This Just In: Study Shows Songs About Sex Are Hot Sellers

The New York Times:

Psychologists sometimes have a way of proving what you always suspected was true. A recent study of popular song lyrics done at the State University of New York in Albany shows not only that messages about sexual relationships dominate the songs at the top of the charts, but also that songs about sex sell better than other songs.

Perhaps more surprising were the study’s findings on the gaps between genres. The authors of the study, Dawn R. Hobbs and Gordon G. Gallup Jr., found a large difference between the “reproductive messages” embedded in country music and those found in pop and R&B. Successful country songs tended to have messages — in descending order — about long-term commitment to marriage, parenting children, break-ups and oaths of fidelity.

On the other hand, the top three themes in songs on pop charts were, in order, the singer’s sex appeal, a person’s promiscuity and one-night stands. For R&B songs that made it to the top, the most frequent themes were, in order, the singer’s sex appeal, boasts about the singer’s wealth as it relates to finding a mate, and descriptions of erotic acts.

Read the whole story: The New York Times