Music

How Our Brains Instantly Recognize Music – Psychology Today

There are many temptations to organize our life around the experience of earlier trauma. But that may shortchange the future—which starts by our envisioning something better.
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Posted May 20, 2022 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods
The huge, international appeal of Wordle has inspired a range of similar online games. Heardle is one particularly successful spinoff, targeted at music lovers. The Heardle app selects one song per day from a large collection of popular music and the goal of the game is to guess the song title and artist after hearing short excerpts of the song. The first attempt is made after hearing only one second of the song, if unsuccessful the listener can try again with two seconds of music, and so on, with a maximum of six attempts (six seconds of music).
As a music psychologist, I can’t help but note how Heardle intuitively builds on ideas we’ve been exploring in research on long-term memory for music over the last couple decades. For instance, Carol Krumhansl ran a seminal study using 28 popular songs released between 1960 and 2010, such as «Baby One More Time» by Britney Spears and «Respect» by Aretha Franklin. When presented clips from these songs of only 0.4 seconds in duration, listeners in the study were able to correctly identify both the title and artist of the song 25 percent of the time (Krumhansl, 2010). This shows that many people can successfully identify songs from clips less than half the duration of the initial, one-second clip provided by Heardle!
In addition, in Krumhansl’s study, even when listeners could not identify the exact song title, they were very good at identifying the decade of release of the song and the emotional expression of the song from these very short clips. Another recent study on this phenomenon (Faubion-Trejo & Mantell, 2022) has demonstrated that, to identify songs from such short clips, listeners (even those with minimal musical training) rely on their memory for the specific pitch level and timbre (instrumentation) of the music. Thus, everyday music listeners have excellent long-term memory for familiar songs, even when presented song clips so short they barely provide any information about other key features of the song, such as its tempo, melody, or lyrics.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, musical taste also plays a significant role in whether people can identify songs from short clips of music. Indeed, several studies have found a substantial correlation between whether a participant recognizes a song and the degree to which they like it (e.g., Jakubowski et al., 2020). That is, fans of pop music would be expected to do much better at Heardle than jazz connoisseurs. Luckily for metalheads, a heavy metal version of Heardle launched this month. Perhaps other genre-specific spinoffs will follow, to cater more directly to users’ musical preferences.
In general, research shows that people more accurately recognize pop songs released during their adolescence than songs from earlier or later time periods. This phenomenon is known as the “reminiscence bump,” and it extends beyond music: overall, we are better at remembering events and cultural items from when we were 10 to 30 years old (Rubin et al., 1998). In my research group, we’ve found a peak for the music-related reminiscence bump at around 14 years of age (Jakubowski et al., 2020). That is, we’d expect Heardle users would be most effective at identifying songs released when they were around 14 years old.
So, why do so many people thoroughly enjoy identifying popular songs on Heardle? Recent neuroscience theories have proposed that a main function of the brain is to develop accurate predictions about upcoming events and information. In the case of music listening, it has been shown that the act of correctly anticipating what’s coming next in a piece of music can activate the brain’s reward system (Salimpoor et al., 2011). The reward system is a group of brain structures underlying the sensation of pleasure; this same brain system is activated across a range of pleasurable activities, from eating a delicious meal to having sex.
In addition, hearing even a short excerpt of music within Heardle may activate autobiographical memories associated with that music (Jakubowski & Ghosh, 2021). A snippet of a particular song might effortlessly transport the listener back to when they first heard it as a teenager in a friend’s car, or a school dance where they finally got up the courage to ask their long-time crush to join them on the dancefloor. Thus, the power of music often lies not only in the sound itself, but in the emotions and memories it can conjure up.
References
Faubion-Trejo, R. N., & Mantell, J. T. (2022). The roles of absolute pitch and timbre in plink perception. Music Perception, 39(3), 289-308. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2022.39.3.289
Jakubowski, K., & Ghosh, A. (2021). Music-evoked autobiographical memories in everyday life. Psychology of Music, 49(3), 649-666. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735619888803
Jakubowski, K., Eerola, T., Tillmann, B., Perrin, F., & Heine, L. (2020). A cross-sectional study of reminiscence bumps for music-related memories in adulthood. Music & Science, 3, https://doi.org/10.1177/2059204320965058
Krumhansl, C. L. (2010). Plink: «Thin slices» of music. Music Perception, 27(5), 337–354. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2010.27.5.337
Rubin, D. C., Rahhal, T. A., & Poon, L. W. (1998). Things learned in early adulthood are remembered best. Memory & Cognition, 26(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211366
Salimpoor, V. N., Benovoy, M., Larcher, K., Dagher, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music. Nature Neuroscience, 14(2), 257-262. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2726
Kelly Jakubowski, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in Music Psychology at Durham University (UK), where she co-directs the Music and Science Lab.
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Psychology Today © 2022 Sussex Publishers, LLC
There are many temptations to organize our life around the experience of earlier trauma. But that may shortchange the future—which starts by our envisioning something better.

