People are losing emotional depth... And intelligence.

I blame capitalism.

A lot of previous work has asked whether music changes across decades, but much less has examined whether the same artists change across the course of their careers,” said Jan Brascamp, co-author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Psychology. “By looking at both at once, we can begin separating changes that happen within artists from broader shifts in culture and the music industry.”

The study found that lyrics became less emotional and less socially focused over time. Within artists’ careers, both positive and negative words declined, as did references to family and friends. Specific shifts show that anxiety-related language increased while sadness declined in lyrics.

The researchers found similar historical patterns when comparing artists from different eras. These broader historical differences were generally larger than the changes that occurred within individual artists’ careers.