Is there a formula for creating an iconic pop song?

Is there a formula for creating a song that’s not just popular, but becomes iconic? Goldsmiths, University of London computer scientist, musician and digital artist Dr Mick Grierson analysed critics’ top tracks to try and find out.

Working with Phar Partnerships in research commissioned by FIAT for their new FIAT 500 (an ‘icon reloaded’) campaign, Dr Grierson and his team used machine listening technologies from the Rapid-Mix EU project, analysing a set of well-known songs to see what they might have in common.

They used seven ‘all-time best’ lists from various media and publications, including Rolling Stone, The Daily Telegraph, VH-1, NME and Q magazine.

Using a set of rules that excluded sales data, as well as tracks younger than 10 years, the researchers looked at key criteria like numbers of chord changes, tonic dissonance and beats per minute to work out if these so-called iconic songs might contain similarities.

“We looked at a range of measures for each song and compared them to see if there were similarities in these recordings which occur less in other songs. We found the most significant thing these songs have in common is that most of them use sound in a very varied, dynamic way when compared to other records. This makes the sound of the record exciting, holding the listeners attention,” Dr Grierson explains.

“By the same token, the sounds these songs use and the way they are combined is highly unique in each case. There's no 'formula' for this, other than to make your song sound as different, diverse and exciting as possible.”

Sex Pistols surprisingly sophisticated

Unsurprisingly the Sex Pistols 'God Save the Queen' was one of the ‘noisiest’, just behind Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’. The Sex Pistols’ song did not have many chord or volume changes but rated very high for spectral flux - the amount that the sound itself changes through the song.

'Billie Jean' by Michael Jackson was rated the highest for spectral spread – the breadth of sounds included. Those who think Leonard Cohen's songs are monotonous now have scientific proof: 'Hallelujah' was the lowest rated for variation in sound.

There's no formula for greatness 

Dr Grierson adds: “Even by applying scientific process, what is considered iconic is ultimately up to the individual. My conclusion is that if you want a formula for creating great music, there is one: you just have to make something that sounds great.
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Dr Mick Grierson is Director of Creative Computing at Goldsmiths and Programme Leader for BSc Creative Computing , BSc Digital Arts Computing, MA/MFA Computational Arts / Computational Studio Arts.

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