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Music

Eurovision 2023: The running order of the semifinals has been revealed!

Greece’s song for Eurovision 2023, by Victor Vernicos, was released a few days ago with the title “What They Say”!

The Eurovisionfun team once again watched and reacted to the official video clip of the country’s entry for the upcoming Eurovision contest! Enjoy Apostolos, Paschalis, Stella and Apostolis in a Reaction video with detailed commentary on Greece‘s participation, for 2023!.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to enjoy interviews, reaction videos and Live s.

The analyzes of the fans and not only for a few minutes have been on fire, since the theories based on the prehistory of the countries in the contest, are a first picture of how passable is the qualification to the final or not. In other words, it’s time to make our predictions about who will advance to the final and who are the favorites to say goodbye to Liverpool early…

Turin will host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest from May 9th to 13th at the Liverpool Arena. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organizers is “The Sound of Beauty”.

Music

Beyonce UK Renaissance Tour 2023: Dates & How To Get Tickets

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It’s finally happening.

Calling all members of the Bey Hive! The time has finally come. Beyoncé has announced that she will be touring her latest album, ‘Renaissance’, released in July last year. Much to our delight, the superstar confirmed the live dates were happening at the Wearable Art Gala in California on October 22, when two tickets and a full backstage pass were put on auction.

Although the rumours of the 2023 tour have been confirmed, there still remains a lot of speculation around the dates of the UK leg, as well as whether Beyonce will be joining Elton John as a headliner at Glastonbury 2023. There is a lot of hype around Bey returning to British shores and a lot of fans will be trying to secure their seats to see her perform. We expect that when the tickets drop for ‘Renaissance’ in the UK they will sell out mega fast, so make sure to keep an eye out.

If you want to find out how to cuff your tickets to the ‘Renaissance’ tour then keep reading. Here is everything you need to know about Beyoncé’s 2023 UK shows.

The singer has been very secretive with any news of her tour and is yet to release any dates of pre-sale or general sale tickets. In true Bey fashion, she is keeping the Bey Hive very much on its toes.

No tickets have been released yet, so we don’t know exactly how much the ‘Renaissance’ tickets will cost. However, it is likely that the price will depend on where you sit.

For her ‘Formation’ tour shows in the UK, Beyonce’s tickets ranged from £77.50 to £385. It can only be assumed that tickets for this much-awaited tour won’t come cheap and may be much higher than that.

The ‘Break My Soul’ singer is yet to release any dates or venues for her ‘Renaissance’ tour and could announce them at any moment.

During her previous tours of the UK, Beyonce has made recurring visits to venues in London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. We can only hope that she will be making a return to these areas in her upcoming tour.

Now that the tour has been announced, there has been a lot of speculation around who Bey will be choosing to follow her around the world to open the show for her.

There have been rumours that Beyoncé has been considering British girl group Flo, who will receive the Rising Star Award at the 2023 Brit Awards. Other potential openers who will join Bey on stage are the Nigerian singer Tems, as well as English singer and rapper Bree Runway.
Beyonce’s last tour in the UK was back in 2018 with her husband Jay-Z for her show ‘On The Run II’. The couple performed a total of six acts that included a mix of both of the stars’ songs such as ‘Crazy in Love’, ‘99 Problems’ and ‘Run the World (Girls)’.

They started the tour in Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and London before moving onto the rest of Europe and finishing the tour back in the USA.

Before that, Bey toured the UK in 2016 with The Formation World Tour in support of her album ‘Lemonade’.

