Longer, slower and sadder: how pop songs have changed

A pair of academics have studied 50 years' worth of chart hits and think they've spotted a trend. But can songs be so rigidly labelled?Think that the Top 40 is full of zingy, identikit and insincere LOLZpop (feat Pitbull)? Not according to scientists. New findings published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts suggest that since 1965, chart hits have become longer, beats per minute have reduced and the lyrics of songs have displayed "mixed emotional cues".Psychologist E Glenn S...

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