What makes a song catchy?
While at first, this may seem like a simple question with a simple answer. Knowing what causes song catchiness is far more complex than it may initially seem. Song catchiness also called earworms are bits of songs that get stuck in your head. Typically, it is a bit of the chorus from that song, which will loop in your mind.
Researchers are not exactly sure what causes earworms however there are a few theories. One is that the chorus of the song contains within it a fair amount of pitch changes (maybe 3). In a matter of speaking this catches your attention causing you to listen more closely. It doesn’t allow you to habituate (or get used to) the song as easily so it may get stuck in your head.
Another potential cause is that catchy songs can affect an area of the brains motor cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for planning, so a person may be thinking about how they would dance to that particular song, interacting with it the song without ever lifting a finger.
Having a repeating riff or chorus makes the song easier to remember and interact with. Which in turn makes it easier for the song to get stuck in your head. But what do you do when you don’t want the song looping in your mind anymore? Well, it all comes down to distraction. Of course, different things will work for different people. Solving a puzzle or doing something that increases your cognitive load by a fair margin are both said to help when trying to get a song unstuck from your mind.
It is also said that singing or humming the song in question helps. While others say listening to another (possibly catchy) song helps also. Regardless we can all agree that if a song does get stuck in your head then the creators of the song probably did something right.