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Music

11 Best Music Festivals of 2022 – Esquire

You may have missed Coachella but there are plenty of open air raves left to be had this year.
Back in 2020, many didn’t believe that we’d be rubbing shoulders with fellow-music lovers and screaming lyrics to our favorite songs at music venues together. With .css-umdwtv{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #d5dbe3 50%, #d5dbe3);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-umdwtv:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}Coachella back this year, one thing is clear for 2022: music festivals have been normalized again. Maybe you went and are desperate for more, wondering what to do with that leftover festival fever. Maybe you didn’t and the jealousy is too much to bear. Either way, don’t fret, Esquire complied a list of music festivals taking place the rest of the year.
Miami, FL – May 20-22
Minneapolis, MN – June 18-19
Afropunk is back again this year and is bringing with it the usual: groundbreaking arts, fashion and music from the Black community. Ari Lennox, Noname and Mereba are all set to perform at the festival, which will take place in Miami in May, and in Minneapolis over Juneteenth weekend, marking the first ever Afropunk event in the Midwest.
.css-1lxmaj6{background:#ffffff;background-color:#ffffff;-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;border:thin solid #FF3A30;border-radius:2rem;color:#000;display:inline-block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.875rem;letter-spacing:0.04rem;line-height:1.3;padding:0.6rem 1.125rem 0.3125rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-transform:uppercase;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;white-space:pre-line;width:auto;}@media(max-width: 73.75rem){.css-1lxmaj6{margin:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1lxmaj6{margin:0rem;}}.css-1lxmaj6:focus-visible{outline-color:body-cta-btn-link-focus;}.css-1lxmaj6:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;background-color:#FF3A30;}Buy Tickets, Miami
Buy Tickets, Minneapolis

Boston, MA
May 27-29
Boston Calling Music Festival is looking to make Memorial Day weekend one to remember. Nine Inch Nails, The Strokes and Metallica are all set to headline the three-day festival. The former are joined by impressive acts such as Haim, Weezer, Avril Lavigne, Black Pumas and more.
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New York, NY
June 10-12
Governors Ball, as always, will deliver another year incredible music, and some of the best NYC eats. This year festival-goers will be heading to Citi Field Lots, Queens to see the likes of Kid Cudi, Halsey and J-Cole, Roddy Ricch, Glass Animals, among others.
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Manchester, TN
June 16-19
Described as «the most positive place on this planet,» Bonnaroo is the place to be this summer. This year’s acts include Ludacris, 100 Gecs, and Marc Rebillet. There’s also a ton of electronic and pop punk acts set to perform at Bonnaroo. If you’ve never experienced Bonnaroo, it may be time for you to put on your camping shoes and head to Tennessee.
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Chicago, IL
July 15-16
If you’re wondering where all of the cool alternative artists will be this summer, you can find them at Pitchfork. For years, Pitchfork has been tagging themselves as «the most trusted voice in music.» Based on this year’s line-up, Pitchfork definitely has a taste for great music. Artists such as The National, Mitski and The Roots will be headlining the three-day weekend, where they’ll be followed by a slew of talented acts like Japanese Breakfast, Earl Sweatshirt, Tierra Whack, Amber Mark and more.
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Newport, RI
July 22-24
Being one of the first modern music festivals in the US with a 60-year-run, you can expect Newport Festival to be nothing short of extraordinary. For decades the festival has boasted renowned performances and an astounding cultural atmosphere. This year is no different, with artists all the way from Clairo to Beebadoobee, Buffalo Nichols, Maren Morris and more set to take the stage in Rhode Island.
Tickets are currently sold out, but there is an option to join the waitlist.
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Chicago, IL
July 28-31
LollaPalooza, the Chicago-based festival, is back this year with Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Green Day, Lil Baby, Kygo and many others. Alongside a myriad of colorful outfits, you can expect to find incredible restaurants in the Windy City.
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Las Vegas, NV
September 16-18
Life is Beautiful festival coming to the Las Vegas area this September. Alongside music, the festival also offers culinary, art, and learning experiences in Downtown Vegas. This seems like a wonderful bonus to an incredible lineup. Artists like Lorde, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Jack Harlow and more are set to perform.
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Los Angeles, CA
September 16-18
After being canceled for the past two years, due to COVID-19, Primavera Sound is ready to shake American audiences. Artists such as James Blake, Nine Inch Nails, Cigarettes After Sex, Lorde, King Krule and many others are booked for the festival’s 2022 debut.
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Franklin, TN
September 24-25
The multi-genre weekend festival is set to make its eight year return this September. Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlisle, who both received Grammy nominations this year, are set to headline the festival. Another Grammy winner on the bill is Jon Batiste, who actually earned the highest number of nominations by the Recording Academy this year. The complete line-up also features a number of other impressive musicians like The Avett Brothers, Elle King, Lennon Stella, Lake Street Drive and more.
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Las Vegas, NV
October 22-29
Emo and Pop-Punk fans can rejoice because all of your favorite artists are set to take the stage in Las Vegas this Fall with the When We Were Young Festival. The new festival boast an impeccable set list, which is already sold out. Artists such as Bring Me To the Horizon, Pierce the Veil, Avril Lavigne, Sleeping With Sirens are set to perform. Paramore and My Chemical Romance will be the festival’s headliners.
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Ammal Hassan is a writer and Esquire’s Snapchat Editor. She covers all things culture with a focus on music and pop culture. She is from Nairobi, Kenya and lives in New York City.
.css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}The Grammy Nominations Are Getting My Hopes Up
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