the acousticness remaining rather similar for the 2000's. I wonder if fans of the 80's would agree on the danceability aspect of the song's footprints for the 2000's. Thank you, Mariah Carey and Paula Abdul, for quieting the volume for a bit. I am curious as to why "On Our Own," and "Can't Stop the Feeling" have very similar footprints.... A catchy headline for this graph could be, "What Your Parents Always Tell You About Your Music".
@Olivia C
Hi @Olivia,
Your comments(or your dad's) about original compositions may have hit on something! I too have noticed the similarities among the hits over the past several years. Do you think this trend will continue? Do you think this is also true for other music genres?
@Moderator Heather I think this trend will continue especially in Hip Hop, Rap, and Pop songs- the genres spread across the 2000's in the graph. I hope certain artists who stray away from the norm are able to make the top 100 list!
@Olivia C, I agree with hoping that the artists who stray from the norm make the top 100. Do you think that Drake's "Nice for What" is keeping with this trend or deviating?
In conclusion by looking at this graph; I assume that composers from the 80’s to the 90’s were more ingenious than today. Composers like Paula Abdul and Mariah Carey mostly applied acoustics instrument to their top hits. On the other hand recent composers like Drake and Justin Timberlake utilize energy to cause intensity with their audience.
Good morning, @Antonio --
You’ve hit on the head something. Have you ever heard of the composer Max Martin? In the 2000s, he had 22 No. 1 singles that were rather similar.
Do you now think there is more diversity in sound now? If yes, why do you think this is so? Can you find evidence of this in the sonic fingerprints?
First, I noticed that the songs of the summer have gradually gotten more cheerful in the past few years. I also noticed that the energy of the songs has increased. I think that the increasing cheerfulness and energy of the modern songs of the summer is a testament to the young population of America. The acousticness of the songs has greatly gone down over time. I wonder if this has to do with modern technology in the music industry and that since it is so easy now to create a sound electronically, artists are beginning to stray from the acoustic sound. A good title for this graph would be “The New Sound.”
1
Good morning, @Kaitlyn G --
Seems like acoustic is losing out to electronic music. No surprise. Can you think of an alternative fifth characteristic that should be tracked on music hits fingerprints?
@Moderator Sharon I think that another interesting characteristic to be tracked would be song length. I have noticed that mainstream songs seem to be growing shorter and shorter in length, and I think it would be interesting to view this characteristic over time among the songs of the summer.
This graph compares the sonic "fingerprints" of eight different top ten summer hits in two different ranges of time. The color of these graphs are determined by how different or similar the hits are to the other music of the time. There is a stark difference between the colors of the music between 1988-1991 and that of 2015-2018.
Overall, the earlier music became popular despite its differences from other music of the time. In fact, these hits gained popularity because they were outliers from what was generally expected of music. This is exemplified through the use of no primarily blue shades. On the other hand, the more current set of hits veers towards the similar side of the spectrum. These songs have similarly shaped graphs and use either a blue or cooler purple shade. This reveals that the most popular music of the summer today is not very different from any other run of the mill song. In this way, people in society have been conditioned to like and accept the same types of songs as popular.
The more different hits of the late 80s and early 90s show a more diverse group of musical styles ranging from rock to pop to love songs. Because of this, the graph shows the decline of the popularity of a variety of songs and the rise of one type of pop song.
A good name for this graph would be, "Starting to Sing All the Same Songs"
2
Hotdog, @Madison S.! You’ve hit many noticings from these graphs.
Remember the February 2019 graph about 2018 music consumption by genre including streaming or only traditional sales? You can find it here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-graph-feb-6-2019.html. What did we conclude from this graph? How may this be reflected in how similar or different summer hits are now in 2019?
Tomorrow in The Reveal, we’ll share the link to the graph’s article. A first for us, you listen to it, rather than read it. Hear how summer hits have change over the 30-year period. Are we still “Starting to Sing All the Same Songs”?
@Moderator Sharon thanks for the shout out! From the previous music graph it is clear that certain genres of music like hip-hop have become much more prevalent and popular, especially including online sales. I find it quite interesting that the article explanation will be a recorded compilation, I look forward to listening. :)
I notice that these are all songs in the music industry, equal amount of hits being different and similar, and I notice scribbles behind the darker line. wonder what significance does this graph have on our society as of now. This may be showing notes that singers have hit, may show which has the strongest or weakest voice. My catchy title is I Can't Hear You”.
Good morning, @K --
Thank you for your response.
