Older generations often lament that music was better in their day, but was it more complex?
A new study, which evaluated classical and jazz music in particular, believes these genres have become simpler – and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Hoping to identify long-term patterns in musical evolution, a team of Italian researchers surveyed approximately 20,000 MIDI files of music from between 1600 and 2021.
“We first considered how to measure the ‘complexity’ of music in a way analogous to approaches used for text,” Niccolò Di Marco, an assistant professor at the University of Tuscia in Italy and co-author of the study, told Euronews Culture.
“After reviewing the literature, we found that the only robust method close to our approaches was to work with MIDI files – a digital representation of music – and apply tools from complexity science.”
He also noted that the study, published in the journal Nature, did come with some limitations. These include the inability to accurately measure note selections when transcribing MIDI files, which heavily rely on a twelve-tone pitch system.
The researchers therefore focused on analysing melodic and harmonic transitions, which revealed classical and jazz music have become increasingly similar in their structural patterns to less complex and more contemporary genres.
In 2024, a study by Queen Mary University of London identified a similar trend of simplification in chart-topping songs.
While it’s tempting to blame this shift on technological advancements and the subsequent homogenisation of culture, Di Marco argues a more nuanced explanation is needed. Complexity is still present in these genres – just residing differently.
“There are also broader cultural and practical factors to consider. The 20th and 21st centuries saw a diversification of musical languages and audiences, with some composers favouring clarity, repetition, or accessibility over dense structural elaboration,” he explained.
“Therefore, I would suggest that classical music may not be becoming less complex, but rather differently complex – shifting away from harmonic and melodic intricacy toward other dimensions that are harder to quantify.”
Di Marco’s study is part of a wider research project exploring how human life has evolved since the advent of the internet and social media, with their previous findings suggesting the way we communicate online has also been simplifying.
However, Di Marco doesn’t feel this should cause concern. In fact, it could even be a positive thing as the world continues to adapt and reinvent itself in a digital age.
“I would argue that in a much more interconnected world, the presence of simpler musical structures is not necessarily negative – especially in terms of accessibility and broader reach,” he said.
“Moreover, our paper is not meant to criticise or lament a supposed simplification of music, but rather to measure a possible evolution in certain aspects of it.”