Elite music stars have been found to produce slower music as they age, particularly if physical movement is a key element of their early careers.
Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland studied the music of 10 “culturally significant” stars over 20 years of their careers.
Overall, the tempo of their music decreased by one and a half standard deviations between the artists’ early twenties and late fifties.
The study concentrated on the music of Celine Dion, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Madonna, Maria Carey, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain and Whitney Houston.
“By nature of their popularity and career length, these artists are arguably the most culturally significant solo artists of the popular music era,” study author Geoff Luck said.
“Given their stature in the industry, these artists might be expected to exert significant influence over the characteristics of the music they record, including tempo.”
Dr Luck found, while the tempo of all of the artists declined, the slowdown was particularly pronounced in artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Eminem and Lil Wayne.
“Both Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson routinely danced to their music when performing,” he said. “In fact, both were known as much for their body movement as for their music.
“The underlying emphasis on physicality and rhythmicity in the vocal delivery of wrap lyrics also connects both Eminem and Lil Wayne more viscerally than artists performing in other styles.”
The research analysed around 2000 songs via a “listening and tapping task”. Collectively the 10 artists studied had sold more than two billion albums.
The full research report is on the BioRxiu website