Look at a year’s sonic fingerprints. What do you think the bold fingerprint symbolizes?
Take a look at the example of Gloria Estefan’s “1-2-3”, just below the 8 sonic fingerprints. It shows you how to read the fingerprints. There are five song characteristics examined. Do they have to do with the strongest or weakest voice?
You’re onto some interesting noticings. Keep examining and get back to us with your ideas.
This is my favorite graph that so far. I have never seen anything like it. It shows how music has changed, but also what has stayed the same throughout the years. The 2015-2018 hits have a stronger "danceability" while the 1990 and 1991 hits have a less round fingerprint which makes me think it is a softer song that focuses more on the voice of the singer than on a catch and repetitive beat.
1
Welcome MiaF from AOSE!
This is an unusual graph type and is called a radar or star or web or spider or cobweb or polar chart. Come back tomorrow for The Reveal that explains radar graphs and when they are used. They are not only for pop music.
You have some interesting noticings and wonderings. Look at the sets of 10 songs for a year. Are they similar or different? Which specific songs dare to be different? Which are just average? What conclusions can you come to about how pop music has changed over the 30 years? Please do share with us your thoughts.
How about a headline?
@MiaF I like what you mentioned in the last sentence. Our generation is certainly more focused on the beat and "danceability" of a song rather than the lyrics and what the singer is trying to convey. Do you think this is a good or bad thing?
Welcome to Wednesday's moderation of “What’s Going On in This Graph?”
Today’s graph shows the sonic “fingerprints” of the top 10 summer songs for 8 years, selected from the 20 fingerprints in the article. Use the example for Gloria Estefan’s “1-2-3” to understand how to read the fingerprints.
From 9 am – 2 pm E.T. today, share with us your responses online to these three questions -- "What do you notice?", "What do you wonder?", and "What's going on in this graph?"
Plus, please share with us a catchy headline that captures the ideas about the graphs.
On Thursday afternoon, we’ll reveal the article that included the graphs and much more. We look forward to reading your discoveries.
The next “What’s Going On in This Graph?” will be released tomorrow -- Thursday, April 11 with moderation on Wednesday, April 17. The topic: Star baseball players – Are they worth those BIG contracts?
Also, to view the March 20 webinar about teaching with graphs from The New York Times, go to https://webinars.on24.com/nyt/Graphs?partnerref=OnDemand.
This graphic shows different music from 1988-2018 that had different and similar hits.
Good morning, @Marina.H --
What do you notice about the songs for the different years? What’s going on here? Please share thought thoughts.
@Marina.H
Hi! Do you think that the majority of artists create music in the hopes of making it a top hit, or more so for a more personal, genuine reason?
This graph it's about all the summer songs that came up through 1988 to 2018, the top summer songs.
HI, @Ruth C. --
“All the summer songs that came up through 1988 to 2018”? Take another look. How many years? How many songs per year?
What else do you notice and wonder? Please share with your catchy headline that captures the main idea of the graphs.
@Ruth C. What about this graph leads you to believe that it is limited to the top summer songs, specifically?
this graph it is about of music over time
@Fabian What led you to this conclusion? Do you have any specifics to draw a conclusion or hypothesis? Have you looked at the song footprint example listed in the instructions for students?
This graph show us different aspects and characteristics of the hit songs of the past 30 years.
Good morning, @Monica R. --
You noticed about the years. All 30 years? Why do you think these years were picked out?
Also, what are the characteristics that are quantified? Which are most important to you?
@Monica R. what do you think has changed the most over the years?
This graphic is show us the hits song of different year between 1988-2018. There is some color like this year is usually hits the pop songs, loud songs, and like that.
Good morning, @Nao --
What do the colors mean?
Why do you think Drake’s “Nice For What” is in bold?
the graph it's about the hits according with the year in summer
@Yolanda I did not know this had anything to do with summer. Where did you find this information? Great observation!
@Yolanda I wonder why it is just summer and not other times of the year. Wouldn't people listen to the songs at different times as well?
@Yolanda Do you think summer hits have different variations over the years than what winter hits might have? Maybe summer hits are more upbeat and faster.
This graph is about hits along the years, and what different things they have
Good morning, @Gabriela --
What are the “different things” that the graphs feature? What do you think the article, whose link we will share tomorrow in The Revel, is trying to explain?
Come back tomorrow to “read” the article. (I wrote “read”, since the article plays snippets of many of the songs. Fun listening and noticing.)
@Gabriela
Do you think that any of the music share similar characteristics ?
