Source: China Science Daily, ScienceNet.cn, and Science News magazine
A study by Italian scientists suggests that classical and jazz music have become simpler and more standardized since the mid-20th century, with their complexity now closer to that of genres such as pop and rock. The researchers believe that music digitization may have influenced composition by making it easier for artists to access and draw inspiration from recorded works. The study was recently published in Scientific Reports.
Previous studies have shown that lyrics and melodies in pop songs have become simpler in recent years. It was not clear, however, whether genres historically considered “complex,” such as classical music and jazz, had undergone a similar change.
Niccolo Di Marco of the Department of Law, Social and Educational Sciences at the University of Tuscia, Walter Quattrociocchi of the Department of Computer Science at Sapienza University of Rome, and their colleagues analyzed the melodies and harmonies of 21,480 songs and instrumental works composed between 1600 and 2021. They found that the complexity of classical music fluctuated several times before 1900, but declined significantly throughout the 20th century. Jazz works likewise reached a peak in complexity during the 1950s and 1960s, then began to decline.
Overall, early-20th-century classical and jazz works were more complex than pop, rock, electronic, or hip-hop music across the century. After the middle of the 20th century, however, classical and jazz works came closer in complexity to those other genres, and their structures and harmonies also became more similar.
The researchers noted that this finding does not necessarily indicate a decline in musical creativity. They emphasized that the study did not assess other dimensions of musical complexity, including lyrics, production, sound design, and cultural context. They suggest that musical features beyond harmony may increasingly be used to express complexity in songwriting and composition. Future research could explore the question in greater depth by analyzing multiple dimensions of song structure, including melody, lyrical content, and meter.
Related paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-42872-7