Teen brain data can be used to predict the success of a pop song, according to the latest findings of scientists at Emory University. They performed an experiment where they got a group of twenty-seven teenagers, aged 12-17 and played them music 120 songs from MySpace pages of relatively unknown musicians without recording contracts. The researchers recorded the teenagers’ neural reactions through functional magnetic resolution imaging (fMRI). They were also asked to rate each song on a scale of one to five.
Judging from the results of the experiment, the data had a statistically significant prediction rate for the popularity of pop songs measured by their sales figures from 2007 to 2010. The interesting thing was that what the students had rated on their own had no correlation to the success of the pop songs – it was their brain activity that predicted the success of the songs correctly.
Researchers hope to use this data to question how the human brain works in decision-making, and to understand cultural phenomena and trends – how some ideas become popular and others don’t. If you think about it – it sure is some pretty powerful information that fashion companies or record labels would love to get their hands on.
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