The graph it’s about the summer top songs if the song it’s laugh you can dancing if is to low it’s a more chill son to listening and calms down basically shows the type of song.
Good morning, @Benjamin --
You noticed that the songs have different characteristics. The example of Gloria Estefan’s “1-2-3” shows the relative level of loudness, energy, danceability, acousticness, and valence (cheerfulness).
What do you notice about how songs have changed from the 1980-1990s to recently? Use the colored bar key to help you see what the article is focusing on.
Come back and share your noticings and wonderings.
This graph is about the best songs of different years since 1988- 2018. The song have some characteristic about cheerful, acoustic instrument, danceability, and energy. P-4
HI, @Brandon --
What do you notice and how the 5 characteristics of hits change through the years?
Please come back tomorrow for The Reveal. We’ll share the link to the graph’s article. A first for us -- you listen to it, rather than read it. You hear how summer hits have changed.
This graphic show how loud, danceable and energetic this top hits are.
@Fatima jardon I had that noticing as well of the graph showing how loud the loudness of the artist. The diagram showing what each part of the picture represented helped to realize this.
This graphic is about great music successes from different years from 1988 to 2018.
HI, @ADHAL --
What else do you notice?
Any conclusions?
What do you wonder?
this graphic is about yeh music more famous in different years.The songs have different characteristics.
HI, @Alan --
Are you referring to the hits that have bold fingerprints? I wonder why these songs are in bold. What do you think?
@Alan Good observations! Why do you think the songs have grown different over time? Do you think it has to do with modern listeners and streaming sites?
This graphic is about the greatest hits of different years, from 1988-2018. The songs have different characteristics. Some are more cheerful, others are louder, or energetic.
@Karen good observations, but also note that these were summer hit songs. Do you think that the graphs of songs released in the winter time would be structured differently?
The more visible thing of all this song are that all have acoustics
@Brian Not necessarily, there is EDM, which has no acoustics.
I think that all of this songs has their personalities but on the graphics says that not all of the songs are too good like they don't have energy or danceability but others are really good in every appearance.
This graph shows how dancing, energetic,loud is the music and it shows on each song each characteristic.
In this graph is shown how musical hits are similar and how is their volume through years before; for instance, from 1988 to 1991 the hits are very different on their sound and are unbalanced because some of them like "pour some sugar on me" have a lot of energy, valance, acoustics and danceability while others have just some of these factors. In change, from 2015 to 2018, songs have been so similar maybe because artists copy but hits cover all the four loudness to average the volume of the song.
@Pamela good use of the breakdown of the fingerprint given below the main graph! You mention that the artists may copy other successful songs in hopes of having successful songs themselves. Do you think that this limit's an artist's options when writing a new song? Or do you think that they are still fully expressing themselves, even though it is through a more refined lens?
@Pamela
Do you think that the shapes of each one is representing different things?
I noticed the descriptions of some songs, if some have energy or if it is possible to dance with that song and when they were famous, and I wonder if in some other time there will be more songs that have that same movement in the people
@Karen Based on the musical evolution displayed in this graph, do you think future music will be different? Or do you think the music will stay stagnant and not evolve too much?
I notice that hits in recent years are trending to be a lot more similar in nature. Compared to 1988-1991 where hits are varied, hits in 2015-2018 are more 'Energetic' and have much higher 'Danceability' which says that a lot of the music is more pop/electronic oriented than the decade prior. As well, I've noticed that there is a decline in acoustic instruments being used in songs between the two time ranges.
I wonder about the cause of the trend in music tending to be more similar in nature in recent years (especially 2018)? Could this be that artists might be emulating successful song formats in an effort to 'make it big'? Also, I wonder if there is correlation into why hits in 1988-1991 appear more cheerful than in recent years? It looks likes we've strayed from cheerful, acoustic hits to higher energy/danceable hits that are less cheerful
The story this graph is telling is that over the years, we have stayed from more acoustic driven hits to more homogenized hits that sound the same but have a better beat.
WOW, @Julian. You have hit several features of these graphs on the head.
Take a look at 2018. Is Drake’s Nice For What” as similar as the other 9 hits for that summer? Or, is he going in a different direction?
Please come back tomorrow for The Reveal. We’ll share the link to the graph’s article. A first for us -- you listen to it, rather than read it. It gives a few reasons for the homogeneity of summer hits. And, reasons for why this may be changing.
Do you have a catchy headline to share with us that captures the main idea of the graphs?