Although some of us may not want to admit it, singing is one of our most popular, or at least frequent pastimes. We all sing along to the radio, TV music channels, and our favourite C.D’s, but now it appears there’s a reason (other than a lack of singing ability), why many of us sound so awful; we just don’t know the words! That’s right, a new survey by Music Choice*, one of Europe’s leading digital broadcasters, has revealed that we are pretty much hopeless at remembering the words to even the biggest hit songs.
The survey found that less than half (41%) of respondents, could recall the lyrics to the hit songs put in front of them, and these were songs from some of the biggest selling artists of all time. Other interesting results to come from the survey, include the fact that 85 percent of Germans surveyed know all the words to Elton John’s Candle In The Wind (Princess Diana Tribute), compared to 34 percent of Britons. Music Choice also surveyed some Swede’s who knew fewer ABBA lyrics that those surveyed from Germany, Belgium, and Holland.
Along with ABBA, and Elton John, The Beatles were another act that stood out in the survey results, largely because their lyrics were found to be more memorable than those from Elvis or Michael Jackson. This doesn’t surprise me, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen the lyrics for songs like Thriller written down, let alone remember the chorus!
All this was just a bit of fun, a warm-up if you like to the main event, the annual music census! This is a big survey conducted by the channel every year that helps them gain a greater understanding of how their customers feel about music. Instead of just programming their music content based on sales figures, Music Choice like to delve deeper and get a considered opinion from the audience about what THEY want to hear. The music census is fun, anyone can take part, and best of all it will help get your voice heard! Perfect for those that want to have a say in the future of the digital music industry, or who just want to rant about the same old boring songs they’ve heard a hundred times over. The 2009 Music Choice survey is available from November 4th at www.musiccensus.com, in 12 different languages! It really is open to all!
*For those who don’t know, Music Choice reaches around 40 million customers across the world, through digital music channels like Classic Rock, Reggae, Chillout, Total Hits, and Cool Jazz.