New York University researchers found that people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.
A person’s attention span these days is much shorter than it used to be. A clear sign of contemporary life, where we are bombarded by information – and we still run after more, especially on social media.
This brought a reflection even to the arts and entertainment in general. A study carried out by researchers from the NYU, new york university (via Study Finds) discovered that a person today needs only 5 seconds to find out whether or not they like a song.
In all, 650 listeners were introduced to 250 songs from different musical genres, with names ranging from mozart It is Beethoven The Michael Jackson It is Elvis Presleypassing through Kanye West, sex pistols, among others, as well as hits that have been on the US charts for the past 80 years. In the same procedure, guests were exposed to 3,260 excerpts from these same tracks.
Participants then rated each piece of music as follows: “I loved it”, “I liked it a lot”, “I liked it a little”, “I don’t care”, “I didn’t like it that much”, “I really didn’t like it” and “I hated it”. What stood out is that it didn’t take that long to make such a decision – more specifically, only 5 seconds were needed. And even when they heard the complete song, the opinion didn’t change.
Higher approval with full songs
Another curious result obtained by the research is that the participants were more open to liking a song when they heard it in full. This shows that listening to the same song in different media can provoke different reactions. For example: you’re more likely to enjoy listening on the radio, where you can’t skip tracks, than on an internet streaming platform, where you can migrate to the next one in just one click.
Pascal Wallisch, an associate professor at the New York University Data Science Center and one of the study’s authors, said in a statement:
“This finding could have far-reaching implications for our understanding of which properties of songs evoke certain emotions in listeners. The fact that a short snippet is enough to tell us whether we like it or hate it suggests that we react more to the overall vibe a song gives us than to its musical notes themselves.”
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
